progress.

Today I really felt like I affected a kid in a positive way.

The kid in question is Earl. Earl is a 19 year old senior. He used to be a ward of the state, which means he used to live with foster families. Since he turned 18 he moved in with some older guys that he knew and now he is supporting himself by working part time at night and coming to high school every day. Beyond doing all of that he also has a kid. He got a girl pregnant a year and a half ago and eventhough the girl and him broke up, he is still really involved with the baby and tries to take responsibility for it. He is a good kid.

In addition to everything else going on for Earl he is also a special ed kid. Like most of the kids I teach he reads and writes WAY below grade level. He is probably at around a 4th grade reading level and his writing is very hard to understand.

Anyway last week I chose Earl for a public speaking opportunity. Two of my usual picks were going to be out of class that day so I decided to go with Earl. He had never done anything like that before and he did not want to. He told me I had made a mistake and that he wouldn't be good at it. But I told him I really wanted him to and that I had chosen him because I knew he could totally do it. So he did it. He did a really good job. He was so determined and he practiced really hard and it really paid off. I was so proud of him on Friday and today I have never seen him work harder. He came to class on time he got right to work and he didn't talk to anyone. He was great. I think I made him see a different side to himself. I feel like this is why I wanted to teach.