Teaching Elementary, My Dear Watson

10 - Stan

10

Stan

Monday, September 26

Kevin woke up and inhaled the faint scent of his wife's perfume. He reached for her, then realized he was alone, though her smell lingered. At least we had a wonderful weekend.

The simple decor reassured him. He bought little to keep expenses low. Can't go into debt.

He froze on the ride to Valle Grande, but the scooter helped cut costs, especially with two residences.

He felt good about his routine at school. Cassie had his reading groups' schedule organized, and it was paying dividends. He could see some improvement with students like Alfonso. It's still painful to watch a kid struggle with the alphabet as he does, learning phonetics like a first-grader, but my job is to help him grow.

His teams' attitudes got better. After being assigned positions, the squads began to practice new plays on offense and learn strategies for defense. Kevin smiled. It is so much easier to coach than to teach because each kid is here by choice.

Student math production increased. As Kevin's class had a variety of abilities but only one textbook, it wasn't possible to differentiate by levels with materials as he did with reading. So Kevin made math his default homework assignment. Some would spend just fifteen minutes to finish it, while others could take an hour, but it was a way to get in the extra practice each needed and allowed them whatever time it took. The key for Kevin was to check that they understood the assignment enough to be able to do it solo, so he always started the homework with them a few minutes before the end of school. Some avoided any effort in math.

Kevin started keeping Art after school daily with his parents' agreement. If he could turn Art around, he figured it would motivate the others. If he could coax effort out of every kid, Kevin felt certain they would all succeed. It was a challenging goal, but with a worthy target. Just get them all to try.

*****

Before the end of school on Monday, he reminded Art privately that he was to remain after the bell.

"Why?" said Art. But he knew. Kevin did not respond, but he stood by the only exit. Art was slow to pack up, the last to leave as usual. Kevin stood in front of the classroom door, blocking it. "Excuse me," said Art.

"You need to sit down. Your parents and I agreed that you'll stay until you're done with today's classwork assignment. You haven't finished yet. You may leave when it's complete."

"I hate you. I HATE YOU!" Art shouted. Kevin stood impassively, still blocking Art's path.

"If you need help, I will give it gladly, so you learn, finish quickly, and depart as soon as possible."

Art sat back down. He did nothing at all for an hour. "Okay, Art, time's up. You may go now."

Kevin left, got in a jog, ate, checked in with Monica, and thought about how to motivate Art.

Tuesday, September 27

The lessons and coaching went so well that Kevin felt certain he would not see Otto Smith in his classroom. He was right.

At the end of school, Kevin reminded the class about tomorrow's Back-to-School Night, then dismissed them all except for Art. Kevin and Art's parents decided he would stay an extra hour. Art would learn that his freedom depended on effort. Kevin did not lecture, just offered to help. Again, Art did nothing. Two hours after school, he went home.