My Job

A lot of people are confused with what I do. I am not sure why there is a confusion, but I am going to try explain it. My job title is a Resource Specialist. Yes I do have my own classroom on campus and I do see students throughout the day. There are two categories of what I do. First, students who have disabilities (learning disabilities, speech problems, autism, add or visual problems) and if they are below grade level, then they come into my classroom for hour or more depending on their need and I work with them in a small group to help them get better at the skill they are working on. The second area of my job is talking (consulting/collaborating) with teachers on students who have problems in their classroom. Then we will set up a meeting and I will test a student and find out if there is an academic problem or not and if they end up having an academic problem they start coming to RSP. BTW this is the shorter version of the explanation. :)

Anyway, a few weeks ago they called me from the district office letting me know that they are going to need me to homeschool a six year old girl who has cancer. My first reaction was Do I have too! Then after thinking about it for a while I thought it is a good learning opportunity for me and I will be helping this little girl. So yesterday was my first day with her. I walked into her home and there she was...really cute no hair (all shaved or fallen out cause of chemo) and the biggest smile on her face! Her mom told me later she was waiting anxiously to see me. She was looking forward to her teacher. We worked together and she was the best student I have ever had! Of course she does not have a disability..she is just being homeschooled while she is going through with chemo. But she is such a strong girl. She tried so hard to do everything perfectly. She would write a letter and if it went out of the line she would apologize (so cute!) and for a 6 year old shes got the best handwriting I have seen -even compared to the typical students!

Anyway, the cancer she has is Ewing's Sarcoma. It is a rare case of bone cancer which usually happens to teenagers, but unfortunately happened to this little six year old. At first I had a fear that it might be too depressing to work with her, but after yesterday and today I have grown to becoming more fond of her. She is so sweet and so strong! and I pray she gets better soon! It is amazing how we think we can't handle certain things but God knows better. With this new student of mine God is also teaching me to be grateful for all the people we have around us and to savor each moment! I will try to be back tomorrow!