This boy came from China and entered kindergarten not knowing or speaking one sound of the English language. His first day of school, he vomited black bean casserole all over his regular classroom. All throughout kindergarten and most of first grade, he never produced a lot of language. He was more of a crying tableau rasa than social butterfly. About halfway through second grade last year, he started to come out of his shell because instead of just absorbing the English language, he now had a better sense of understanding the language. With that came more confidence which led to more smiling and more reaction to what was happening around him. He began to have more interaction with classmates, his teachers, and ultimately the culture around him.
So when he saw his blog topic and burst out into song after looking at it, I literally could not have been any prouder. He could read the topic, understood the reference to the wildly popular movie, and felt comfortable enough with me to SING his excitement with a smile on his sweet face. He has made SO MUCH progress since his first day of kindergarten, and he still has a long way to go. I know my help is just a very small part of his success. One of the benefits of my position is that I get to work with my kids from grades K through 5, pending they don't move or test out of my services. I get to watch them grow and progress because I am right there with them every step of the way through elementary school. I become sincerely invested in them and these kids become comfortable with me.
After he sang his blog topic to me, I couldn't help but respond with my own excitement, "Come on! Let's go and play!!" It was a moment clearly showing that hard work pays off.