Empathy

I have a student, D, who I had been locking horns with since the beginning of the year.  He was defiant, seemingly unable to focus on work, would actively distract the class when I would try to teach a lesson and pester other students until they could barely tolerate being around him.

Most of that has changed - he's doing much better at managing himself, we've got a list of "Not Okay" things (like invading personal space) that we don't even have to talk about any more (I can just say, "Oh, that's on the list" and he immediately fixes it) and that's letting me appreciate him more as a student and a person rather than just an obstacle.

So, another student is sobbing at my desk (her mom was out of town and she was feeling sad).  D comes over and very soothingly rubs her back.  She starts calming down, though she's still hiccuping her way through tears.  D looks at me, nods, then looks back at her and says quite sternly, "STOP CRYING!"

At the time, it was just a classic D moment, but in the retelling, I've come to appreciate the hilarity in that event.

In which a student gazes thoughtfully...

We're working on a neighborhood unit, and the students are coming up with characters who they will use to interact with each other.  Some students are doctors, some are police officers and there's a surprising number of bakers.

Michael was having a really hard time coming with a name for his character.  After I told him that "Red Lightning" was more of a superhero name, he gazed thoughtfully out the windows for an extended period of time.  When I finally came back to him, he looked up at me and asserted, "My character's name is Tree Branch".  I looked over my shoulder out the window, and sure enough, there was a tree branch waving in the wind.

I don't think I've ever had such a "Calvin and Hobbes" / "Anchorman" moment.

(For those of you who need the pop culture reference, here's the Anchorman clip)