The Quiet Ones...

So there's this SUPER quiet boy in my geometry preAP class, and he never talks with anyone, and he works alone when most others are helping each other out on problems and he NEVER comes in for help and he NEVER turns in his test corrections and he skips some homework and he was FAILING and failing and near failing for the last 4 sets of report cards. And I keep battling back and forth with myself wondering if he's appropriately placed and whether he would be better served in a "regular" class, but then I think, no, even if it's challenging for him, it's still good to get the exposure ..... and then I go to the other side of the pendulum, and in the last-period-of-the-day needy class of "squeeky wheels" that demand my attention in helping them solve various problems, he never raises his hand to ask for help, and he never solicits help from others and ..... on and on and on. ..... So I've made sure that I go over and help him when I can and I keep asking him to come after school for help and he never takes me up on it.

Well.

He was absent for a couple of days last week, a couple of crucial days, and he missed turning in a "quiz" that was worth a lot and he didn't do his quiz corrections, and SURPRISE he's failing. So. I basically (nicely) demanded that he stay after school yesterday (and today), and SURPRISE he did. And it was one of those freak times when no one else stayed after, and he could be as quiet as he wanted and I could concentrate solely on him, and sheesh, the boy does math. ..... He worked through all the hard word problems that the kids were struggling with .... and after we ironed out a few minor (unit changing) details, he got every single answer correct. Imagine that. And THEN, he stayed after today and did his corrections with me, and SURPRISE, he's passing.

And on his way out, he thanked me sincerely for the help. Then I thought to myself, sheesh, come in more often, buddy and you could be getting better than a C.

Warm fuzzy feeling :)