I am the Student, They are my Teachers

I have a some what unhealthy addiction to reading a million blogs about families with Children with different needs.  I recent started reading one about a young man with an incredible mom who sees him for who God created him to be.

I recently read this blog post which taught me so much.  I've always seen the beauty in my students.  They are wonderful and as much as I get frustrated they never disappoint me.  The most beautiful part of this post is where the mom says 'I promised to always be your student.' That is sooooOooo true!  As much as I want my students to do what I want when I want, they are each different.  Why should I expect one to do exactly what the others are doing? God has given then talents and skills and if I don't take a step back and learn from them, I'm not honoring God.

Last week I got a new student.  His mom told us that she never had him at a school where they had positive things to say about him.  I couldn't believe it!  Sure he punched us and kicked us, spit on us with ridiculous accuracy and frustrated us, but he had amazing moments where I wanted to cry because I was so proud.  I was so proud of the staff and how they worked with him, stayed late to update and change things daily to find other things that might work.

When we were trying to figure out how to get him to calm down, I realized I needed to take a step back and see what he had already developed as coping skills so we could build upon those skills.  Why should I reinvent the wheel on this one?  He is teaching us, and what we learn, we will help him turn into skills he can use on a daily basis.

So on Monday, I'm going to look at my students differently.  They aren't there for me to teach.  I am there to se what God has given them, and help them redefine those skills?  For what reason except to glorify the creator of this world and everything in it.