Thursday, November 18, 2010

Moments with Joey – Problems


SCENE 1, INTERIOR. MORNING, FIFTH GRADE CLASSROOM. The teacher is working with a ten year-old boy before school. The boy has been having difficulty with triple digit multiplication. While going over the steps of multiplying, the teacher keeps calling the boy back to attention when his mind starts to wander or he starts talking about things off topic. After nearly 30 minutes, the boy is only halfway done with the assignment. The teacher stops and looks the boy squarely in the eye.

TEACHER: Have you noticed that I seem to want to get your homework done even more than you do?

JOEY: Um…yeah.

TEACHER: Now just why would that be?

[The boy thinks for a second].

JOEY: Because you’re cooler than I am?

TEACHER: Now what in the world would that have to do with homework?

JOEY: I don’t know…

TEACHER: The truth is, Joey, I want you to be successful. Also, don’t you feel better about yourself when your homework is finished?

JOEY: Yeah, I do…

TEACHER: Well, that's it…plus I care about you, too. [Pause]. Now look, you’ve got 22 minutes to finish your work before school starts…that’s a lot of time.

JOEY: Well, Mr. Z, I’ve got lots of problems.

TEACHER: Yeah, you can say that again…

[The boy giggles and then returns to work].

[Fade to black].
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8 comments:

  1. CheeseboyNovember 18, 2010 at 10:12 PM

    Excellent. I think I have Joey's little brother, Timmy in my class this year.

    ReplyDelete
  2. TisforTonyaNovember 19, 2010 at 3:49 AM

    I think that when I was a teacher the word I said most often was "focus"... should have had it tattooed on my forehead some days.

    I'm sure Joey would have heard it a lot in my class :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. mamahasspokenNovember 19, 2010 at 5:45 AM

    I'm sitting here amazed that you are at work an hour before school starts, working with a student. That's being one awesome teacher!

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousNovember 19, 2010 at 12:00 PM

    Don't we all friend.......don't we all........

    ReplyDelete
  5. Sara @ Domestically ChallengedNovember 19, 2010 at 12:44 PM

    Ha! Isn't this the truth, all the time? I wish it were another way, but alas, these are our angels!

    ReplyDelete
  6. JayneNovember 19, 2010 at 10:16 PM

    It's good you've always got a Joey, life would get super boring without him!

    ReplyDelete
  7. tammyNovember 20, 2010 at 7:44 AM

    I remember when all my problems were only math problems.

    ReplyDelete
  8. NuttleyNovember 20, 2010 at 5:21 PM

    This one just makes me smile. Nuff said.

    ReplyDelete

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