Close Call
One of my new fifth graders is absolutely adorable … in a Ralphie-esque way. He’s short with curly blond hair and big glasses, and he walks around the school with wide-open eyes and a big wheeled suitcase-type bag. He’s a little guy stuck in a big world.
Near the beginning of my first class with this student, he eagerly raised his hand and waited to tell me something. I could tell what he wanted to ask (from the context of the situation), so I addressed his issue with the whole class. His hand stayed up, however, so I walked over and answered his question again, gently putting my hand on his shoulder to make sure that he was listening. He wasn’t, so I finally called on him, and when he verbalized his question, I answered it a third time.
That sort of thing is usually annoying to a teacher … but I resisted the urge to harrass him, mostly because he was just too darn cute. Then this morning, he sent all of his teachers the following email.
Dear fellow teachers,
I am e-mailing to inform you of a condition I have in case you have not been notified. Since I have been 1 I have been deaf in my left ear and it does not turn out too good when I can’t hear you, the teacher because it might make you think I’m not listening. So if I don’t hear you, it’s not because I’m not paying attention; it’s because I couldn’t hear you. Just wanted to let you know because in some of my classes this has happened and I didn’t want to make you mad. Just wanted to let you all know. Thanks.
Signed,
[name removed] (in the 5th grade)!
How precious is that?
August 30th, 2007 at 5:11 pm EST
THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIISSSSSSSSSSSSSS precious
(that’s ‘very’ by the way :D)
August 30th, 2007 at 8:54 pm EST
I love how he starts with “Dear fellow teachers”… as if he’s a part of the faculty. So cute.
August 31st, 2007 at 8:44 am EST
What a cute boy! And you are a so patient teacher. As a teacher, I am glad to see you can communicate with your little boys and girls well! I can learn a lot from you. Hope we can talk with each other.
September 1st, 2007 at 8:51 am EST
Lance, you are a terrific teacher for sure!
And I really love the way you put your hand on his shoulder,(though it’s common to many people).I can imagine how nice it was!
September 1st, 2007 at 9:07 am EST
Yes … school is America is much more gentle, loving, and caring, especially for younger students. In some ways that’s great … but in other ways, I think it encourages complaining, weakness, and dependency on the teacher … kinda like in this story.
I try to be patient and gentle, but firm and consistent too. I think the little bit of rapport I have came from my mother … she raised four of her own children and babysat hundreds of others for over 40 years, so she’s incredible with those kind of things!
In this story, I thought I was being a bad teacher, letting the student get away with not listening and encouraging terrible attentiveness. But I found out that I was lucky, because I would have felt terrible if I had scolded the student more seriously for not listening!