| The Bronx Journal-September 2000
Community
Sherry Toro
Bronx Journal Staff Reporter
| |
 |
| |
Lenore Schultz |
For
teacher Mary Flores-Camacho, one seemingly small victory is a big thing.
"He's one of the worst kids in the school with everyone
else, but he and I have a different sort of relationship," she says
of one of her students, a boy who spits at other kids’ hats or
thrashes about at teachers. Flores-Camacho
worked long and hard with the boy and found something that she felt her
student would be interested in: bookmaking.
The bookmaking that she is talking about is the kind done by
hand, using one sheet of 8 1/2 by 11 sheet of paper.
Flores-Camacho encouraged the boy, smiled and sat with him as he
made a book so special that it won him a prize in the Bronx Borough
Bookmaking Competition this past year.
Flores-Camacho is “special ed” teacher,
specifically a resource room instructor at Claremont Community School 42
located on Claremont Parkway and Washington Avenue.
She's been teaching students with learning disabilities for 14
years and has yet to grow tired of a profession that has other teachers
running for cover.
 |
|
| Lenore Schultz |
|
As a resource room teacher, Flores-Camacho
sees her students for intervals of 45 minutes at a time.
There are about eight children in each class. The kids that she works with have reading, writing and math
problems. She deals with
two different groups of students: the students that are evaluated by the
Board of Education’s Committee on Special Education and have been
determined to be special education cases, and those children that are at
risk of failing.
Flores-Camacho, who actually worked at a
bank for ten years prior to teaching, decided to get into special
education because she has two sisters that are disabled.
"When they were younger I would sit and I would work with
them," she says, "I thought that I should go into that field
because I felt I could make a difference."
Flores-Camacho thinks both chilrden’s
parents and the “system” are failing students.
Flores-Camacho feels that the kids that are going through the New
York City public school system have a lot of personal problems because,
"they come from battered homes, (are born to) drug-addicted
parents, or (are born to ) parents that are illiterate themselves."
Flores-Camacho also notes that lack of parental involvement hurts, too.
"Parents [just] don't come to parent-teacher
conferences," she says seriously.
"The ones that do come are drunk or high . . .
I've spoken to parents that were nodding off as they were talking
to me."
Flores-Camacho also lashes out at a system
that she feels is also to blame. She
says that the Board of Education is failing to keep veteran teachers and
that is unfortunate for the students.
"The teachers that are coming into the system are brand-new
and they can't deal with it (the stress of teaching),” explains
Flores-Camacho. "When
the end of the year comes, the teachers
leave and the kids get a brand-new teacher, so they (the kids) go
2-3 years with brand new teachers.
(Because of that) they’re not getting the education they
need.”
Although she admits that teachers can't get
the experience they need without going into the classroom,
Flores-Camacho does explain why a series of brand new teachers can be
considered detrimental to a child's education.
"Statistics show that you do not become a good teacher until
you've been teaching five years."
According to Flores-Camacho half the teachers who started out are
gone by the second or third year because of the intense pressure,
"They're very frustrated because the system is very
demanding with standards for what kids should know."
Flores-Camacho can be very demanding of her
students, as well, however. "When
you come into my classroom you should know what's acceptable," says
Flores-Camacho, "I don't need a set of rules posted; I'm not a
pushover." And this
demanding teacher who has 14 years under her belt not only teaches
full-time, she also participates in other programs that benefit
students.
One such program is affiliated with
C.U.N.Y's City College and is called the City Technology Curriculum
Guides. Flores-Camacho, who has been participating in the program for
the last five years, helps develop guides to help teachers use computers
and the Internet. She has
developed lesson plans that she first tried on her own students, and
then was able to pass on to other teachers.
Another program she is involved in is the
Elementary Teachers Network through the Lehman College Center for
Literacy Studies. Flores-Camacho
co-leads the group with three other people.
The group is designed for teachers who are looking for training
and it enables them to get credit for the class through Lehman College.
Class time is spent focusing closely on children and their needs
according to Flores-Camacho, "We really put children at the center
- it’s about learning to look closely at kids," she says. The class consists of observations,
reading articles, and examining and reviewing a child's work over a
period of time to properly analyze it. "It's a good course in that it helps new teachers learn
to observe kids and find out what works for them and what doesn't,"
reveals Flores-Camacho.
Flores-Camacho firmly believes that special
education is a labor of love, meant only for those that are committed to
the children. She doesn't
even mind the occasional problem child.
"I like the challenge," she says.
She also feels that the greatest reward of teaching is watching
children learn along with the occasional heartfelt thanks from a parent.
"I love my job," she says intently, "if I didn't, I
wouldn't be doing it." |
