Tanya Can’t Talk! by Sylvia L. McCrea i llustrated by Brittany Woods

1. Topic: Motivating our children and building their resilience Why: Because so many children are in pain, but don’t know how to deal with instead they have withdrawn I chose this topic because I was one of those children. I not only want to teach, but I want to motivate children like me who suffered through a traumatic experience at a young age to come out of their shells and become achievers I will listen, encourage, use strategies that I learned about in my research and provide opportunities for my students to express their feelings and grow. ……………… Tanya Can’t Talk! by Sylvia L. McCrea illustrated by Brittany Woods

2. “Tanya!” Mrs. Sullivan calls out. “Tanya, do you hear me talking to you.” Tanya looks up with her eyes almost filled with tears and mumbles, “Yes ma’am.” “Are you going to answer the question?” she asks. Tanya looks up, and before she knew it, Mrs. Sullivan grabs her right hand and pulls her from the desk. “You’re going to the principal’s office.” she says. 2

3. Tanya thought to herself, “Not again.” As Mrs. Sullivan pulls her to the hallway, big tear drops washes down Tanya’s face. Mrs. Sullivan looks into Tanya’s eyes and says in a very harsh tone. “Why can’t you talk, are you dumb?” Tanya didn’t know what to do, she stands with her head down as the tears splashed against her shaking hands. “That’s it, you’re going to the Principal’s office,” says Mrs. Sullivan. Off they marched to the principal’s office. 3

4. Outside the principal’s office Tanya sits as Mrs. Sullivan, in a very loud voice, attempts to convince the principal to send Tanya to another class. “She doesn’t talk. I’ve tried my best, you’re going to have to move her to another class,” says Mrs. Sullivan The principal looks down at his desk, takes a deep breath and says, “This will be her third class in one year. Give her some time. She’ll have to come around sooner or later. You know what she’s been through. Mrs. Sullivan puts her hands on her hips and says in a very stern voice, “She doesn’t talk. she has to go.” 5

5. As Mrs. Sullivan walks out of the Principal’s office, Miss. Grace walks in and looks at Tanya sitting with her head down. “Hi,” Miss. Grace says to Tanya. Tanya barely raises her head, but gently waves at Miss. Grace. The principal comes out of the office, walks over to the secretary desk and tells her to find another class for Tanya. Miss Grace looks at Tanya who is sitting with her hands resting in her lap. Her head was lowered to the point that her ponytail covered her face. 7 Miss Grace suddenly walks towards the principal, grabs his arms, and pulls him into his office. 8

6. Moments later, Miss. Grace swiftly walks out of the Principal’s office and towards the door. She opens the door, stretches her hands towards Tanya and says, “Come on.” Tanya looks up. With tear stains covering her cheeks, she stares at Miss. Grace without moving. “Come on, Tanya” Miss. Grace pleads. Tanya slowly gets up and with a little hesitation grabs Miss. Grace’s hands. They leave the office and walk to Miss. Grace’s room. Once they get to the room, Miss. Grace calls her teacher assistant over and tells her to take Tanya to an empty desk. 9

7. Tanya walks over to desk and sits down while Miss. Grace talks to the class about an upcoming project. Throughout the rest of the week, Miss. Grace stays close to Tanya. She makes it a point not to call on Tanya to answer questions. When she is talking directly to Tanya, she stands close by with her fingers lightly touching Tanya’s chair. Each day before Tanya leaves, Miss. Grace stops Tanya at the door, grabs her hands, bends down and looks her directly in the eye, and says to her, “See you tomorrow, Tanya.” 11 A month passes and Tanya still isn’t talking. Miss. Grace is growing very concerned. She stands in the front of the classroom and watches Tanya while the class is getting ready for lunch. All of sudden, Miss. Grace grabs her purse, heads for the door, and tells her assistant, “I’ll take children to lunch today.” In the lunch room, Miss. Grace sits directly across from Tanya. As always, Tanya is sitting with her head down while she eats her lunch. Miss. Grace talks to the other children at the table, but looks out the corner of her eyes for any reaction from Tanya. 12

8. Looking at the children next to her, Miss. Grace asks, “What do you guys have planned for this weekend?” A little boy sitting next to Tanya says, “I’m going fishing.” Another little boy sitting a couple of seats away from Miss Grace hollers out, “My dad is taking me to the park.” Then suddenly in a very soft voice, Tanya looks up from the table and says, “I like to go to the park.” “You do?” Miss. Grace asks in a gentle voice. With a big smile, Tanya looks up at Miss. Grace and nods her head. 13 As Miss Grace sits and watches Tanya eat her lunch. She couldn’t help but to smile. Tanya looks up and, seeing Miss Grace smiling at her, asks “You like going to the park, too?” Miss Grace giggles and says, “Yes, I sure do.” 14