14 Jun, 2008
Emotions
Posted by teacherjulie @ 12:29 am
Shelved under About Town, Autism, Being a (Special Ed) Teacher, Language Development, Photo Hunters, special education

Every Saturday, participants post photos based on a theme. The theme for this Saturday, June 14, 2008 is EMOTION (S). Being a Special Ed teacher, I have been privy to emotions running high: with the parents of my students, with colleagues, with the children themselves and with myself. I am a very emotional person, I cry easily and am passionate about the things that I believe in. Below are some photos I wish to share to show why emotions played a big part:

A lot of people came to the Angels Walk for Autism which we attended. In the photo are my co-workers, Occupational therapists and speech therapists (not in the photo). Some children performed on stage and everyone was proud about each child’s accomplishment.

A long-time student, JEM, performing guitar accompaniment for me while the song plays on his Nokia Express Music phone. Good job, JEM :) I am so proud of you!

JP, sitting down to do a table top activity for a change, instead of running around the room. I hope he would be able to adapt this behavior when he goes back to school. Your mom was very happy about this :)

The last day of our Storytelling/Narrative Group for the summer (school starts in June here in the Philippines) where everyone brought their favorite books and told these stories in front of the group. All in all, we were really happy about the results :) If only I could show their happy faces. That is my son, Julian at the rightmost photo. The girl in green is my daughter Tania. Below is a rather emotional entry for me, which I wrote a post here in my other blog as an entry for another Photo Meme participated by Filipinos.

Here is a part of my post: I was uncomfortable, I was not happy, not because they were asking for money but because its late. Its past 9pm! Shouldn’t they be resting? Why do they still continue what they were doing? This puzzled me. Isn’t this a form of child abuse? Isn’t this child exploitation? My feelings were hurt for them, I was “on fire” so I had to get the camera and to take their photos. I wanted to write about this, to vent off my steam about this kind of treatment, about this kind of system. And to think they are staying with a foundation. Why do they have to do this to them? May I ask what photo drew a unique emotion from you?

This entry was posted on Saturday, June 14th, 2008 at 12:29 am and is filed under About Town, Autism, Being a (Special Ed) Teacher, Language Development, Photo Hunters, special education. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

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14 Jun, 2008 @ 4:45 am
Pat said:

Oh what a great post for this week!!

Happy Weekend.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 9:40 am
Rach (Heart of Rachel) said:

I admire how much you care for your students. Your dedication to give special children a good future is inspiring.

I decide to reminisce with my entry.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 12:06 pm
eastcoastlife said:

I have the greatest respect for Special education teachers who choose this tough road. It is already tough to teach normal kids. And having to face the emotions of the students and parents every day, that is a feat that is not possible for many ordinary people, including me. I salute you and all the others who are in Special Education.

I was in Manila several times and went to visit a few children’s orphanages (foundations). The staff and volunteers are very passionate about their work, the Directors or Management were more concern about how much money they could get for whatever proposal we offer. They are trying to raise money for the Homes but money seem to be the very important subject. .

14 Jun, 2008 @ 1:02 pm
napaboaniya said:

The picture of JP with the hard work seem to stir a reaction from me. The emotion of him awaiting for the end masterpiece of his I guess..

Happy Father’s Day to your Hubby too!! :P

14 Jun, 2008 @ 1:17 pm
jmb said:

Julie, these are good photos for the theme and showcasing your very special work. You are making a difference and what more can we ask of ourselves. Have a good weekend.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 1:20 pm
maiylah said:

i must admit I liked the second shot (JEM and his guitar), though the last shot does intrigue me. parang ironic, ‘no? :)
happy weeknd!

ps. “under construction” pa rin yung lifesnippets … pero at least up and about na sya. haayy. hirap pag walang alam! :D
Happy Father’s Day to your hubby!

14 Jun, 2008 @ 1:32 pm
Leslie said:

Your post this week is very evocative and really makes yoyu think. :)

14 Jun, 2008 @ 3:33 pm
chateau a.k.a. imom said:

Hi Julie!
I feel so strongly too for child labor. I hate it when i see kids peddling goods on the streets. They should be playing, studying, and at home. It’s sad talaga. If there’s one segment in the society i’d like to help, it’s them.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 3:37 pm
Carin said:

Definitely the last picture brought up the anger in me for I agree wholeheartedly with you. Not a unique feeling for me for only a few days ago the news mentioned kids working in sewing ateliers. They were all send back to their parents. The newsman wondered (and so did I) if they would be better off for it is their parents who sold them to work in those ateliers. Oh the anger I felt and the sorrow for those children who cannot be child anymore. And the sorrow for their parents in having to do so. Guess it’s a vicious circle which I won’t be able to change

14 Jun, 2008 @ 3:40 pm
prettylifeonline said:

great catch for photohunt theme… thanks for dropping by.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 3:52 pm
Gattina said:

Your post is really very touching.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 4:24 pm
delish said:

sigh… every child’s face is your child’s too, no? so it’s really hard not to be affected by child labor… child abuse… etc…

btw, my take on emotion is also already up :)

14 Jun, 2008 @ 4:28 pm
YTSL said:

Wow, clearly a lot of thought and effort — and emotion — has been put into this post…

14 Jun, 2008 @ 4:41 pm
gengen said:

Your pictures are nice and i am emotional too. Easy to hurt but easily healed. Mine is up Julie…

14 Jun, 2008 @ 5:10 pm
jams o donnell said:

What a wonderful set of photos. I loved the one of JP. Have a great weekend

14 Jun, 2008 @ 5:11 pm
WillThink4Wine said:

Your post is full of emotion, Julie. Passion for teaching children is a wonderful thing.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 5:50 pm
Dragonheart & Merlin said:

Terrific photos! We can easily imagine that being a special ed teacher brings with it a lot of different emotions. You sound like a wonderful teacher with a passion for your students and your work.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 5:58 pm
SnoopyTheGoon said:

Excellent choices for the week’s subject.

