Week 7
This week started with a performance by the New England Conservatorium of Music. I enjoyed the performance myself, but a lot of the kids had never been exposed to any live performance of any form of music before, so it was quite interesting to see some of their initial reactions to classical music. One of the students started tearing up while the music was playing, but because of their age and other factors they did not understand why. They were talking to their teacher and saying, “My eyes keep watering and my belly feels weird but I don't know why.” Suffice to say, they were quite moved by the performance. It was an amazing experience to watch these kids have and I'm glad I could be there.
In the days since, there has been a lot of hype for music around the school and several of the students are trying to start a 'Kid's Band'; a lot of students have joined and it's been the talk of the school among the students, it's awesome how much they were moved by a 30-minute demonstration.
I did a mock meeting with one of the staff members who has a lot of experience doing meetings with parents and students, as well as experience with mock meetings. She gave some really awesome feedback, commending me on how well I conducted the meeting and how I explained complex tools and how to use them in an easily accessible way. After a chat we agreed to run some in future so that I may have the opportunity to actually have meetings with parents next term if the need arises. At the end of the week I got some feedback from the students I've been having one-on-one sessions with, as well as their teachers, and everyone was incredibly positive and thankful. The kids self-reported feeling much calmer and more composed in class and during stressful moments, and their teachers confirmed that their behaviour is reflective of that. It was awesome to get that kind of feedback. I spent a lot of the term feeling like I was clumsily wading through my sessions with these kids without achieving anything, so to get that feedback was amazing.
Logan has been part of some real wins this week with students who had been struggling. Stock image: Markus Spiske, Unsplash
Week 8
This week I was assisting one particular student whose normal SLSO [school learning support officer] was not available. He was particularly high-energy and quite emotional, and I was exhausted from a late night studying the night before, but we managed to make it an awesome day with some give and take between the two of us. I worked with him to find solutions to problems that he was facing, and gave him an outlet for his energy that he could use while paying attention to the teacher. Overall it turned into an awesome, happy time. At the end of the day he gave me the sweetest compliment and thanked me for helping him. I was a bit surprised by it because it felt like a rough day, but somewhere between struggling to keep myself awake and together, and making sure we didn't get too off track, he had a really good day.
I had a massive breakthrough with a student that I've been trying to assist in the classroom. He struggles in a lot of ways, but after an entire term's worth of coaxing he finally opened up and talked to me about his life while I helped him in the classroom. Then during lunch he joined in playing with some students after sitting back and watching them play for weeks. It might not seem like much, but being able to finally have a conversation with him after weeks of one-worded responses felt like an absolutely massive win.
