i have been substituting for the last week and a half for a different classroom in the school i work for.  overall, it’s been a good experience.  however, there is this one student who has, at times, been the source of much frustration.  i do not know the background story for him at all, so i am not sure if he is a victim of the “system” or has family problems or is dealing with any other typical reason why a student acts out. all i know is that his reading and math levels are severely below grade level and he is incredibly argumentative.

on wednesday he got the best of me. i was utterly exhausted from the ordeal of babysitting him for four hours.

but, despite the lack of interest in school and the constant disrespect toward me, work went a lot better yesterday and today. I still had trouble with him. some of the trouble was so frustrating it has now become comical. But do you know what the beauty is in this situation?

God opened my eyes to see that he isn’t just acting up to be annoying. he is acting up because he has very low reading and math levels and he has trouble even understanding his math textbook. it’s not necessarily the math that is hard for him, it’s understanding the instructions and the examples. math itself is a different language, so can you imagine not even being able to understand the instructions written in english, much less the actual math?!

because of the realization God gave me, because He showed me that i needed to look through this kid’s antics, i was able to sit with him today and go over the vocabulary that he was struggling with. i found some worksheets for him that are more step-by-step and easier to understand. i explained things like what a decimal point is and why you have to line decimal points up in order to add two numbers together. i explained how to convert from a centimeter to a meter and what the prefix “centi” means.  i feel like i got through to him. despite his attitude and his defiance all day. for a few brief moments as i sat with him, in between interuptions and distractions, i could see him actually learning.

God helped me to see through the rebellion to see a kid who’s really struggling. It’s funny because now I wish i had more time with him to try to make a difference in his life.

thank you, God, for reminding me what i love about my job and speaking to my heart today.

Advertisement