Ode to Donovan

I have been really blessed this year to have several volunteers from BYU. A lot of them have been friends that I went to Jerusalem with. They are education majors (history teacher, English teaching, etc.) who are taking a class on students with disabilities and they fulfill their volunteer hours with me! I absolutely love it because it's so helpful to have an extra person in the classroom. It's amazing how many students need one-on-one help or at the least small group instruction.
I had a lot of volunteers last semester, but I haven't really run into anyone this semester who is taking the class. This all changed when I randomly went to another classroom to clarify a homework assignment during 1st period about 5-6 weeks ago. Guess who I saw in the hall working with some students? A good JC friend, Donovan Sanchez! I could hardly believe it (he was pretty surprised to see me too!). I found out he was taking that class, and I invited him to volunteer in my classroom! He had to take work off, but he volunteered every Tuesday from 8-11. Sadly this last Tuesday was his last day. (Something about fulfilling the hours he needed to and going back to work...what ere.)

I loved having him in my classroom because he worked so well with the kids! There were several boys who worked really well for him. Yes! This last Tuesday, Donovan told me that one of the boys he had helped found out he was done and wouldn't be coming back and he said, "No! I like you." Then he said something about Donovan being awesome. Isn't that great?!

I love it when soon-to-be educators volunteer in my classroom because they get to see what happens with assignments that general ed teachers give students with disabilities. It generally takes them longer and it is harder for them to finish large and long assignments. I know Donovan will be a great teacher.

Just because I love pictures, I have to add these. If you remember, I took pictures of all of my WolfPack (homeroom) kids and put them on my door. Well, I gave students the chance to re-take their pictures at the beginning of the semester. I decided to re-take mine as well. So, before Donovan left last week, I asked him to take a quick picture of me. Now, from previous experience in Jerusalem, I know Donovan can be a bit...tricky when it comes to taking pictures. (He took several pictures that were not attractive due to the fact that they were zoomed in so much!) So I took an example picture of him and showed him what I wanted my picture to look like. Here are the results:





Not bad, eh?

-Ms. Damron-