One of my students, Cho, is quite the special guy. My first impression of this kid
was that he was a rough kid and it would be hard to warm up to him. And yes,
the first few engagements with him did swing him to the negative zone for me.
During this time, when I thought about him, I would get annoyed. Then one day,
I realize my stupidity of harboring this negativity so I decided that I need
to cool down and look at his actions in another perspective. When I
decided that, my impression of him and feeling towards him changed. So I begin
to take notice of his actions and ask him about why he does the things he do,
just to pick at his brain. I saw that he was not a rough kid but rather an over-the-rate hyper-active kid and quite a ... unusual kid, special in his own
way ^^;
Here is one reason why:
One day, as I was walking around class to
collect a listening test from students, I noticed that he didn't mark any
answers on his paper, rather, it looked wet. So I asked him, why didn't he mark
his answer and his answer was obvious, he had no pencil and that his group
mates wouldn't lent him a pencil, and if he was to ask for a pencil from the
teacher, he would get a red stamp -- a red stamp will take away a point due to
bad behavior and going against the rules, he went against the rules by not
coming to class prepared. So he said he would rather not get a red stamp. Then
he proceeded to tell me that he took the test by listening and dotted the
answer with his wet finger, of which he licked with his tongue. If I could of
done it right there and then, I would've of done it, I would've dropped,
rolled, and laughed out so loud. I wanted to praise him for working so hard to
take the test but I had to decline his test, told him what kind of situation he got himself into, for it I were to take it, 1, there was no name, 2, he didn't mark any answers because by the time those wet dots dry up, it's just a blank paper. I questioned him if he knew what he did wrong and he said he did, so I walked away without his test.
Later, he joyously beamed to me when I walked pass again the second time that class period. He found a lost pencil and marked his
answers -- the ones he wetted before, and gave it to me, but I still declined
it, there was still no name. So of course, he had to go look for that lost
pencil again, to write his name.
I don't know what you take out of this
situation but for me, it was funny but it did show that he wants to do well in
school and in my class. Also, he thought out of the box. What 3rd grade
elementary school kid would have handled this situation like he did? Only the rare ones.
*sigh* what a precious child.
