An unexpected twist...

So, some days I come home and think, "What in the world was that all about?" Today was one of those days.

It was a good day, don't get me wrong. For the most part, the kids were great. However, I had one who caught me off-guard today.

Thursdays are our weekly Spelling Pre-Test Day. And this week we had compound words, popcorn, anybody, everything, just to list some examples. My morning group did a FABULOUS job. I think only one has to take the test again tomorrow, which is a rarity in my classroom.

So this afternoon I expected the same thing. I will admit, my afternoon group has some of my lower functioning kids, in terms of academics, but they are good kids. They are sweet kids. No behavior problems whatsoever. Sure, I've got the poster child for ADHD, but overall, it's a low-key group.

So, I was on number five of the test this afternoon, and I looked over, and Silentboy was cheating! He had his planner out and he was copying out of his planner!

I stopped.

I just looked for a second to make sure I saw what I thought I did.

Yep, Silentboy was copying from the planner!

Snap!

First off, this kid has NEVER caused any problems for me. He's a neat, neat kid. Second of all, this kid doesn't talk. I mean, he does, but it's very very very limited speech.

And honestly, he's become a favorite of mine. I know, I know, we're not supposed to have them, but we do. Granted, I have about 23 favorites, but he's still at the top of my list.

So I paused and prayed. Not outloud of course, but I prayed.

This kid cries if you look at him crosseyed. He's so sensitive. So special.

I walked over and looked at him. Unfortunately it was in front of the whole group, but I didn't have a choice because the whole group was going to figure it out anyway.

I said, "Silentboy, you can't use your planner during the test."

Immediately tears began to flow.

Now, I've taught long enough that I can pretty much figure out when tears are real and when they're a manipulative ploy. And, these were real tears.

I quietly said, "Okay, I am going to take this planner away and I want you to finish the test."

He was crying by this point. Fortunately he was on the front row so the kids didn't see the tears. And, fortunately he wasn't sobbing, tears were just falling.

Normally in this case, I take the paper, the kid gets a zero, and a phone call is made to the parents.

I couldn't do that to this kid. The school he came from was a very negative thing, and I didn't want the kid to re-live the whole thing again.

So we finished the test. And, of course, Silentboy still missed some of the words he had cheated on. I imagine he was so nervous that it made him mess up.

I knew I had to let his Mom know about it though. She trust me COMPLETELY with her kid and often brings him to me to get stuff out of him. It works out well that she picks up the kids after school.

I knew it was going to be rough. Silentboy's whole family is from another country and this sort of stuff brings intense shame upon them. Of course, this isn't put onto them by me, that's just how they feel when their kids make mistakes.

I went down and let Silentboy's Mom know what happened. She was okay with what I had done. In fact, she thought I was too nice to him. This was a shock to me because she had been so vocal about what had happened at the other school. She asked me to go down and talk to Silentboy and find out WHY he had cheated.

So, I walked down and Mr. C. and I talked to him. Of course, Silentboy immediately started crying. I hate that. I mean, this is a kid that doesn't cry much, so it's hard for me to see him cry. But, I knew we had to get to the bottom of it.

We took about 5 minutes and all we could figure out was that he wanted to do well on the test and he didn't study so he thought the only way he could do well was by cheating. Of course, we got that through a guessing game. Silentboy has a really hard time expressing himself vocally, so I wasn't really sure if that was the whole story.

Then Silentboy's Mom came in. It was about another 10 minutes of talking, and finally she left with Silentboy. As she was about to leave though, she apologized for her son's behavior. I felt bad for her. I really did. She put a lot on her, when her kid just made a mistake. I truly believe Silentboy won't ever do that again.

We had a teacher's meeting after school, and I went back to my room and Silentboy and his family were back. They were there for another meeting on one of the other kids in the family, I think, but they stopped by my room.

Silentboy's Mother stated that all she could get out of him was that he was scared of the planner. I sit here now and still don't fully understand that statement. But, I hugged Silentboy, told him I loved him, and tomorrow is a new day.

To me it's over. I don't hold stuff over my student's heads.

I know Silentboy won't do it again.

And it really gave me a perspective of God looking down on us. He forgives us even more perfectly than I can ever forgive Silentboy. And once he forgives us it's over with. Life goes on.

We are loved very well.

Yes, it was a very good day.

I learned something new.

It's not a good day unless you learn something new.

I'll keep ya posted on more of my little life lessons.

Later!