One Child Analysis

Torey Hayden teaches students with emotional and behavioral disorders. One year Torey taught a class affectionately referred to as the “garbage class.” It contained all the leftover emotionally disturbed, physically handicapped, behaviorally disordered, and learning-disabled students that did not fit into other specialized learning classes. Into the school year, a child named Sheila is placed into Torey’s classroom. The story One Child is about the year Torey taught Shelia and the “garbage class,” but moreover the book is about her struggles and successes with the little girl. Sheila suffers from elective mutism upon entering Torey’s classroom. As Torey begins to build a personal relationship with Sheila, the girl becomes more manageable …show more content…
The first time Sheila stayed after, Torey helped her to clean her up a little by brushing her hair and giving her hair clips. Sheila slowly began talking and bonding with Torey as their after-school meetings continued. They would talk about the class day and about Sheila's home life. Sheila's mother had abandoned Sheila and her father shortly after giving birth to her at fourteen and took Sheila's little brother, Jimmy, with her. Sheila had tied a neighborhood kid to a tree and burned him before Sheila had come to Torey's class. After that, Sheila was admitted into a state hospital, but until there was an opening, Sheila was placed in Torey's class as a holding place. Sheila's father did not like accepting “charity,” and would send back any clothes or items that were sent home with Sheila. From then on, Torey would help teach Sheila how to wash and comb her hair every day before school, Torey would send her clothes to be washed weekly, which helped enormously with Sheila's confidence and …show more content…
It was tear-jerker and a page turner for sure. Torey always put her children’s emotional needs at the forefront of everything else. I agree with this. If a child is not emotionally okay or stable at the moment or on that day then there is no way they can learn. Torey knows her students. She knows what sets them off and what they like. I love this about her. You can do a better job teaching someone of you know more about them. I also love how Torey started her day with a topic and her special box she used for students to notice each other’s good deeds and acts of kindness. I have used something similar in my classroom called Positive Pot. Every child had a bucket with their name on it. I left blank strips of paper in another bucket. If you saw someone doing something nice or putting extra effort into a project you could write them an anonymous or signed note of praise. It worked well for the givers and the