I had a different post here, all about the Issues of Living With An Older Internationally Adopted Kid. I decided to delete it.
I'll just leave the note from Angelo's ESL teacher (below). Angelo does not want to be in ESL--he feels he doesn't belong there. I get depressed when I get notes like this. I don't like having a kid that makes other kids cry and is rude to the adults at school.
Here's the funny part, the part that leaves us scratching our heads: Here we are, wondering if Angelo can handle a regular high school English class. At age sixteen, he's had only three-and-a-half years of school in the U.S., in addition to some English and math at the orphanage in Haiti. He didn't attend school at all until he went to the orphanage at about age eleven.
And Angelo tells the counselor he doesn't want to be in English I, he wants to be in English II.
The really confusing thing is that he told her the same thing about Spanish. He wants to take Spanish. He told the counselor, however, that he knows enough Spanish to take Spanish II, not Spanish I.
He doesn't speak Spanish. He didn't come from a country where they speak Spanish. His Spanish is limited to the Spanish we all know (taco, burrito, adios, hola). Sometimes I don't know what the heck he's thinking.
Note from ESL teacher:
I would be happy to recommend Angelo for Upward Bound. I'm not sure, though, if
this is something he would do this summer or during the regular school year. I
tutored in that program one year and worked with a student after school.
Knowing how Angelo doesn't like to accept help with his work, I wouldn't think
he would want to do this. But if he would be involved in some classes or such,
I think it would be good for him.
I don't know if Angelo told you that I sent him to talk with the counselor one
day this week. Something made him unhappy, and he wouldn't cooperate with me at
all. He said some mean things to a girl who usually sits at his table, and the
girl ended up crying. (Some days it's impossible to keep everyone smoothed out!)
I understand that he told the counselor (He saw Mr. Smith, because Mrs. Jones
wasn't available.) that he didn't want to be in ESL because it was a waste of
his time. My thinking on this is that he certainly qualifies for ESL, but one
of the main benefits in high school is that students can get help with the
mainstream classes when they need it. Since Angelo isn't willing to accept
help, and he's "offended" by being in the class, it might not be serving a very
useful purpose. He has come to my classroom one or two times when a teacher
sent him here to take a test, but it's rare. I think he should go ahead and
take English I next year. I have a lot of students who do that - many with less
ability and/or English than Angelo - and they do OK. He's so determined that I
think he'll figure out how to be successful.
I think Angelo has a really sweet side to him, but he's often defensive. Some
days he seems to be at ease and I think I'm making some headway with him, but at
other times things fall apart. I will continue to try to do what is best for him.
Please keep me posted about things.
