I have been very blessed with a very singular student this year. His name is Samuel. Samuel was very unique from the start. From the beggining of the year he was always lost in his own world. Never paying attention always off on some other topic. He constantly answers questions by interjecting his own "irrelevant" stories. ei During math he would blurt out "My iguana has green scales!" Yet what I find to be extremely shocking about him is his intelligence. He reads books veraciously. He takes on research projects completely by his own self motivation. He has ingested the new "Dragonology" series. He scores the highest grades on every test!!!???!! Yet he never seems to be listening to anything I say??? In fact when I am trying to instruct him on an assignment he seems irritated. He seems to be saying to himself, "I wish this guy would shut up so I can get started on this." And it is true. Samuel doesn't function in the world of the regular. His mind works much differently than "normal" kids. He has his own way of thinking, doing everything. He has to break things down within his own program. At the beggining of the year I misinterpretted his behavior as lazyness, stupidity or ADD. Yet he is just different. He gets by his own unique way. I wonder how many people have just categorized him by their own prejudices. I wonder how many kids I have judged unfairly???
David,
Sounds to me like Samuel is desperate for attention and approval.
You might try giving him lots of praise when he does well, and then once you have established yourself as a "praise giver" he will be reluctant to offend you. Then when he comes out with off the wall cracks, say "Samuel, that is not appropriate, don't do that." loud and clear.
You might also try giving him those "perks" like carrying notes to the office, leading the Pledge, etc.
You might also call on him to help other kids with math or whatever. You might be surprised what develops.
I used to give unpopular sixth grade boys a boost by teaching them to bat. Many of them are overweight but fairly strong. No one has ever taught them athletic skills, and with a little instruction most can become regular base hitters. A couple became sluggers that were chosen early in the llineup at lunch and recess. Major status boost.
Girls frequently can't bat or throw. Mainly because no one ever taught them to. A couple of sessions and suddenly they are out there playing instead of yakking on the sidelines.
PS, save your yelling for special occassions. If you do it all the time, they learn that its just noise.
Thomas Maddux
