Kaleb felt rather triumphant today. His fever broke so he went back to school. It seems the timing of his sickness was almost a “God thing” since it happened the day after his talk with the Principal. The Principal talked with the Head Master and Ragnhild (his teacher), and yesterday Ragnhild talked with Kaleb’s entire class. Ragnhild told the students that Kaleb was so upset by all the “mobbing” that he wanted to quit school. I think it made a bigger impact that he actually WASN’T in school when she said that. They didn’t know he was sick, of course, they just thought he was fed up and didn’t come. So Ragnhild explained Kaleb’s feelings and also told that some changes were going to take place immediately to reduce the opportunity for “mobbing” (hitting and kicking). First off, they moved Kaleb’s locker space in the changing room to be as far from Morten’s as possible (previously they were right next to each other). Then they reduced the amount of time the kids have to put on and take off their outer clothes in the changing room – from five minutes down to three minutes so they will be in such a rush they will have less time for rough housing. But the biggest change they made is that they now actually have an adult in the changing room – where previously it was an adult-free zone and the location where Kaleb received the most blows by Morten and others.
Poor Morten, he got called into the Principal’s office yet again for probably the 100th time this year for another talking to after Kaleb complained about him. That kid takes more resources than the rest of the class combined. He’s been identified as having ADHD but the government here is very cautious when it comes to putting him on medication. I’m sure he’ll be grown and gone before he gets a prescription for anything as they use every means possible to help a child before they will give them drugs. Morten even has a full time “watch person” now that follows him everywhere and keeps an eye out for his actions, which has reduced his “incidents” a little, but he’s quick and can nail a kid in a flash, even with an adult standing right next to him.
Ragnhild asked to meet with Kory and I after school today and she explained all that they have done and will do to try and change the situation for Kaleb. She seemed quite devastated that he was so unhappy. I told her what I told the Principal, that they just can’t “talk” to the students about mobbing – they must put some consequences to the behavior as well. But she told us that the Norwegian laws are such that they are not allowed to do anything to the students except talk to them and notify their parents. She agrees it’s a hopeless situation and it makes her job very difficult, but she’s an eternal optimist and believes things will get better. She also told Kaleb he MUST tell her of every incident that happens and he also must learn the names of all the kids in the 4th class (all 90 of them) so if he gets nailed at recess again, he will be able to give a name to a teacher. (I suggested he just memorize the boy’s names.)
So Kaleb was very popular when he showed up at school today as many of his classmates feared he wouldn’t be coming back. Two of his favorite boys in the class asked if he was going to quit school. Both boys wanted to arrange a play date with him this weekend, so that was nice. This whole ordeal has at least increased his popularity. He was quite proud of himself for “making changes” that he feels will be good for everyone, but most especially for himself.
Kory and I both had an okay day. More of the same – he worked on a drawing and I went to school. I took the photo today out one of the windows in my new classroom at ten o’clock this morning. (We had a beautiful day today!) Previously, our breaks at that time were quite dark, but now the sun is starting to peek out over the mountains across the fjord. We are wrapping up our first book tomorrow and Monday we get new books. The Good Teacher Inga suggested if there were any grammatical rules we are still struggling with, that this weekend would be a good time to learn them since Monday we kick things up a notch. I still can’t form a proper sentence, so this next “chapter” in learning the language will be such a joy, I’m sure. I keep thinking things will just “click” one of these days but apparently I’ve misplaced my remote control as there’s not a whole lot of clicking going on with me.
Poor Morten, he got called into the Principal’s office yet again for probably the 100th time this year for another talking to after Kaleb complained about him. That kid takes more resources than the rest of the class combined. He’s been identified as having ADHD but the government here is very cautious when it comes to putting him on medication. I’m sure he’ll be grown and gone before he gets a prescription for anything as they use every means possible to help a child before they will give them drugs. Morten even has a full time “watch person” now that follows him everywhere and keeps an eye out for his actions, which has reduced his “incidents” a little, but he’s quick and can nail a kid in a flash, even with an adult standing right next to him.
Ragnhild asked to meet with Kory and I after school today and she explained all that they have done and will do to try and change the situation for Kaleb. She seemed quite devastated that he was so unhappy. I told her what I told the Principal, that they just can’t “talk” to the students about mobbing – they must put some consequences to the behavior as well. But she told us that the Norwegian laws are such that they are not allowed to do anything to the students except talk to them and notify their parents. She agrees it’s a hopeless situation and it makes her job very difficult, but she’s an eternal optimist and believes things will get better. She also told Kaleb he MUST tell her of every incident that happens and he also must learn the names of all the kids in the 4th class (all 90 of them) so if he gets nailed at recess again, he will be able to give a name to a teacher. (I suggested he just memorize the boy’s names.)
So Kaleb was very popular when he showed up at school today as many of his classmates feared he wouldn’t be coming back. Two of his favorite boys in the class asked if he was going to quit school. Both boys wanted to arrange a play date with him this weekend, so that was nice. This whole ordeal has at least increased his popularity. He was quite proud of himself for “making changes” that he feels will be good for everyone, but most especially for himself.
Kory and I both had an okay day. More of the same – he worked on a drawing and I went to school. I took the photo today out one of the windows in my new classroom at ten o’clock this morning. (We had a beautiful day today!) Previously, our breaks at that time were quite dark, but now the sun is starting to peek out over the mountains across the fjord. We are wrapping up our first book tomorrow and Monday we get new books. The Good Teacher Inga suggested if there were any grammatical rules we are still struggling with, that this weekend would be a good time to learn them since Monday we kick things up a notch. I still can’t form a proper sentence, so this next “chapter” in learning the language will be such a joy, I’m sure. I keep thinking things will just “click” one of these days but apparently I’ve misplaced my remote control as there’s not a whole lot of clicking going on with me.
No comments:
Post a Comment