Carrie Link

TOP 10 THINGS SHARED WITH MY SON'S NEW TEACHER

Note: I renamed the Top 10 List as it implied my son's teacher was resistant to having Rojo, which he isn't in the slightest. Also, in all fairness, Rojo's WONDERFUL Resource Room Teacher and Assistant were in the meeting, and many of these actually came from them. I just got a little piggy with all the credit. We are blessed, blessed and more blessed with Rojo's school situation, and I could not be happier about it.

10. Rojo still has trouble writing left to write, top to bottom, and instead, will likely turn in a page of "nothing" that actually is brilliant, if only you can crack the code. BTW, there will only be capital letters - no lower case, and no cursive. If you let him work on a computer, his eyes will see what's in his brain, and will accurately show you his understanding of the assignment. It's 2008. Let's go with the computer.

9. Rojo cannot tie shoes, button/unbutton, or rip open a bag of snacks. He will need help with all these things.

8. Rojo will know the exact mood of every person in the school. He will also know their first and last name, and will assign many of them personal nicknames. He will be able to tell you all the members of their family, their ages, and the names of their pets.

7. Don't ask Rojo to draw - he either can't or won't or both, but it's not worth it. Instead, ask him to tell you the name of every single college in every single division. Then ask him to resort that information in his computer of a brain, and have him tell you, alphabetically, all the colleges with Bulldogs as their mascot (I believe there are 12 - but you'll need to have him verify that).

6. He will not stand in a line. He will stand adjacent to the line, but not in the line. Allow him to stand in the front. He is a born leader anyway. No - the others will not mind. No - this is not fair, but this is really not a big problem in the scheme of things, is it?

5. He will not be studying ancient civilizations in world history with the rest of his class. This is not relevant to him. Nor will he be picking a foreign country to study when the time comes. He will be studying the US. The boy has not travelled out of the Pacific Northwest. The rest of the country is foreign to him. He will teach you fun facts that will not be in any book, but will make your own appreciation of our fair country even richer. Trust me.

4. Don't ask him yes or no questions, you will get "I don't know." Ask him to tell you what was funny on TV last night and you'll get a 15 minute story that will have you laughing your ass off.

3. The other kids genuinely think he's funny, and will try to get him going. He is not the class mascot. Please discourage this.

2. All the great things you've heard about him from all the other teachers? True.

1. You will come into the school year with your heart one size, and will leave with it a minimum of two times bigger. This will not be painful, nor sudden, but long about March you will pull me aside and say, "I'm really going to miss Rojo next year." Happens every time.


* Photo from www.pfleghaar.com "Arrow Through the Heart"