HDEC 104 - Learning Narrative

At the beginning of last year I was somewhat devastated that the administration at my new school thought I was best fit to work with grades 6 and 7. I voiced my concerns and we came to an agreement that I would be primarily in grades 6 and 7 but also get to work with the Junior and Senior Kindergarten classes. I had the amazing opportunity of working with all grades last year. Working with grade 6's and 7's I witnessed some of the changes marking adulthood that occurred during puberty, what a fun time that was for my students! I remember chaperoning dances and thinking I felt awkward for their awkwardness. 

      One of the first grade 6 girls I met had just lost her dad to cancer. She had a very tough time all year. She had actually left her previous school because she was bullied after her demeanour dramatically changed. It was very difficult to work with her as she would lash out in class, speaking rudely to her peers and teachers, and refuse to do any class work. She began to work with the school councillor to have a trained professional to talk to. The experience made me realize how very little I knew about the process of bereavement and how to help a child cope. Then, just as I thought I was gaining some confidence in helping support her, a child in kindergarten lost her father suddenly. It was a completely different experience with her than it was with the older student. The kindergarten student did not express as many emotions at school, although her demeanour did change. She also left the school at the end of the year, and I found it interesting that in both cases the child switched to a different school after the death of a parent. 

      My last experience with the learning outcomes of HDEC 104 was dealing with the death of my grandmother this year while working with my 8 junior kindergarten students. I started an activity near the beginning of the year where my class passes around  heart shaped rock in the morning during circle. While each student is holding the rock, they may choose to share how they are feeling that day, using a thumbs up or down nonverbal cue, or saying how they are feeling on a scale of 1-10, or just smiling and passing the rock along. At first, the exercise was very difficult as my students were very young and had not yet developed the empathetic skills of listening to another share his/her feelings. Throughout the next few months I would share how I was feeling, as well as how my Nonna was feeling. My students began to ask on a daily basis "how is Nonna?" and it made my heart melt. The purpose of the morning activity is for each student to learn how they can be extra sensitive or help other students who are maybe sad in the morning cause they had to leave mom or dad at the door. I have a rambunctious group that is very divided in students who are extremely excited to come to school and do not bother saying goodbye to their caregiver, and then those who require a little extra time to say goodbye. 

      When my Nonna passed away in February I took a few days off work, and when I returned one of my students asked how I was doing, why was I away, and then asked is it because of Nonna? I was amazed, that the student had possibly remember when I was away in November because my Nonna was in the hospital. I explained that it was because of Nonna, that she was ill and now she is no longer with us. The student asked why and I looked to my co-worker and then back to the student and explained because she died. Her body was so old that it stopped working. I was not sure if it was okay to be so honest with my student, who was only 5 years old. I wanted to make sure that I did not disrespect any of my students cultural beliefs of the process of dying, and I was not about to discuss religious beliefs of what happens next. 

      I believe that I have experienced the learning outcomes of HDEC 104, but am very much still learning how to use the learning outcomes in practice. It is one thing to read about the theory, but an entirely different thing to experience it in reality.