Teacher Do You Care- The Pete Chronicles

Yesterday Pete had a great day! He participated in class. Earned time to talk to me and we had some great exchanges. One exchanged Pete was telling me a line in his script that used the word imposter. I asked him what does imposter mean? An inquisitive look washed over his face. I don’t know said thinking. Then we got an opportunity to talk about what that word meant.

Pete can leave early to go to lunch to avoid the crowds. He wanted to stay in class to talk with the other students and me.

I think Pete feels good about himself.

Teacher Do You Care- The Pete Chronicles

Yesterday Pete had a great day! He participated in class. Earned time to talk to me and we had some great exchanges. One exchanged Pete was telling me a line in his script that used the word imposter. I asked him what does that mean? An inquisitive look washed over his face. I don’t know he said thinking. Then we got an opportunity to talk about what that word meant.

Pete can leave early to go to lunch to avoid the crowds. He wanted to stay in class to talk with the other students and me.

I think Pete feels good about himself.

Teacher Do You Care- The Pete Chronicles

Pete missed a few days of school last week. While he was gone his teacher called me to ask what I was doing in my class to deal with Pete's behavior. According to his teacher Pete is just horrible in her class and she wants to know what I am doing that is different.

One of the educational staff from Pete’s room came to my class to ask the same question about Pete’s behavior. When I started to explain how I built a relationship with Pete, the staff member kept interrupting. She really didn’t want to know. The woman went on to tell me that staff in her class thinks that Pete is afraid of me so he behaves.



Pete is happy in my class and completing classwork. It has to be someone's fault that his teacher does not understand him. This is a common practice of people who are not willing to get to know students or accept them for who they are.

I will continue to support Pete and his family regardless of what people say.

Teacher Do You Care- The Pete Chronicles

During spring break I sent my student Pete a postcard from the San Diego Aquarium.

It said: Hi Pete, I went to this cool aquarium in San Diego. I saw fish, eels, seahorses and a couple of leopard sharks. Hope you had a great spring break; see ya at school. Ms. J

Pete returned to school with two phenomenal days where he made it through the entire period without disrupting the class mostly independently.

On the second day the most amazing thing happened. At the end of the period Pete used his time he earned to talk to me. This time other students were present and listened to Pete’s story script. The other students were familiar with the story and Pete led a conversation about his script. How empowering! He proved a point to the students about a detail and the look of self-accomplishment was astounding!

Pete is a successful student.

Teacher Do You Care- The Pete Chronicles

Tough day for Pete. His teacher allowed him return to his work-study job. I bumped into him as he was walking off campus with his class. We exchanged a high five. He did not attend last week because of his behavior. We talked about it all everyday, Pete really wanted to attend this week.



A little later in the hour, I received a call from Pete’s teacher and she informed me that he was sent back to campus from his job. According to his teacher, he started his cartoon scripts as soon as he started work. She said she wanted to give him a chance but she could not have him laughing and repeating. After the work incident Pete was to attend my class.

Needless-to-say he was persistent about his self-soothing (his cartoon phrasing) and it took a while to try and reconnect with him. Staff was short today and many students needed extra help. I did my best. Pete did not shout out in my class today. He did say his cartoon phrase to himself a few times while I was trying to talk to him. Each time I asked for his attention he gave it to me and he took my direction.

The struggle of transition before a break in school is typical. This is often the story with students that struggle. The students crave the structured environment of school. Structure is safe and unstructured time and activity is unpredictable. I suppose Pete deep down knew he would be spending many hours with the television, no phone calls to friends or contact with others. I hope I am wrong.



I’ll send him a postcard or two to let him know he is not alone.

Teacher Do You Care- The Pete Chronicles

Today, Pete got a D on a spelling test in another class and an F on last week’s test. He disrupted that class and was sent out several times. When Pete comes to my class, I check in with him to see how his morning went in his other classes. This morning, Pete told me about the poor spelling test. I asked him how he felt about getting a poor grade. He was stared to repeat the cartoon phrases he uses but he stopped to answer me. He said he did not feel good about it. I asked him if it was possible that he interrupted the class because he felt bad about the test. He listened. I reminded him about sharing his feelings and suggested he could share how he felt with his morning teacher. He was willing to do so.

When we went to see his teacher, Pete was nervous and started to repeat the cartoon phrase that brings him solace. I helped him stay clam and he told his teacher how he felt. His teacher quickly dismissed his feelings and gave him a motive of wanting to disrupt the class. Ouch!!! I asked Pete to walk away while I spoke to his teacher.



Do I blame this teacher? No, this teacher represents the cycle of overburden, untrained people. Where is the compassion for this boy?

Go where the love is Pete. He had another great day in my class! We worked on his spelling words together and he practiced expressing his feelings. I’m proud of him.

Teacher Do You Care?

A student in my class has been struggling over the last month. The student (I’ll call him Pete) yells out lines from a cartoon show, coughs excessively, and laughs in a hysterical cartoon voices during instruction. The other students’ educational progress is disrupted. The home teacher for the student tried a couple of things to try to help his behavior in my class. These interventions were not what I would have done and were just as disruptive as the behavior.

I refused the help offered from the other teacher and personally sat down to get to know Pete. I found out more about a young man who spends all of his home time alone. He’s no child; he is a teenager, and he needs interactions with others. He has no friends and no phone calls. His pal is television and the laughs it has to offer.
Pete has not disrupted my class since I took over his behavior problem. One day he was upset about being hot after a morning of PE and not receiving water after he asked once. We should teach him self-advocacy.

Another day he missed a planned activity because of his behavior and he felt bad about it. He does not share his feelings with others. We should teach him how to communicate his needs and desires.



On the last day of the week he was mad at his single mom. Sometimes when I work with students I know God is present because things will come out of my mouth that are inspirational and just what a kid needs to hear. That’s what happened in this situation.

I taught Pete about being grateful and expressing gratitude.
“Have you ever told Mom how much you appreciate everything she does?”
He said, “no.”
“I think you should try it tonight when she comes home,” I suggested.
“Have you ever told Mom you love her?”
“No,” he said.
“I think you should try that too,” I suggested.
Then I mirrored his experience back to him.
“Your mom works long hours, comes home, makes you dinner, makes sure you have a shower and gets you to bed. Those actions are love. Pete you are well taken care of and you are lucky.”


Pete nodded. I don’t know if he got it. I will encourage Pete to live in this world not the cartoon world he has created to connect. I care.

How many Pete’s are struggling in the educational system? If you notice a Pete in your life stop, listen and show you care.