You would think that I'm kidding, but sadly, I am not.
I have a student this year who will do whatever it takes to push the envelope. He started the year with four days of carry-over ISS (In-School Suspension) from last year, and while he was there, he did very little of the work he was missing in class. I caught him when he got back, and a few days later I got an overjoyed email from his mom telling me that he really liked me and thought I "got him" and how he needed to function in my class.
I won't lie -- I was ecstatic. This kid has issues -- he once hacked the main website of Asimov School District and attempted to extort the administrators in exchange for the password. He's a troublemaker, but he also needs a fresh start.
So I spent the week before last seeking out information on him: how teachers normally handled him, who he liked, how he was doing in his other classes. I quickly learned that he gets along great with one of my close teacher friends, and so she and I together decided to do whatever we could to make sure this kid has a decent year.
He's not making it easy on us.
On Tuesday, we used computers to get Google Classroom set up for our Composition class. Some students decided to comment on the assignment, mostly to say hello to their fellow classmates since everyone can see it.
This student? He wrote "penis." And when I caught it (because the whole class started laughing), added "oops! Make room when the bell rings so I can run out!"
When we had a chance to chat at the end of the hour, I sat down and looked him right in the eye. "What are you doing?" I asked. "You know not to do that."
I don't think this is the kind of response he usually gets. We talked for a few minutes about how he arrived at this stellar decision before I asked him: What usually happens in these types of situations?
He was honest, and it was a little painful: "Usually the teacher says it's fine and then writes me up behind my back."
Behind my back. That was all I needed to hear -- this poor kid, troublemaker he might be, could not trust the people in his school he most needed to be able to trust. So, in what I consider a great moment of growth for me as a teacher, I made him a deal.
I told him I would offer him two things: 1) I would never write him up without telling him I was doing so, and 2) I would give him a second chance provided he worked to create a classroom of respect from there on.
He agreed.
When I talked to my friend that he trusts, she said it sounded like a good way to handle it, and then told the kid that he should take advantage of the clean slate I was providing.
On Friday, he once again did something silly, but this time there was some growth -- he asked me privately, instead of in front of the whole class, if using the example of getting your genitals caught in your zipper was a good example of failure.
My answer, of course, was no.
I think another teacher would have kicked him out just for suggesting it.
This is not a kid who is actively malevolent or mean. He's not trying to be gross or manipulative. He's just trying to see where his boundaries are, where my buttons are. If I get mad, he wins -- but I don't think he's going to.
I understand what he's doing, but I really do think he deserves a second chance to be a good kid. He's working through his boundaries, and he's clearly smart -- when I asked why he thought this scenario was a good example of failure, he had a list of fairly accurate reasons, even if it's not the most school-appropriate topic.
He wants to know where he stands with me, and most importantly, he wants to know if he can trust me.
If he walks into school tomorrow to find that I've turned him in, that will tell him something important about me, but instead he's going to find that I was telling the truth -- I won't write him up without discussing it. I can be an ally if he'll let me.
I believe I made the right call thus far -- it remains to be seen if that's true. I'm hopeful that I won't be writing about all the havoc he's causing come October.
I have a student this year who will do whatever it takes to push the envelope. He started the year with four days of carry-over ISS (In-School Suspension) from last year, and while he was there, he did very little of the work he was missing in class. I caught him when he got back, and a few days later I got an overjoyed email from his mom telling me that he really liked me and thought I "got him" and how he needed to function in my class.
I won't lie -- I was ecstatic. This kid has issues -- he once hacked the main website of Asimov School District and attempted to extort the administrators in exchange for the password. He's a troublemaker, but he also needs a fresh start.
So I spent the week before last seeking out information on him: how teachers normally handled him, who he liked, how he was doing in his other classes. I quickly learned that he gets along great with one of my close teacher friends, and so she and I together decided to do whatever we could to make sure this kid has a decent year.
He's not making it easy on us.
On Tuesday, we used computers to get Google Classroom set up for our Composition class. Some students decided to comment on the assignment, mostly to say hello to their fellow classmates since everyone can see it.
This student? He wrote "penis." And when I caught it (because the whole class started laughing), added "oops! Make room when the bell rings so I can run out!"
When we had a chance to chat at the end of the hour, I sat down and looked him right in the eye. "What are you doing?" I asked. "You know not to do that."
I don't think this is the kind of response he usually gets. We talked for a few minutes about how he arrived at this stellar decision before I asked him: What usually happens in these types of situations?
He was honest, and it was a little painful: "Usually the teacher says it's fine and then writes me up behind my back."
Behind my back. That was all I needed to hear -- this poor kid, troublemaker he might be, could not trust the people in his school he most needed to be able to trust. So, in what I consider a great moment of growth for me as a teacher, I made him a deal.
I told him I would offer him two things: 1) I would never write him up without telling him I was doing so, and 2) I would give him a second chance provided he worked to create a classroom of respect from there on.
He agreed.
When I talked to my friend that he trusts, she said it sounded like a good way to handle it, and then told the kid that he should take advantage of the clean slate I was providing.
On Friday, he once again did something silly, but this time there was some growth -- he asked me privately, instead of in front of the whole class, if using the example of getting your genitals caught in your zipper was a good example of failure.
My answer, of course, was no.
I think another teacher would have kicked him out just for suggesting it.
This is not a kid who is actively malevolent or mean. He's not trying to be gross or manipulative. He's just trying to see where his boundaries are, where my buttons are. If I get mad, he wins -- but I don't think he's going to.
I understand what he's doing, but I really do think he deserves a second chance to be a good kid. He's working through his boundaries, and he's clearly smart -- when I asked why he thought this scenario was a good example of failure, he had a list of fairly accurate reasons, even if it's not the most school-appropriate topic.
He wants to know where he stands with me, and most importantly, he wants to know if he can trust me.
If he walks into school tomorrow to find that I've turned him in, that will tell him something important about me, but instead he's going to find that I was telling the truth -- I won't write him up without discussing it. I can be an ally if he'll let me.
I believe I made the right call thus far -- it remains to be seen if that's true. I'm hopeful that I won't be writing about all the havoc he's causing come October.
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