Does anyone else watch Desperate Housewives? I love it, but the last episode was far from awesome. I actually thought it was quite weird/bad. All the daydreams about what might have been...I just wasn't really feeling it.
Anyway, for those of you who watch, the scene with Lynette and her son with disabilities completely irked me. It was somewhat uncomfortable for me to watch. Yet, when she pushed her son to make his own sandwich rather than relying on her to do everything for him, the smile that ensued on his face absolutely melted my heart. Then, when it skipped to his high school graduation, and he was the valedictorian...I completely lost it. I was hit with such a wave of emotion that I was literally shielding my face from my husband because I didn't want him to see my crying so hard.
I kept thinking in my head...yes...YES...this is what I do...this is why I go to work everyday...I want to make a difference in the lives of kids who have disabilities, that sometimes get written off becaue they are different, that sometimes don't have the same high expectations placed on them because of those differences. I was so moved by the idea of a child with challenges overcoming them to shine in the spotlight. In that moment, with tears on my face, my heart was swelling with pride for all the students that I have taught that have struggled, who have achieved goals, made progress, and experienced success. Tammy and Kelly whose faces lit up when they realized they won the gold medal in the bocce competition, Henry who no longer needs a completely different curriculum because he gets algebra now, Miss Maria who learned to be part of the class instead of wandering to the back table to engage her own class of invisible pupils in a Maria led mini-lesson, Sean who rocked out his sight words, and many more. Whether it's improving fine motor skills enough to tie a shoe or improving their reading level, any victory is special. These victories, big or small, touch my heart at the deepest possible level.
So, for as bad as I thought the episode was, it absolutely reinvigerated my love for special education and my passion for teaching students with disabilities.
2 comments:
I love DH but it is driving me crazy how they keep jumping back and forth in time. I spend so much time trying to figure out if it is present or future. That was a very touching part of the episode.
One of my favorite things is being able to put a smile on a child's face who always seems so sad. Hearing my students talk about what they like about school, rather than what they don't like; knowing that my students feel safe and willing to take risks in this learning environment is wonderful!
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