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Friday, March 19, 2021

SLICE #19- Are they ok?


 She is one of those kids whose brilliance takes your breath away. 
A straight A student.
Fully fluent in two languages. 
Articulate. Organized. Responsible. 
A kid who emails a question, 
then immediately emails again
to thank me for responding.

Her brother is also in my class. 
Not quite as strong academically,
But a super great kid.
Hard working. Respectful. Kind.
The kid who manages the chat box for me. 

Their lives are like those of 90% of my students.
Family in Mexico. 
Mom a single parent,
Recently remarried.
Not a lot of money. 
We are in a hybrid model. 
Their family has elected to stay remote. 
I've only seen the kids in person a few times.
Most recently, about a month ago, 
when I ran by their house with a Valentine present. 

Tonight, I can't stop thinking about them. 

It's because of something 
that happened in class today. 
I was reading aloud to the kids
from our district's e-book library. 
I was sharing my screen.
I don't have a fancy setup,
just a single screen
and when I project a book,
I can't see the kids. 

I'm reading along,
and all of a sudden,
I hear a string of expletives.
A man's voice yelling.
A child responding in a raised voice.
More yelling. Crying.
I don't recognize the voice,
and by the time I get my screen minimized 
to see what's happening
my kids have told my sweet
Straight-A girlie
to mute herself. 
To that point, she had been
 in full-on participation mode. 
After this, she doesn't say another word
for the next 45 minutes of class.

And so tonight, 
with the weekend looming
I can't stop thinking about them.
Are they ok?
Who was yelling? Why?
Does it happen often?
If it does, is there anything I can do?

I know I'm going to spend the weekend
worrying about them.
Are they ok?

1 comment:

Ramona said...

Of course, you will worry. These are the things that keep teachers awake at night and trouble our days.