Today, I was fortunate to interpret a meeting for a volunteer and a mother. We were lucky enough to be gifted with Joan for two weeks. She is a special education teacher turned consultant for teachers and her contribution to our project will be felt long after she leaves. Because of her background, we placed her in Damas, where I am the primary volunteer coordinator to work with the two special education students in Kindergarten in the class with the teacher, Gretel, and another GVI volunteer, Sophie.

After observing both little boys, Joan, Sophie and Gretel sat down and created a plan of action. Both boys are bright and full of potential, but one is very hyper which leads him to create chaos in class, and the other struggles to participate because he can’t speak properly and seems to struggle with hearing, but is eager to be a part of the group and works well with one-on-one attention. For Mr. Hyper, Joan took charge of taking him on walks to see the many butterflies around the school until he is calm enough to return to class. Next, she and Sophie worked with Mr. Eager to help him feel comfortable working with the group by always standing by him or sitting next to him during table work. In just one week, the class was calmer, Mr. Hyper was behaving better, and Mr. Eager with initiating high-fives and completing all class projects.

Today, Joan sat down with Mr. Eager’s Mom who worries that as a five year old he doesn’t speak,  and acts out when frustrated. Although she lives close by, she sometimes feels ashamed bringing him to class because she doesn’t want to create more work for the teacher. Joan assured her that he is very capable and just needs a new learning strategy. As I type this, Joan and Sophie are busily creating pictures of classroom and home actions and objects that Mr. Eager can use on a daily basis in class and at home. The hope is that he will associate the pictures with the task at hand and will continue learning even if he can’t hear or understand the instructions well. I am so grateful for the work and hope Joan and Sophie have brought to this classroom and to Mr. Eager’s Mom. Thank you for amazing work, ladies!