A new student: new mind and new behavior

Doug is an excellent boy who is so well behaved. Being one of the four boys in the math class, he stands out for his respectful attitude and his readiness to learn. Everyday he comes in with his hands folded, feet on the ground, and sits silently until the teacher gives directions. During a lesson, he tracks my teacher and is always on task. He used to not always be this way. When talking to his homeroom teacher, she admitted that she was scared of having him in her class at the beginning of the year. He was noisy, hyper, and very distracting. While I do not know the entire back-story of the student, the homeroom teacher said she would share the amazing transformation of Doug who is now so well behaved.  As of now, I know that he started taking medication that really helped his behavior in class. While I would like to focus another one of my reflections on the benefits and consequences of students be medicated, I would like to concentrate on Doug’s great behavior now. It is important for teachers to never put students in a box since they can change throughout the year. With a little encouragement and love, Doug has become an excellent student who exceeds others in his class. He comes to school ready to learn and appreciates his learning. I find that I am more willing to help him because I know his heart (and now mind) is in the right place. While the teachers had to be patient with his behavior at the beginning of the year, their hard work and constant reminders paid off. He is a complete joy to have in the classroom and I look forward to hearing the full story of how he used to behave to how he is behaving now. I hope other students and teachers can benefit from the story of Doug since he has become a role model and a different student in a matter of months.

 

**Student’s name has been changed for privacy reasons.