RE: [gradtalk] gradtalk

[ellerkara@netscape.net]

i appreciate everyone's sharing how their community is handling this
horror.  i teach 10th grade english in virginia, 50 miles east of
richmond--this is my first year teaching, and yesterday it was difficult
to maintain my usually patient front for students--i found myself not
being able to handle one of my student's ignorance--he asked me why it
mattered was happening in new york & why football practice was cancelled.  
at the time i was worried about my own family and friends who work in
those areas and couldn't seem to answer him with the patience and
understanding i should have.  some of you have spoken to the reactions of
young teenagers and how difficult it can be for them to handle emotions
like that, and i completely agree--for many of them, their lives have been
so isolated from any concept of connection to rest of the country, much
less the world, so they honestly cannot begin to grapple with the
magnitude of yesterday's events and the way they have altered the world
forever.

one of my students came to me at the end of first period this morning
asking if he could turn in his homework tomorrow as he, tear-choked,
attempted to explain that his cousin and possibly his aunt, were trapped
inside the world trade center when it collapsed.  my heart split in two as
this boy who is usually stone-faced, broke down before me.  i have wanted
to have them write about this, but many of them are not ready, and for
some it is too painful to even mention right now--another of my students
still doesn't know if her grandparents were on one of the flights that
left from boston, she can't get in touch with them, but knew they were on
a flight early that morning from boston to the west coast.  i am thinking
of having them write in their journals over the weekend, so they have some
private time to reflect first.

thanks to everyone for opening up this forum for us to get support.  i
feel like i don't know what the right thing to do is as a teacher of
teenagers...i'm just taking it as it comes, sensing the needs of my
students, and balancing them with my own.

kara eller,
tappahannock, va