I know this one is blurry! Sorry! This is an African-American male student who is partially deaf. His mother is completely deaf. He wears hearing aids in both ears, which makes for a bad day if he doesn't put them in. He gets very frustrated and tends to have anger issues anyways. He is self concious about them and doesn't like attention to be called to them. I asked if he minded me taking the picture and his only request was that I do it after class (he is in my last class) so that no one would see.
This is one of several cheer/dance team members that I have. She is a caucasian girl in my Pre-AP class. She struggles some to keep up, but tries really hard to hide it. For the most part however, she is an average student who aims higher than where she is and usually pulls herself up eventually.
This student is a caucasian male in my Pre-AP Arkansas History class. The camo he is sporting is due to a football injury. He is very intelligent and a wonderful student. Right now, however, he is experiencing alot of difficulties with his assignments because of his cast--it is his writing hand. He did mention the other day, however, that he will never get frustrated with people who take notes slower than he (normally) does and ask for things to be repeated. Since he has had to slow down, he knows what it's like now.
These two hands belong to one of three sets of twins that I have spread out in my classes. These two girls are both in my Pre-AP class. One of them has a 504 plan for ADHD with medication. They are both very good students but you can always tell which one struggles. The one with ADHD takes longer on tests than her sister, gets frustrated easily, and has very messy handwriting. I have been told that in the classes she does not share with her sister, she is very unorganized and falls behind, so their schedules have been arranged so that they share classes or at least have the same teachers.
This belt buckle belongs to an African-American male student who is one of the greatest kids I have ever met. He has a lot of focus issues and receives special education, although he is in the gen. ed. classroom full time. He is very self motivated and very concerned with keeping up and staying on track. He makes my day whenever he comes to me and says "I'm sorry Mrs. Wilson, I didn't get that, could you go through it again?" He is one that TRIES, even when he is frustrated. He also has a stuttering problem, which is often present when he is struggling with something or didn't catch something the first time. He often relates things to rodeo terms (observe the belt buckle with the word CHAMPION at the top...he has tons of these, which just tickles me...you would have to know him to get why). Since he does this, I often try to use analogies or examples that will help him this way in class, and most of the rest get it to.
I put this one on here because this student reminds me of, well, me. This is an African-American male in my only World History class. Everyday he has an extra shirt with him-in case something happens to the other one-he lays it out on the desk next to him just like this so that it doesn't get creased. He goes through more Germ-X than any other student and often offers to help me with my twice weekly disinfecting of my classroom. We get each other. He is also very smart, but panics on tests and bombs them. I have started letting him take the test and then I go back through it with him to see if he does better orally. This has been a huge help for him.
This is another set of twins-African American boy and girl. Actually, they have a similar story as the other set. She is an overachiever and academics come easily (and she knows it), but he struggles a lot. He is also ADHD, with medication. Unlike the twin girls above, these two do not help each other that much. In fact, it practically took an act of Congress to get them to agree to the picture.
These glasses represent a young lady in my 1st period Pre-AP class. She is Hispanic American-her mother was born in Honduras and her father is American. She was born here in America. She is very intelligent, and often helps other Hispanic students who are not as proficient in English (this is in other classes, she is the only Hispanic student in this class of mine, but other teachers have mentioned it)
This is a group shot (from the back) of my 2nd period AR History class. Notice all the sweaty boys who just got out of football-thanks Coach Wright. I put this one on here because it is my most diverse class all around based on ethnicity, abilities, exceptionalities, etc.
This was probably my favorite one. This picture is of a Michael Jordan earring. It belongs to one of my African American male students. He wears this everyday and was tickled that I wanted a picture of it--which is an accomplishment in itself. He is low socioeconomic, low achieving, and recently was tested to see if he qualifies for special education. He also wears glasses, but refuses to wear them, which is where a lot of his problems come from.
Okay, so I had some technical issues with permission forms--my principal told me I would have to get a separate form signed because the one the parents signed from the handbook only covers the district website. I didn't get very many back yet, so I improvised-no faces, just symbols of some of my kids that makes them unique. This is just a sampling...my kids cross several barriers of diversity, but this is a pretty rounded out selection.
