Welcome #sol23

March 22, 2023

I know you don’t want to come with me.   You rise so slowly from the comfort of your classroom group piled like kittens on the rug.  Your face shows it all.  I move toward the door, but you don’t follow right behind.  You move like molasses coming out of the jar smoothly and not-so-smoothly at the same time.  You are walking through deep water and are contemplating turning around.  

We have just cleared the door and turned in the hallway toward the literacy center.  

Why do I have to go with you?  

The words are daggers and I try not to react.  I turned toward you.  I pause.  I smile.  

You were busy at chorus class  this morning, so on Mondays and Wednesdays we see each other in the afternoon.  I am hoping that it is just the change in time, not the actual act of coming to intervention time. 

I will not be this lucky today. 

No,  why do I have to come out of my class so much?  Why do I go with you, Mrs. H., Mrs. K?  The frown is undeniable now.  

I pause again.  In my head, I am thinking about all of the adult choices that have come to these tier 3 moments.  Are we doing the best thing?  Are we moving her forward?  Is this just her resistance to the cognitive load we haven’t given her in the past? 

I begin listing out the answers.  Mrs. H. helps you with your English, right?  There is a barely perceptible nod.  Mrs. K reads with you, so you can practice your reading.  I pause again.  She eyes me warily.  

When we get to the literacy center,  I say, do you want to read or work on phonics? 

What is phonics? she says.

That’s when we work on our words and spelling. 

I want to do phonics. 

We move on to our regular routine.  I tell myself again, it’s just the time change.  I will be thinking about this for a while.  … and working on my welcome. ..