"I will shoot you!"

As a teacher, I am now a mentor as well.

This post is a little past due, but last week a little bit of drama unfolded in my class......

So there I was, innocently teaching my class when a student in the front of the room on the side asked a question that required individual attention. As i was working with that student, I heard (shouted) from across the room: "I'LL SHOOT YOU!"..."I WILL SHOOT YOU!!!"

I looked up and was surprised to see the nicest, most kind hearted, student in the 8th grade standing up and shouting at a female student. I won't deal here with the minutiae of disciplining the student, sending him to the office, the family mediation with the police, the phone calls in tears (the student's tears, not mine).

What I will talk about is the conversation I had with the student when he stopped by to apologize after school.
---The student is one who is enthusiastic about his education. When he has an answer or gets a question right, he shouts out that fact, beaming with pride. He tries harder than most (or at least it is most apparent that he is trying hard). And for this, does he receive praise from his classmates? Do they admire his commitment and laud him for it? Of course not, children are children and for all his effort, he gets flak :(
--Sooooo..... what does a normal 13 year old do when faced with this situation? Does he see that his true respect will come in 15 years at his 10 year high school reunion when the students who were hard working in school (like him) are successful and the students who "act ghetto" (his words) are much less successful (on average)? Again, of course not, because "children are children" and he sees that in order to gain the respect of his friends and classmates he needs to "act ghetto."

We sat and talked for a while (well me talking and him nodding his head.) He was very open to thinking critically about his behavior and I saw in him the opportunity for his teachers to make a difference in his life above and beyond the classroom, and show him that he can gain respect in more constructive ways. That his self esteem could be built up and he could be happier.

-Thus I became a teacher and a mentor.

--The Prof.