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.