5th Grade Parent-Teacher Conference

We met with Jonathan's teacher today. This is her first year teaching alone (she used to assist before) so there were a few things that we believed were missing, particularly the fact that the Special Ed teacher was not present.  She mentioned that Jonathan was doing very well.  He is getting 3s and 4s so far in the first quarter, which is great.  But we were concerned because we have noticed Jonathan very stressed over homework and school work the past few days; and when we brought it up and she explained the room dynamics, we realized that Jonathan may need additional support throughout the day. 

He has been bringing a lot of homework, and when we asked the teacher today why she said that he does not finish his school work on-time.  The past 3 nights, he has been working until very late hours (11pm) finishing his school work.  It could be because he does not pay attention to the instructions and misses the directions and loses his concentration during school, or because he is slower than the other kids.  In addition, he did not do well in a couple of tests and failed to turn in a couple of homework because he missed the information and due dates she provided.  She confessed that sometimes she just says things once and does not write it for the class and it seems like Jonathan might not be paying enough attention to capture that.  She indicated that some other kids are having the same issues sometimes, but the majority of her class can follow her pace, which indicates that Jonathan needs help here.  The teacher needs to make sure the he gets the directions correctly by either writing it on the board or making him write it or he needs another person around to help him stay focused. It does not happen all the time, so she is going to provide feedback to us with regards to what subjects he is having trouble with.  The issue seems to be related to breaking into stations and working with each other.  When they work independently and he can reach out to the teacher for questions, he seems to do better. So we need to work with both Jonathan and his teacher.  We asked her to post the class content and homework on blackboard so we can help him get prepared for the new class as well as finish the proper homework.  It is very evident that she is not used to working with kids with issues.

She gave us a couple of things that he wrote.  One caught my attention and made me cry.  I have been thinking about him a lot today.  Between the interview at Children's yesterday and the meeting with the teacher today, I realized that we are so distant sometimes from Jonathan and do not understand him well. We are so hard on him sometimes and he is trying soooo hard.  I am so proud of him and I don't know if he realizes that.  He is a great kid and has accomplished so much and we need to do better and give him more credit.  His dreams, we need to help him be the best he can be so he can reach his dreams.  And I realized that I don't even know what they are. I have my dreams for him. But I need to get to know him better.

Greatest Wish for Jonathan

Thought Wish
I thought of a wish 2 years ago that I want to talk about.  My greatest wish is that I want to know how to create new apps for the Apple devices that would make everybody happy.  That is my greatest wish.  I had kept thinking about it since the day I thought of it in 2010.  It hasn't come true yet. I mean not YET.

My Dream about my Greatest Wish
Not many people have dreams for their wishes, but I DO. I had this dream once that I made a very special update to the Apple iOS App Store, iTunes Podcasts iTunes U, and iBooks.  Every time I fixed a problem on an Apple Device, one of my family members would always say, "You could be the next Steve Jobs" (CEO President of Apple).  You might have not noticed, but this was my dream and wish forever.  It still is!

Faith in my Greatest Wish
I know this wish will come true, but I have a secret for myself and my wish.  If this wish does come true (my parents also believe), I could run for Apple CEO President like Tim Cook and Steve Jobs.  If I am, I could be the first Apple CEO President with High-Functioning Autism.  I have faith in my dream.

Thank you
Thank you for reading.  If you have this same wish, I hope it comes true to you too.  See you on the next class journal! Peace out!