The Unforgettable Student
Posted by Sharon M. Tresino on 20 May 2009 | Posted in: Inspiration and Motivation, Teachers and Teaching
There is a certain student I will always remember—let’s call him Robert. He touched my life in a way that no other student ever had. Before Robert ever entered my room, I heard all about him from his kindergarten teacher. Robert had behavioral problems and had a very rough home life. According to the kindergarten teacher, I was in for a very rough year. As it turned out, Robert ended up being one of my favorite students. Now don’t get me wrong: there were plenty of days that he drove me up the wall! But there were even more days when I was truly thankful that I had had the opportunity to work with him. I’ve never seen a child so eager to learn and so excited to come to school each day.
How about you? Do you have a “Robert” in your classroom this year—a student who has touched your life in a very special way? I’d love to hear about him or her! (Of course, please be respectful and change the child’s name.)
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It was so heart warming to read there are some good ,humane teachers in this world. I wish we could have teachers like you in our country too. Sadly most of our teachers do not have a degree in education so how can they ……….
For over 20 years I taught 6-8 grade in rural Nevada. I enjoyed teaching that grade until last year–I knew it was time for a change. I transfered to third grade–big change. But today I realize what I was missing when I was teaching Jr. High. For their last activity the class made cards for me–one y oung man has been challenging–but today he made my year and perhaps my career. He wrote Thanking me for trusting him and not giving up on him. WOW!
All of my students have touched my life in some way, shape, or form this year. The team has had many issues with some of them, ranging from home life to boy/girlfriend issues, to self-esteem issues, to you-name-it (we teach middle school, need I say more?). But in the end, they are just kids, who want to know that someone cares about them and that they do matter in life. I will cherish the memories for years to come.
I have had similiar situation when I taught middle school. I worked with eh children and I was a shadow with i girl and after she graduation and went to live in Mass, she came back to the middle school and asked for me. I went up to the office and there was the girl, She told me, “I want to tell you you were the only person who belived in me” She was going to college but she had to tell me what I met to her.
I too had a “Robert” when I was teaching 4th grade. This boy came in mid year. He lived in a foster home and had some pretty severe behavior issues from the beginning! Some things I can’t even repeat here for fear of offence. Anyway, he was supposed to be a pull out for some instruction in an emotional support classroom. That teacher kept sending him back to my class before her time with him was over because she couldn’t handle him. IDEA did not apply to this child I guess. Anyway, he was with me most of the day for about 4 mo. At first I didn’t think I could do it, but slowly, he began to work for me and before he left he was able to work with certain groups of his peers. Unfortunately, his emotional support teacher determined he needed a new placement and the administration supported her not the child. He was hardly ever with this teacher, so she had no idea what he could do in my classroom.
I, too, have a “Robert” story. Much like your Robert, mine had the same kind of year last year. His kindergarten teacher told me all about him. In fact, I had seen him wandering the hallways many times. He had anger and emotional issues and he often times “ran away” from the classroom–literally! I saw him and from time to time would ask him where his class was and why he wasn’t with them. He would give me an answer such as, “I got tired of being with them so I decided to leave.” Or, “I don’t like them and they don’t like me so I dont’want to be around them.” Another time it was, “I hate school!”
This went on the entire school year. At the end of the year when I found out that he was going to be my student this year, I saw him in the hallway and I asked him to come to my first grade classroom to see what he would be doing next year. I got him into a center and working and I called Ms. X and told her that he was with me and that I would keep him until it was lunch time if she was okay with it and if she thought his parents would be okay with it.
She agreed and “Robert” stayed with me until lunch. I told him that he was going to be in my classroom next year and I had taken this time to get to know him better. He responded with, “You don’t want me in your class because I am such a brat.” I answered with, “Well..I don’t think you will be a brat in my classroom because brats are not allowed.”
The new school year came and “Robert” came, along with Mom, and entered with much hesitation and an even greater amount of encouragement. There was an initial honeymoon period and all went well, but after about two months all he.. broke loose. He started into one of his argumentative stages and started towards the door. When he started to leave I said, “Robert. Are you sure you want to leave? If you leave you won’t be able to ever come back in again!” He just looked at me and turned around and went back to his seat. Granted he didn’t do any work for the rest of the day, but it was the start of something new for him. The remainder of the year has had some minor issues, but he has been extremely successful and even entered a gifted learner’s program where he has flourished.
“Robert” needed someone to let him know that he could not just leave any time he wanted without someone worrying about him.
I am happy to report to his upcoming second grade teacher that “Robert” has grown by leaps and bounds compared to his first year in school.