I have a student who, bless his little heart, cannot do the work no matter how hard he tries, and I think that so many people have not catered to his learning style for so long, that I believe, he has stopped trying at school.
And why wouldn’t you?
I know that to be true because I was that kid at school, too.
He loves to draw, he hates taking notes and he hates sitting in a classroom.
He daydreams constantly, and I didn’t notice this at first, but now I do.
Today, I gave him some extra homework, which I thought would cause a scene.
But in reality, what I did wasn’t a problem. The “experienced” teacher, who was observing me yelled at him, and made him get emotional. He wasn’t paying attention to my lesson on grammar because it was over his head. He’s still struggling to spell simple words.
I pulled my student aside shortly afterwards to give him extra homework after their confrontation, and felt guilty for doing it. I started with a simple realization, knowing he wouldn’t listen to what I was saying if the same tact, or lack thereof, was applied to the situation again.
I knew he would feel ready to fight with anybody who treated him badly, the same way I felt about math teachers when I was his age.
“Come with me,” I said abruptly and looked back as he followed me slowly to the back of the classroom. I bent down on one knee at the back of the classroom and spoke softly, “I want to help you get better at spelling.”
He stopped crying, and agreed with a nod immediately.
He asked questions for the first time since I’ve taught him, and it felt good to see him take an interest in something besides drawing at school.
My manager overheard me talking to him, and I saw him perk up a little too, which was probably good since I don’t deliver speeches to my students very well 98 per cent of the time.
I’m a writer, not a talker.
But what I realized throughout this experience, is that, maybe it takes someone who mirrors your personality and learning style, to teach someone like you.
Travelling in Taiwan 