With Eunice.

There was a time when a child thought being slow meant being less.
He would count how many words he missed.
He would notice the whispers.
He would go home and try again — not because he loved reading yet, but because he didn’t want to feel small.
Every night, he practiced.
Every morning, he tried again.
Not perfect.
Not the fastest.
But determined.
And somewhere between the fear and the effort,
confidence quietly began to grow.
This is what we sometimes forget —
behind every struggling learner is a child fighting a battle we don’t always see.
And sometimes, all they need
is a room that believes in them long enough
for them to believe in themselves.

With Eunice. 🌿

𝑾𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒂 𝑪𝒉𝒊𝒍𝒅 𝑰𝒔 𝑳𝒂𝒃𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝑩𝒆𝒇𝒐𝒓𝒆 𝑯𝒆 𝑰𝒔 𝑻𝒂𝒖𝒈𝒉𝒕

Some children 𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐠𝐠𝐥𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐜𝐚𝐧’𝐭 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧, but because they 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐧’𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐞𝐝 𝐲𝐞𝐭.

This year, I watched a 𝐆𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐞 𝟐 𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐫 face 𝐥𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐣𝐮𝐝𝐠𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 before he received the guidance he deserved. He was already under ARAL, yet the first word he heard wasn’t encouragement—it was 𝐫𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.

𝐑𝐞𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. It is the last resort, after 𝐝𝐨𝐜𝐮𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬. When skipped, the classroom becomes a place 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐞𝐚𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐚𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐲.

One line from this child stays with me:

“𝐆𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐨 𝐤𝐨 na 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐠 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐚 𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢 𝐧𝐚 𝐬𝐢𝐥𝐚 𝐭𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐰𝐚.”

A child who cries because he wants to learn 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐥𝐚𝐳𝐲.
A child who keeps trying 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗵𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗹𝗲𝘀𝘀.
A child who improves quietly 𝗶𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗯𝗹𝗲𝗺.

As educators, we must ask ourselves:
• Do we truly intervene, or just record low scores?
• Do we protect a child’s dignity, or let the class see him as less?
• Do we notice quiet improvement, or are we too busy being disappointed?

𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐞𝐝. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧. 𝐈𝐭 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐚𝐛𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐡𝐮𝐦𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧.
𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐞𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐚𝐧. 𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐋 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐚𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐤. 𝐂𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐨𝐩𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥.

Sometimes, 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥 𝐟𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐥𝐝’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐞, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐚𝐝𝐮𝐥𝐭’𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞.
Sometimes, the most important thing a child needs 𝐢𝐬 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐠𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞.

For every child still trying. For every teacher who promised to help them try.