Teaching Update

This week has been uplifting. At times I feel like I am not cut out to be a teacher, but this week I have felt confident and I really feel like I am actually making a difference in some way with my students.

I think I have referred to one of my students who is, at times, a "problem student," or so the label goes. This week I feel like I had a breakthrough with him. I asked him 3 weeks ago if he would come in during lunch or another period to talk with me. I wanted to address some behavior issues and talk about maybe working something out with him. The only problem was, he would never make it to the meeting. I would see him in the halls and he would say that he forgot to come, or he had to get home after school, or he just kept forgetting. After scheduling 3 meetings with no sign of the kid I decided to call home. This attempt failed as well and I was feeling like I was losing this kid. He stopped coming to class and I was getting worried because he really is a smart kid.

Two days ago, the kid shows up in my classroom, unexpectedly, and says "I'm here for the meeting." I couldnt believe he actually came and it sort of took me by surprise. We had a really good talk and we discussed how he had been acting in class. how he needed to take his homework seriously instead of trying to just mess with me as his teacher. The work he turned in was actually pretty good with a few grammatical and spelling errors, but his creativity and ability to write with symbolism rather than just literal meaning, like most of his classmates do, was really enlightening and surprising coming from a kid who is one of those who "just doesn't care." I told him that I thought he was a good writer and asked him if he would be willing to help some of his fellow classmates, trying to convince him that he is actually bright and could potentially have a bright future. From what he said, I felt like he was buying into what I was telling him.

The next day in class, he was being a little butthead at first, making unnecessary comments and being somewhat distracting, nothing like he used to be however, and then all the sudden a kid came into class who was a little wild himself and the "problem student" looked at me and said "Hey, would it be okay if I showed Peter what we are doing today?" I was shocked. Did this actually just come out of his mouth? I responded "Yes, that would be excellent."

At first, I thought he would get this kid, start goofing off with him, and not get anything done. But, to my surprise (Even more surprise than before) he took this kid under his wing and started teaching him everything we had just gone over. I was just observing this teaching experience and I couldn't stop smiling. No one has ever been able to get this kid to do his own work and now he is helping other students who are known for not doing their work to learn new concepts and vocabulary. What a good day!!!

Teaching is so rewarding.