Adaptation.

10:36 PM Posted In , Edit This 17 Comments »
PFFD. It the grand scheme of things...it's probably not that big of a deal, but, in my little corner of the world, it's something we know well. PFFD stands for Proximal Femoral Focal Deficiency. Or, I like to refer to this as "Stumpy McStumperson".

Let's go back a little ways. Not very long ago I ran across this boy that I thought seemed pretty cute, cool, arrogant, whatever you may call him. I really liked him and I wanted to get to know him better until my friend Weslie said, "isn't it crazy when Tyler takes off his leg to go swimming?" Well, imagine my surprise to hear the words "Tyler" and "TAKE OFF HIS LEG" used in the same sentence?!?! What could she POSSIBLY be talking about? After learning about his physical disability, I thought I would just call it quits. I didn't know him that well, we hadn't been out on a date yet, it would be easy for me to make a clean break, or, so I thought. At that point in my life, I honestly thought I was too shallow to date someone with a physical disability. I suppose I was just trying to see me for who I thought I really was, not someone I wanted to be. Nonetheless, I quieted my inner voice and decided to give Tyler a chance--and look where we are now...just a couple years later and we are happier now than we have ever been.

No one really knows what causes this birth defect; all we know is that it is environmental, meaning it is something that the mother has been exposed to during her pregnancy. I think, because he is my husband, that I sometimes take for granted the life he lives. I treat him just like I would anybody else in the world, but I sometimes forget that he is not anybody else in the world. Every time he wants to relax he has to take off his prosthesis, but if he wants to get up to get a drink, he has to put it back on. It malfunctions sometimes and currently is not working correctly which sometimes makes him a little anxious, as it should.

I guess the reason why I am talking about this is to say that my husband is a pretty amazing guy. I make fun of him A LOT, I am his toughest critic ALL THE TIME, but I love him more than anyone in this world ever could. He has done more in his 25 years than most will ever do in a lifetime. He has seen and photographed more of the world that I could ever imagine seeing. He is truly an amazing man that I am proud to be married to...most of the time, JUST KIDDING!!!

ANYWAY-- the REAL reason I am posting this is to tell you why he is so amazing...The other day, my students were reading a story about a little girl with CP (Cerebral Palsy). Our "essential question" for the week was; How do people with physical disabilities adapt to everyday life? Well, who better to talk about this than my husband?!?!? So, my husband came into my classroom full of starry-eyed young women to tell them what life is like without a leg. My girls had the BEST questions and thoughtful responses, one even asked if not having a leg ever made him want to cry...and I could answer that one, sometimes I want to cry. Sometimes he wants to cry. Sometimes, but only sometimes.

I wouldn't change one single thing about my husband. He is my love, my best friend, but most of all, my hero.

Homegirl's goin back to school. . .

9:57 PM Posted In , Edit This 1 Comment »
Well, it's true. I am going back to school. Yes, I have only just graduated, yes, I am AMAZED at the amount of work I already have, and yes, we are about to buy a home...but, the class is free and what I will learn will definitely benefit my students.

I must say, even though it is a small community college close to home, I still felt a slight buzz inside my belly as I walked the six flights of stairs to the education chair's office to be signed into a class. There were students walking all around trying to get signed into classes and waiting on their classes to begin. I guess it just proves that I love school. Sure, I will probably end up complaining about the class, I will probably dread going some weeks, but the fact of the matter is, I love learning. I love everything about learning. I love the excitement of going into something that you know nothing about only to come out on the other end full of great things to try in your very own classroom.

Thinking back to the beginning of summer, the last thing I wanted to do was even think about school. I didn't even want to go down the path of teaching. The last 5 years leading up to my master's degree was just overkill. I was basically over teaching for a while. It wasn't until I was working in my "summer job" (which I greatly loved) that I realized how much I missed teaching or being in school. Towards the end of August I realized I wasn't going to have my own classroom this year, I wasn't going to welcome students into a new year, and more poignant for me-- I wasn't going to have a first day of school. For the first time in over 15 years, I wasn't going to have a first day of school. Thus began the search for a new job.

I had some interviews set up, I had different leads taking me down different paths. I could have gone to kindergarten, pre-school, third grade...all of these jobs were open, but none of them really felt like they fit. I was just about to settle as a job in a kindergarten classroom as an extra teacher to accommodate an overage of students when I drove past the school. My only goal was to go inside and tell the principal that I had applied for his job, but I thought I should take a job elsewhere...Until I heard the story of what seemed like it could be titled, the little school that could. This school seemed like it was on the up and up; teachers that really cared, high expectations for the students, technology integrated into many aspects of the classroom. I left the school that day feeling so whole and complete- like I had finally found my home. I went straight to my dad's office to tell him about my interview experience. As I was second guessing my feelings he said the most important thing to me that I could have ever heard. He said, "Amy, can you imagine how you would feel if you had a part in one of those girls going to college?" and this really did it for me. These students are incredibly underprivileged, I can't imagine that we only live across the river from them because it seems as though we are worlds apart. My father's words have stuck with me after he told me a similar story from his beginning teaching job. He reminded me that although we may get frustrated with our students, we, as teachers may be all the students really have. I try to remember this every day when I get what seems like 10,000 stories about what's going on in their lives. I try to patiently listen and respond because I may be the only person these girls have to talk to.

I began working shortly there after and to say it was an tough road may be the understatement of the century. I was COMPLETELY out of my element. I didn't have a lot of experience in split classrooms, NO experience in split-gender classrooms, and NO experience in 4th grade. The only thing that I really knew was that they were students in need of a teacher and I would figure out a way to be the person they needed.

It would be easy to fall in love with kindergartners, little helpless things running around all day...but for me, it was just as easy to fall in love with my girls. Who would think I could love these 16 girls that are just on the edge of becoming sassy tweens? We have found common ground to stand on and I look forward to everyday I have with them. I worry about them when they aren't at school, I rejoice when they FINALLY understand something I have been telling them for the past 9 weeks, and I love when they come to me and let me know how much I mean to them. We are a little family on the third floor, and for this family, I can go back to school.
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