Wednesday: An Important Moment

So little smart-ass Matt came into the resource room period before his Global II class, unprepared. He had an answer for everything, which led Mr. Z to ask, "What is the meaning of life?" Matt took the textbook and put himself into "the box," which is the detention room across the hall. Mr. Z sent me after him, warning me not to be the "bad cop." I was a little pissed at this kid. He misses school every other day, never does his work, and thinks he is too smart and too cool to go to school. It was like pulling teeth to get him through the assignment. He was content with printing out the answers on Quizlet. I knew he wasn't going to write down the answers, so I tried to get him to talk about them. I remember Mrs. C asking the class why Africa was known as the "Dark Continent." I searched the answer and asked him to read it. As soon as Matt was done printing the terms out, I had him read it again. In class Mrs. C asked the question, and Matt's hand went up. No one else knew the answer. He made me proud. As he left class I told him what a great job he did, and he said he did it so that I looked good. Not the motivation I was looking for, but I'll take it. You have to cherish these small break through moments. It's not everyday that an arrogant punk-ass kid makes an effort.