After-school Detention, or something like it

Day 80:

A professor I had while I was going through my credential program shared a story with the class once that demonstrated an ingenuity I hoped I could one day emulate.

I think that day is coming.

I'll share his story before I share mine...

[This quote may not be verbatim, but the words are as my mind recalls them]
There was this one kid one year, a real gang-banger type. I sensed he knew that there was more to life than the chosen route of his older male 'role models'; he was a bright kid too. And one day he came up to me and said, "Mr. Downing, I want to learn this stuff, but I can't. If the others find out I'm studying and stuff, then, well, they just can't know."
So I made an arrangement with him. Every couple of days I'd get visibly upset with him in class and issue him an afterschool detention. And every couple of days, when he came in to serve his detention, we'd spend the hour studying together."

I still remember how bad-ass a plan I thought that was when I first heard it - it still is.

I have a student this year that I think sort of fits that mold.

He's not only bright, but he does his work too. In fact, not too long ago he came up after class to let me know that I made a mistake. All huffy-like he tells me, "You gave me a zero on something I know I turned in." (turned out he hadn't put his name on it, but once he found it in the No Name Folder, it was 'all good'.)

Anyways, this kid is not a gang-banger. But I peg this kid like Dr. Downing's boy because everyday he misbehaves. It doesn't seem to matter where I put his seat either. I've tried in the front, in front of my desk, all alone without a table partner in the back, it doesn't matter, this kid finds and or makes trouble everywhere he sits. And I don't mean the kind of trouble where he occasionally talks out of turn, I mean he misbehaves so that other teachers send him outside for a timeout, or to the Dean's Office.

But today I think I figured him out.

I think that at some point early on in his schooling he established a reputation of being the tough-guy-slash-class-clown (and I don't recall having those types when I was in school - you were one or the other, but there was no such thing as both). And it doesn't matter that he is bright, or that he cares enough about his grades that he actually does his work; this guy sees himself as this persona and he's sticking to it.

So here's why I think my day of throwing down a bitchin plan is on the horizon.

I think that unlike Downing's student, my student doesn't see what he's doing to himself. I think that as bright as he is, my kid has no clue that his schtick is stickin it to him. Therefore, come Monday I'm gonna sit this kid down, for the seemingly umpteenth time, and lay it ALL out for him.

Which means one of two things will happen.

Either he'll listen, process, and adjust. Or he will no longer be in my class. Because frankly, his behavior decisions are dragging down his classmates, and I won't stand for it any more.
It's just not fair to them.

In my book, this kid has one more shot. And in all reality, whether he takes it or leaves it probably has a lot to do with how I'll present it.

Today I learned that I want to prove that when 'they' say there are some kids we just can't help, they're wrong.
Today I learned that people, even this kid, deserve one last chance.
Today I learned that I have a lot of planning to do over the weekend.
Today I learned that this planning had better generate a pretty bad-ass plan.