i had a student cry for 25 minutes straight in class today as his friends tried to console him. the level of his disrespect was absolutely unbearable and dealing with him makes me feel like i am inside of a mental asylum dealing with complete and utter insanity, where the only solution might be like some tranquilizing injection or something (for either me or them, I don’t know). It makes me think of those weird reality tv shows in the States where unbelievably ill disciplined kids who are impossible to handle are sent to some army bootcamp. and are made to cry with some big macho butch army man screaming at their faces. so this kid, who shall remain unnamed, would burst out in songs, singling all the words on all ofl the posters around him (mostly French verb conjugation charts), talking to him would be useless because he would refuse to look at you and keep on making faces and go under his chair, come back up, kick the kid next to him, throw his sharpener, play with all of his supplies and of course not have any of his books or notebooks out on his desk, and asking him nicely at least four or five times meant absolutely nothing to him and he would just continue doing whatever it is he wanted to do. threatening to take off his class points meant nothing to him. being sent to the principal’s office meant nothing to him. so i told him that i would call his mom from my phone in class. he didnt believe me. i called his mom and told her that her son would like to speak to him. he couldnt believe that i did it, so he sat rocking in his chair with both of his index fingers stuck in his ear, because he didnt want the phone reciever anywhere near him and he didnt want to talk to her. so he started screaming. too bad his mom heard that on the phone.
and so for the next 25 minutes he cried with his head down as his friend next to him rubbed his head and consoled him.
i saw one of my student’s mom after school today who is convinced that there is nothing wrong with her son. and really really convinced that he is a perfect student and that the only problem with him is this OTHER kid who doesnt leave her son alone. she’s met me before and I’ve told her each time “no your son isn’t doing well. he spends all of his time playing in class” “it’s Mohammad Habib!” (this infamously ‘bad’ kid in class who in all seriousness should be kicked out of school) and I would have to tell her, well no it’s not always the other kids thats the problem, your son doesnt do any of the work and his grades reflect that. She would always have this awful look on her face when I would say that, as if I just slapped her.
Today she came to see me, and came in storming saying “Mohammad Habib doesnt let my son study! he sits behind him, pokes him, and then dumps all his pencil shavings on my son’s head! I dont know what to do!”
That’s funny...I would think to myself. I dont think these two kids ever even fight in class. her son is always poking this other kid and talking and walking around all over the classroom. She wanted to see her son’s final mid term grade. he had 70, and she gasped. and kept on insisting that it’s such a shame because at home he knows English so well. Even his dad says so. What could possibly be the problem, for him to get a 11/25 on his test? or a 2/5, or a 1/10? It’s the OTHER kid’s fault!
After 10 minutes of fumbling around, she started crying. And there I was. standing in front of a crying mother who was so severly upset at this mark staring at her face which seemed to shatter her world. she left with her eyeliner mark traced down the side of her nose. her son wasnt even in the room while all of this was happening, he had long gone after the bell had rung to go play outside.
and so for the next 25 minutes he cried with his head down as his friend next to him rubbed his head and consoled him.
i saw one of my student’s mom after school today who is convinced that there is nothing wrong with her son. and really really convinced that he is a perfect student and that the only problem with him is this OTHER kid who doesnt leave her son alone. she’s met me before and I’ve told her each time “no your son isn’t doing well. he spends all of his time playing in class” “it’s Mohammad Habib!” (this infamously ‘bad’ kid in class who in all seriousness should be kicked out of school) and I would have to tell her, well no it’s not always the other kids thats the problem, your son doesnt do any of the work and his grades reflect that. She would always have this awful look on her face when I would say that, as if I just slapped her.
Today she came to see me, and came in storming saying “Mohammad Habib doesnt let my son study! he sits behind him, pokes him, and then dumps all his pencil shavings on my son’s head! I dont know what to do!”
That’s funny...I would think to myself. I dont think these two kids ever even fight in class. her son is always poking this other kid and talking and walking around all over the classroom. She wanted to see her son’s final mid term grade. he had 70, and she gasped. and kept on insisting that it’s such a shame because at home he knows English so well. Even his dad says so. What could possibly be the problem, for him to get a 11/25 on his test? or a 2/5, or a 1/10? It’s the OTHER kid’s fault!
After 10 minutes of fumbling around, she started crying. And there I was. standing in front of a crying mother who was so severly upset at this mark staring at her face which seemed to shatter her world. she left with her eyeliner mark traced down the side of her nose. her son wasnt even in the room while all of this was happening, he had long gone after the bell had rung to go play outside.
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