Expert Negotiator

Every Saturday morning, I wake up and walk down the hill to tutor one student. This one student is my favourite. He is also my most difficult. Never one to initiate conversation, verbally opposed to every suggestion, often times rude and inappropriate, this child is a challenge. But in him, there is a ray of light and an offer of hope. Although he bitterly complains about our short time together on Saturdays, I know he doesn’t mind so much – his bark is much worse than his bite. With moans, objections and excuses out of the way, we begin our weekly negotiations. We negotiate which subjects he will work on (he pretends to leave if I suggest math first), we negotiate how long we will work on the exercise, we negotiate what happens when all is finished, and last but not least we negotiate when we are done for the day. After all that – we are ready to work. But the challenges don’t end there. It is a struggle to teach any child who appears to be inattentive or unconcerned with the lesson. And I know my favourite student may not look it, but he is listening attentively and absorbing all of what I’m trying to teach him.

When it’s time for a snack break, I gently tease him about his “Beatles” style hair cut and although I know he would never begin a conversation, he enjoys the social contact. I’ve reached him when he smiles. We laugh together when I tell him stories of how I too, used to hate math as well as my grade 7 math teacher named Miss Work. I’ve connected with him on some level with that one smile, that one moment of sustained eye contact and a little shared laughter. It is the whole reason I wake up on Saturday mornings eagerly looking forward to our time together.

As I walk back up the hill, finished for another week with my favourite student, I feel satisfied that I’ve done a good job as a teacher and that I was able, if only for a short time, to crack the surface and let the light of hope shine in. Even if I had to negotiate for it.