I Remember

Sometimes I get nostalgic for my former students. A few years ago, I had this girl in my class who was awfully smart. In fact, ESL student that she was, she came up to me and said, "I smart than you." I made her say "I'm," showing her how she needed to close her mouth. Then I showed her the comparative "smarter," and finally she was able to repeat, "I'm smarter than you."

I told her I didn't need to be smarter than her. I only needed to know more English than her. She loved to argue with me. She would raise her voice and scream at me, I can't even remember about what, and I was game to scream back at her, "Now you're in BIG TROUBLE!" She knew she wasn't, and clearly couldn't care less. My largely shy students were amazed anyone would talk to a teacher like that, but loved seeing it done.

She had an odd habit. Whenever I turned my back, or was busy doing something with another student, she would sneak up to the board and draw rabbits, or hamburgers, or SpongeBob, or just about anything. She really had a good eye. The kids really seemed to admire her.

I'm certain of this because I often walk around to watch what kids are doing, and several of my kids felt it very important to copy what was on the board. Quite a few of my students would have sentences I'd written on the board punctuated by the odd hamburger. Perhaps they were hungry, though that may not explain why they copied the cute little rabbits. (I suppose some people eat rabbits, but not the cute ones.)

Have you got an unforgettable student? Tell us about him/ her/ them in the comments.