Day 42

Short and sweet today! Zack was back at school, but he's still really stuffy and had an ear ache today. I hope he can keep healthy! He sometimes has a harder time working when he doesn't feel good, but what six or seven-year-old doesn't?! He actually brailled a few CVC words on his own and read them today. His vision teacher was so excited I had to come see the commotion, and he read me the words he had just brailled. Apparently the vision teachers have been working on getting him to use his fingers in different combinations (the brailler he has has three keys for each hand, and he pushes one or a combination of several to make each letter), and he did it on his own. I came over to have him read to me, and he asked me, "Are you blind with me?" I think maybe he was asking me if I could read braille. . .it was sweet. I said, "No, Zack, I'm not, but I wish I could understand braille like you can!" I made a point to call on him during the high-frequency word section of our reading this afternoon, and I asked the vision teacher and Zack to pick out the word. He did just fine on it, and the teacher and I talked for a bit at the end of the day. She was very encouraging about how I am including him just like the other kids, and it was great to hear that feedback. I've really been working on thinking about the things I'm reading in the textbook (not talking over his head, expecting the same from him, not making him feel like he's being treated like a baby), and those thoughts from her were just what I needed to hear.
Poor Zack had two kids crying and fighting about being his partner today, so we quickly created a list of the class (split by boys and girls) to make it fair. We'll just go down the list, and whoever is next can be his partner that day. Who would have thought he'd be our number one partner? The kids are getting even better about treating him like an equal, and I'd like to think it has something to do with my interactions with him and the modeling and explaining I've done with them. Who knows--kids are naturally smart and good with one another, so I don't want to take any credit where it's not due!