a student made me cry

blasted journal writing prompt. it's a good thing i wore my water proof mascara today.

i try to improve my kids' writing skills by making them write short periods of time everyday. and at least twice a week, i ask them to respond to a journal writing prompt.

yesterday, i asked them to write at least 10 sentences on the topic "I love hanging out with _______ "

while sophomores made it seem like they were having all their teeth pulled. my freshmen were more receptive.

i have a slim and shorty in my class. instead of a couple, these two are tight best friends, more like brothers. slim and shorty both have a bit of a speech defect, but for some reason, they understand each other perfectly. they both serve as translators for each other.

and yes, i have both of them in the same class.

anyway, so shorty has been writing intently on his journal, and took a few minutes longer to finish his work. when he finished, he handed me his journal and told me to read it. so i did. "read it out loud," he said. i was surprised. normally they don't want to share journal entries.

i cleared my throat and read...

"...me and my girl made a promise to each other that we will be there for each other no matter what. we both hope and pray that some day we will marry and have our own family, but for now we just want to be together. i love hanging out with my girl because she makes me feel so happy and important."

the two female girls in that class were also moved by his entry. i looked at him and said. "shorty, why you do dat? you be making me cry now, that ain't funny." we all burst out laughing.

but i did cry. you see, (i know this will sound corny) most of the kids i have in my classes come from tough homes, mostly single parent families and most of the time, they are seen as trouble makers or "retards" in their other classes. my kids may take more time to learn what the other kids are studying, but they can learn. and they can be as soft and mushy as any "well behaved" regular ed young lady or gentleman.

sure i can tell shorty that this is all puppy love and you know "better not get your girl pregnant lest you wanna be someone's baby daddy" but i am not jaded like that. i just patted him on the shoulder and said "that was an awesome journal entry, shorty, i am happy that you and your girl have dreams together."

with that he gave me a sheepish grin. he was hugged by his girl classmates and slim and another guy classmate shook on it.

this is my family, and i sure am thankful to have these kids with me.