Have a great weekend!

14 Jun, 2008 @ 6:00 pm
LibertyBelle said:

Super photos and a great and moving post this week Julie!
Happy Weekend
L

14 Jun, 2008 @ 6:26 pm
Mar said:

What a wonderful set of pictures for the theme!! I particularly like the one with the guitar player because music touches my soul.
Happy hunting and happy weekend :)

14 Jun, 2008 @ 7:36 pm
Hootin' Anni said:

I can understand how it would be so easy to ‘cry with emotions’ working with special ed students. For that, I admire you.

Happy Hunting. Hope your weekend is super.

14 Jun, 2008 @ 8:30 pm
SmalltownRN said:

I think all of the pictures demonstrate emotions of all kinds the children are being creatvie, even in the one with the guitar player..yes it is late..but they do this for a purpose and it is for that purpose that raises emotioins…

Happy Weekend to you

14 Jun, 2008 @ 9:38 pm
expatraveler said:

You are definitely helping out great people.. The 9pm thing is over the top, I agree. For some reason the first photo hits me the most.

Thanks for reminding me that the characters were from ICe Age! haha

14 Jun, 2008 @ 10:00 pm
sarge charlie said:

very nice range of emotions

14 Jun, 2008 @ 10:07 pm
caryl said:

what a great photos for this week’s theme…
happy weekend to you!

14 Jun, 2008 @ 11:14 pm
ellen b said:

Definately lots of emotion here. …

14 Jun, 2008 @ 11:42 pm
pearl said:

when it comes to kids, i have strong emotions about them. To see them happy, it makes me smile…to see them being exploited, it makes my heat aches…I hope they are well taken care off. I really admire your hard work and patience for your students…~!

Pearl - happy weekend

15 Jun, 2008 @ 12:38 am
YellowRose said:

I applaude you for being a teacher who cares and has emotion! Thank you for what you do! Love the photos!

Thanks for visiting my photo hunt! Have a great weekend!

15 Jun, 2008 @ 8:18 am
Just Say These Words said:

I have a child in Special Ed because he has mathematical ability of an 8 years old and have a speech level of a 10 month old. He was almost 3 when they evaluate him. The gap made him a special ed candidate.

I just want to say to all Special Ed teacher all over the world…you do a great job.

15 Jun, 2008 @ 11:12 am
Natalie said:

It’s clear you care deeply for your students.

15 Jun, 2008 @ 1:46 pm
marcia v said:

THE PHOTO W/O FACES i KNOW IS TO PROTECT THE CHILDREN BUT IT MAKES ME FEEL SAD TOO FOR THE FACES ARE SO PRECIOUS

16 Jun, 2008 @ 2:39 am
Sabine said:

that a thoughtful and emotional post, well done Julie! Of course I cannot but join the others, the last photo definitely invoked the most emotions. What a shame to take a child’s early years away from her/him… :(

16 Jun, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
Weng said:

julie, i read your post on the last photo when you published it. that’s still the photo which stirred some negative emotions from me. not towards the children, of course, but towards the people who take advantage of them.

19 Jun, 2008 @ 9:43 pm
julie said:

Thank you Pat :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 9:44 pm
julie said:

Thanks, Rachel :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 10:13 pm
julie said:

So true, ECL, at times its ironic for the people/children that they are supposed to protect are the ones they exploit just so they get funds. Sigh.

19 Jun, 2008 @ 10:19 pm
julie said:

Hay, Elaine, if I could capture JP in his natural element, being himself and running around, I would probably need the help of a slide show or a video. Yup, he is that livewire :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 10:28 pm
julie said:

Thanks, JMB, you warm my heart :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 10:35 pm
julie said:

JEM has been a longtime student and we have been discussing about child abuse lately because he has developed an interest in these children. :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 10:43 pm
julie said:

Thanks, Leslie :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 10:45 pm
julie said:

I agree to everything you said Chats, Sometimes I feel guilty when I buy rags from them because it seems like I am encouraging them to do what they are doing even if its wrong. On the other hand, kakaawa din kaya dun ako bumibili.

19 Jun, 2008 @ 11:17 pm
julie said:

Yes, Carin,I feel you. I know we can’t really do anything about this but at least we can blog our thoughts and perhaps someone would be able to do something about it :) We wish.

19 Jun, 2008 @ 11:20 pm
julie said:

Thanks.

19 Jun, 2008 @ 11:29 pm
julie said:

Thanks, Gattina :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 11:34 pm
julie said:

So true, Delish, so true. Thanks :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 11:36 pm
julie said:

Yes, YSTL, a lot of emotion has been been put into this post, thanks :)

19 Jun, 2008 @ 11:46 pm
julie said:

Thanks, GenGen :)

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