Domain 4: Rights and Responsibilities
2:30 p.m.

Elaboration:
Today at the end of the day, the students were watching a movie for thrilling Thursday. Students who still had homework to make up had to come to the work room. I was in the work room with several students. One of my math students came in with another teacher who called his dad because he was up to a detention. This "tough" boy who is often disrespectful started to cry. He was very angry and crying really hard. He picked up his math papers and sat down at his desk. He sat there refusing to make eye contact with anyone and crying. The other teachers left to supervise the movie room. I pulled up a chair beside his desk and told him if he needed any help with his homework he should let me know.
After sitting there and watching him cry for about a minute, I said, "I'm not sure what's going on. I don't know if you're just upset because you're in trouble or if something else is bothering you. I want you to know that even though I want you to get your math homework done, I care about you more. So, if you want to talk about what's going on we can talk about that and worry about your math homework later." After sitting in silence for about five minutes, I asked him to nod his head if he wanted to do his math. He shook his head. He finally told me that the reason he was crying is because he was scared to go home. He told me that when he gets in trouble at school his dad hurts him. I stayed calm and listened to him a bit longer. When he became silent again I went and talked to my teacher who was in the hallway. She ended up talking to the Vice Principal and tried to find the school social worker. After talking to the homeroom teacher, they said there has been some suspicion before. They did not send him home after school.

Analysis:
This is one of the more sobering things I have encountered. This child struggles a lot with anger issues, is often disrespectful, and almost never gets things done at home. However, it seems that he has a lot going on underneath the surface. It breaks my heart to know that this child is going through so much. I feel glad that he trusted me enough to tell me. I am a little concerned about whether or not he will actually get any help. This is one of those areas in teaching where teachers are held to a high responsibility. There is a possibility they may ask me more questions. I'm not exactly sure how to cope with all of this, but I know that I must trust it will be taken care of and so will the student.