Teaching Elementary, My Dear Watson

21 - Reading & Funeral

21

Reading & Funeral

Monday, December 12

Birds sang as Kevin walked to his car before work. Clusters of cumulus drifted across the sky. The sun to the east painted pastels at the edges of the cloud billows, shafts of light sneaking through where they could. No storm approached, just a sky filled with color, and its beauty helped Kevin feel a little hopeful. He hadn't experienced much joy all weekend, for at night, thoughts of Monica brought him down. But this dawn's impressionist sunrise put him in the moment, reminding him that, irrespective of his pain, there was beauty on the planet and pleasure was possible in his future. He just wasn't experiencing much of it right now.

Kevin arrived at school a little later than usual, having spent so much of the weekend preparing, so he had extra time. He wore a long-sleeved denim shirt for the cold, tucked into his matching jeans. He picked up his evaluation from Smith in the office, deciding he'd look at it after school. No need to let it ruin my day now.

During language arts, he was tested while helping the first group. Alfonso's struggles as he sounded out new words tried Kevin's patience. He was tempted to jump in and model each challenging word, but knew it would prolong Alfonso's march toward self-sufficiency. So Kevin kept his composure and helped him only after he got stuck. Alfonso's "Loke" became "look" and "ran" became "rain". Kevin was proud of the other kids in Alfonso's group. He'd taught them to say nothing about anyone else's efforts, and they followed his directions. Alfonso began, "The b-boy s-saw the y-yellow t-toy. The g-girl s-saw it toe, I mean too." Kevin hadn't needed to help him like usual. Not even once.

"Yes, Alfonso, perfect!" That's the first time he's ever finished a complete sentence on his own!

"Mr. Watson, I did that all by myself. I can read!"

"Yes, Alfonso, you did. You really can read! Congratulations!"

Alfonso beamed. Without prompting, all the other kids in his group clapped like it was their success too. One boy nearby reached out, and Alfonso joined him in a high-five.

This is why I teach.

*****

On his way to basketball practice, Kevin touched his chest. Yes! I remembered the whistle.

Today, they worked on layups. Some kids needed help with footwork, so he broke it down. If they were shooting with their right hand, he started without dribbling, having them take one small step with their left foot and then shoot. Next, he added one more step, right-left-shoot, again without dribbling. Kevin then permitted one dribble. He modeled all this, stepping left with the dribble. Some, especially the boys who had played a lot, knew this already. So Kevin added shooting from a different side, or gave them a time limit to dribble from half-court, but allowed only a layup.

"If you are ahead of the defense, the layup gives you the best percentage shot. Always move to one side of the basket and use the backboard. The shot isn't as high that way, so you need less power, and bouncing off the wood backboard slows it down some more. Even if it rattles around up on the rim, the softer the bounce, the more likely the ball will drop. You all are smart. Take intelligent shots and you'll score more." The kids nodded. They trusted what Kevin had to say now.

*****

At the end of Monday, he opened Smith's evaluation. "Needs improvement" again. This time, the focus was on Kevin's professionalism. Humor, he wrote, should be used seldom. He hoped Kevin would use Smith's more serious example of the acronym so the students would think math was important rather than a joke.