An Exemplary Teacher

I have a friend named Ann. Ann's career takes her all around the world and her children usually attend American schools. She told me of one particular teacher who really stood out for her attentiveness and sensibility when dealing with Ann's son, Thomas.

Thomas was a very active young boy who could not sit still for very long. He was easily distracted and although very bright, he found many of the lessons in school quite boring. He would normally listen for ten or fifteen minutes, and then his mind would wander to other places. Because he had many different areas of interest including astronomy, sports, cars, art and geography, his mind would take him on long journeys and he would lose attention. Often, he would draw (beautifully) in class and his mind was so occupied with the drawing that he wouldn't even hear the teacher call him. 

When Thomas was in the third grade, his family lived in Singapore. His main (homeroom) teacher was an elderly Singaporean teacher by the name of Mrs. Wong. Mrs. Wong immediately recognized Thomas's difficulties and her long years of experience told her what to do. Whenever she saw that Thomas was fidgeting in his seat and moving too much, instead of admonishing him or even commenting on it, she found tasks for him to do - tasks that would take him out of the classroom, before his movements would disrupt the rest of the class.

Sometimes, Mrs. Wong would ask Thomas to take a note to the Principal's office. The note, in a closed envelope, would simply ask the Principal's secretary to send Thomas to the storage department and bring some teaching materials back to class. Mrs. Wong would tell Thomas that this task is important - and urgent. She asked him to walk very quickly. By the time Thomas would return to class, after having missed five to ten minutes, he would be tired from his brisk walk and would sit quietly for the rest of the lesson. By receiving these tasks, Mrs. Wong achieved four objectives: she took care of the issue without embarrassing Thomas or admonishing him; she got him to spend a lot of pent-up energy which allowed him to sit calmly through the rest of the lesson; she empowered him and strengthened his confidence by giving him tasks and responsibilities; and she dealt with what might have become a disruptive element for the rest of her class.

There is much that we can learn from Mrs. Wong about how to deal with the challenges posed by over-active students in the class, with wisdom, experience and sensibility.