A visit to Pookie’s class

I was finally able to visit Pookie’s class today. I had planned on volunteering in his classroom every other Friday, going to Geetle’s the other Fridays. Geetle’s teacher is on board and waiting for me to come. Pookie’s teacher was a bit harder to pin down. She skirted my questions about volunteering every other Friday, so I said I wanted to come visit today. Not to volunteer, just to watch. She said OK.

I think she is leery of volunteers because there are only 4 kids in Pookie’s class and 3 teachers/aides. I understand that. But if they do not need me to “help” then I still want to visit. Its important for us to know what he does all day at school. Pookie does not really tell us anything specific about school; he can’t. He will answer questions, if they are asked in the right way. But, we cannot ask those questions until we know what to ask about! So, that is why I always want to visit school. If I can help while I am there…great. But my main reason is to go and understand what he does at school.

I know she is also leery of volunteers because she has to be careful that someone like me (untrained, just an Autism amateur) does not inadvertantley reinforce bad behavior in the classroom. I know that is a risk and I agree that its important. Last year, when I went to Pookie’s class, I helped during Art class and at the reading center. There is no wrong way to help a kid in Art class or a wrong way to listen to them read. This year, with a teacher and 2 aides, for only 4 students, I knew that my “helping” was not really needed. Last year it was, but that class was 11 kids, 1 teacher, 1 aide. I know that is a big difference. Maybe that is why she is not eager for me to come.

I guess she might think I am coming to check up on her. But I am not. I honestly just need to see him in school, both the kids in school, so that I can be involved in what they do. I cannot imagine not knowing what the classroom looks like and how it runs. I send them to school for 30 hours a week. I need to know what they do there. Not to check up on how the teachers perform or make sure they are doing their jobs. Just because I need to visualize the enviroment and feel like I understand it. When you talk to me on the phone, you can rest assured that I am imagining you in your house, sitting on your couch, petting your cat. If I did not know what your house looked like and what your cat’s name was, I might as well be talking to a Robodialer. I get alot more out of our phone conversation because I feel like I am sitting next to you on that couch.

So, she finally let me come visit today, and I am glad I did. I saw Pookie do good work with a Fall counting/coloring project. I saw him do independent desk work involving rhyming words and patterns. I saw him to a worksheet on money and one on clocks. I am proud to report that all that good coloring we have been seeing come home WAS really done by Pookie. He hates to color…or maybe he used to hate it. He is getting pretty good at it now. So good, in fact, that we feared the teacher/aides were doing Hand-over-hand with him and that coloring was not really his. But it is.

Now I know which boy is which. I know that the individual work areas are called each child’s “office.” I know that what Pookie’s kindergarten teacher called “Creative Play Area” this teacher calls the “Leisure Area.” I know that the lunchroom and gym are right down the hall, but that the library is upstairs. I know that Pookie has to start out with broken crayons each day, but that if he promises not to break any more, he gets to use new fresh ones. I know that his color is blue (blue folder, blue attendance card, blue chair, etc) These are good things to know.

I had a lot of fun today, but I do not think I will go “volunteer” every other Friday. While they welcomed me today, I could tell that the teacher thought my presence was odd and kind of a one-time thing.

That makes me sort of sad.

I like to go to school. I like to see the kids in their environments, Pookie and Geetle both. I like to know what they are talking about when they mention the “Reading Ranch” or their “office.” I like to see them do worksheets and think about each answer. I like to know the names and faces of their classmates.

I think I will plan on going to Geetle’s class room most Fridays. Pookie’s teacher does not seem to want to set up a schedule of days when I will visit his classroom. I guess that is fine. But I am still going. I think I will plan a visit every 3rd or 4th Friday, going to Geetle’s room the other weeks. I will not make a big deal of it, and not even act like its a regular thing. I will just write her on a Wednesday and ask if I can come on that Friday. It will be a schedule, without her even knowing.

I just gotta go to school. I just gotta.

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