It is no secret that 3A was my most challenging class this year. If a kid could be labeled delinquent at something, s/he was probably in this class. That happens every blue moon. All the trouble kids land in the same class period in order to test one's sanity as a teacher. (In fairness, it may be the Cosmos balancing out the fact that six-ish years ago I had the BEST 3A class EVER. Those students know EXACTLY who they are and how much that class rocked.)
I tried with this class. There was positive reinforcement, negative reinforcement, and maybe even some pleading. Except for a select few, most of the class couldn't have cared less about the effort they put in or what their final averages were. The entire class was never whole because there was always 3-4 kids in alternative placement. I couldn't even celebrate the fact that 3A would be smaller on exam day since exempt students don't have to come to class because 16 of the 21 students WEREN'T EXEMPT! All this to say, I was not thrilled that my absolute last class of the 2012-2013 school year would be 3A.
Then Zak turned in his final exam essay.
Zak has a lot going on for a 16-year-old. Actually, two of my co-workers were a major support system for him and worked with me to help keep him focused. There was even a day when he asked me to read a letter his step-father sent Zak from jail because Zak didn't know how to read cursive handwriting. Due to various issues, there are days Zak comes in with a little more attitude than he probably should. Today was one of those days. He didn't bring anything to write with and didn't want to borrow a pencil for a shoe (hey, it's the only way I get my supplies back). When I asked him if he really wanted the zero for the exam because he didn't want to give me a shoe as collateral, he just shrugged his shoulders as if to say, "whatever." I was very disappointed in him because I felt he had come a long way this year. Finally, he managed to secure a pencil from a classmate and wrote this:
Prompt: Reflect on everything we've read, discussed, written about, and/or argued this year. Choose one thing and write about how it has impacted your heroic journey.
Yes, I cried. I still do when I reread this. I don't even care if people want to judge the poor conventions of his essay because 1) it was in a timed situation and 2) this young man wouldn't even string together a proper sentence at the beginning of the year let alone multiple paragraphs.
I also distinctly remember the Emmitt Smith incident because Zak was having a REALLY bad day which meant chaos for my class since he expressed his anger/frustration by disrupting everyone else. I got a note card out and wrote his name in a really cool font on one side and this on the other: "For me, winning isn't something that happens suddenly on the field when the whistle blows and the crowds roar. Winning is something that builds physically and mentally every day that you train and every night that you dream." Honestly, Zak was in such a bad funk that day, I figured he threw it away and wrote me off as a stupid teacher. I was wrong.
I honestly had given up the notion that ANYTHING I did mattered to my 3A. This, fortunately, reminded me that sometimes all I need to reach is one person.
Happy summer to all my teacher friends! I promise you all had a Zak this year even if you never knew it!
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