wailing wall

In no way do I intend to offend anyone by referring to this stand-alone wall as the wailing wall.  I'm giving this wall that title for a different reason. 

As you may remember, my classroom and the adjoining tech lab got flooded several months ago and MaryAnne and I were placed in other buildings.

A couple of days after I moved to my new classroom,  maintenance leveled our old classroom building. . .except for this wall.  Every day as I enter through the back gate, I look at this wall; and for some time now the words wailing wall has entered my mind.

Then I thought about the handful of students over the years that have ended up wailing in my room.  Wailing as in crying...shoulder shaking sobbing because they didn't want to write. 

 "I don't know what to write about," they would say.

"I don't know how to do this," they would cry.

Some children would meet me for the first time with preconceived notions that I was mean because their brother or sister or mother or father had had me as their teacher in the past. 

 I told these handful of  children, "I'm strict.  I have a job to do.  You have a job to do.  There are NO other choices here."   And by the way, I told them that in a nice way and gave them chances to gain their confidence with writing by rewarding them for any tiny bit of progress they made as the weeks rolled by.

 
  
 
 In the end of every school year, this handful of children did indeed show progress and scored decently on the FCAT Writing Test.  In the end of every school year, I was proud that the wailers and criers did their job after I did mine.

In the very near future this wall will be dismantled from the underground wiring and torn down and all that will be left will be faint wisps of a memory of writing with Mrs. George.
 
 

Comments

[sherry pearl]

This is a very sad blog today. I do believe I'm wailing.

[Mary Anne]

This is a wailing wall for me. I wasn't ready for you to retire in May or June, yet the flood brought our separation even earlier. Miss you. Enjoy! I lood forward to catching up on you through your blog.