Teacher Moment

Fridays are always chaotic at a school and behavior is usually leaning towards out-of-control...and today was no exception. But just small one minute out the entire 7 hours just made my day.

There is one student in my class who is incredibly low. So low that when he started the year, he could not even write his name without a model and when he did copy it down, the letters were barely recognizable. Counting 1-10 almost never happened without one or two numbers left out and nevermind reading words more than three letters long. On top of it all, he has the unfortunate setbacks of severe lack of motivation and behavior problems - especially defiant behavior. To me, it seemed as if he had slipped through the cracks and it was easier to ignore him when he was in the room rather than coax him into producing work.

I have done my best with him given my limited expertise on how to teach him. Slowly but erratically, he has made progress. And today took the cake.

My class does what we call the Mad Math Race - 12 addition problems in one minute. They start with adding zero and as they pass, move up numbers through 10, and then start subtraction problems. We track this on a big racetrack on the back wall and the kids love seeing their vehicle move. This particular low student never participates for obvious reasons. Well today, he was in the room when we did it. So I gave him the zeros sheet, a number he had finally figured out how to add just the other day. When I said "GO!," he faltered until I asked him, "What happens to the number when you add a zero?" It clicked and he was off...I watched him the entire minute as he sped down the sheet filling in answers. My fingers were crossed as I watched the seconds tick by. He finished a full 10 seconds before time was up. (jaws can drop here please)

All 12 problems complete. All 12 problems correct. Only teachers or parents of special needs kids could understand my feeling as I gave him his high 5 and his tablemates congratulated him ( I purposely sat him by some sweet, patient girls who are great at trying to help him). Of course, the class was soon back to its usual loud state but I am still grinning even now because he finally made it onto the racetrack - by doing it the same exact way as every other student.