The Reason

Although I wouldn't say I have a favorite student, I have become fond of one in particular. He is a very bright kid who has been moved around quite a bit and who obviously has many mini holes in his education. You know, little things missing that prevent him from getting the bigger things. This is through no fault of his own, but it has compounded enough over the years to leave him feeling like a failure.

When he entered my class this year, he basically refused to put any effort into his learning, prefering to spend his time making other kids laugh. The obvious lesson in his life was that it was much less painful to just sit back and let life go on around you, than it was to put yourself at risk of becoming emotionally attached to anything - friends or work. He NEVER did his homework, hated to read, and could not relate to his peers in any kind of a normal way. He got in trouble in class, in the halls, on the playground, at the library.

As time passed, I realized that this child was getting very little attention at home. His parents, although I am sure they try, are too preoccupied or overwhelmed or both to provide the stable environment needed to promote organization in a 4th grader. Conferences were had, phone calls were made, notes were sent home, all to no avail. Although his behavior in class was gradually improving, he was still failing EVERYTHING due to missing assignments and complete lack of effort.

Throughout the year, I have communicated with this student in every way possible. I have talked, listened, argued, explained, taught, re-taught, smiled, visited, joked, laughed, and battled with him. I have shown him every single day that I care about him, trust him, and respect him. I have demanded his best and accepted nothing less. Most of all, I have loved him.

Recently, he wrote a tear-jerking personal narrative about moving from one school to another. He went out on a limb, exposing his innermost feelings and he did it using beautiful, descriptive language. He took a chance at writing and discovered that he has a talent for it. He was glowing when I shared a particularly powerful simile from his story as an example for the whole class.

This isn't to say that he has become the perfect student. He still drives me crazy, forgetting to turn in his homework on a regular basis. He still slacks off when I'm not looking. He still occasionally has trouble relating to his peers. But I can see that he is personally invested in his own success now. He is no longer content to let his education flow around him. He has realized that he is capable of so much more than he ever knew, and he likes it.

Among all the little things that make teaching worthwhile, and there are lots of them, that is The Reason.