A Humbling Teaching Moment

Perhaps the most humbling teaching moment during my months in Georgia occurred today my time with the 4^th grade class. The story needs to be prefaced with the following. Unlike in the US, in Georgia, students with mental or cognitive disabilities or delays usually are not in the public schools. Mainstreaming, as Americans know it, is rare to non-existent here. However, at my school, we have 35 students with varying mental and learning disabilities. Most attend classes together, but several, mostly younger students, are integrated into the classroom with their peers for part or all of the day. This is an amazing thing in Georgia, as when we arrived we were told that children with such handicaps would not be a part of the school, and that most parents would not want their child in a class with such students. I was shocked to hear this, and I am sure it did not sit well with many of my fellow teachers. It is just so not what we are accustomed to in the United States. On the show Glee, one of the characters, Sue Sylvester, uses the word “handicapable” when she talks about her sister with Downs Syndrome. I like that a lot. More people should adopt that.

In 4^th grade, one of the integrated students, as they are known at the school, is with his class. I’ve had a soft spot for Gio since my first day in his class, when he repeatedly tried to introduce himself in English to me. Today while the students read about Giorgi eating ice cream, I could see that Gio was getting impatient. He needed something to redirect his attention. As the other was helping the other students, I sat by Gio and we worked on simply writing the letters “L” and “J”. Immediately, he became focused on the task at hand. His handwriting was much neater than many Americans’ I have seen, that is for sure. Soon we began reviewing words from his book, which he knew. It was hard to hold back the tears, especially knowing that so many other children like him were never given such opportunities to learn, or let alone excel at their level. Gio continued to impress me with just how much he did know, and at one point he turned around to tell one of the other students to be quiet and not to give him the answer. It was great. Being able to help teach Gio is a great blessing; I wish I had the opportunity to be in the class everyday to get to work with him more. I hope that his presence in the classroom will help to give other students likes him the same opportunity and help to change attitudes throughout the country.