Ergane in Retrograde

Another Day Down

When I came into Mrs. Schmidt's class and noticed Alonzo doing his hiding thing while the other kids were clamouring to get my attention, I realized my tutorial with Alonzo was doomed.

Alonzo is one of those kids on the cusp, one of those sweet, precious kids so easy to lose. Everyday, I work with him on his reading comprehension. How good of a session we have totally depends on his mood. And lemme tell you, he is one moody kid. A Leo/Virgo cusp kinda moody if I remember correctly. His mother loves him pieces and he lives near me and has seen me before at Target. (The day someone asks me who was that guy whose hand I was holding is the day I realize I will need different... but it may never happen... and because I am thinking about it now, perhaps I will be prepared... both for the real world and school world of it.) I love the kid because he's beautiful in all senses and so smart and I know I can help him... but I have to wait on his moods.

Today, he was right on the cusp of going either way. With that in mind, I plunged forward. Today's reading comp featured the spittlebug. Immediately, he tried to con me by saying he had already read down to p. 5, but Jonathan gave it up -- not that I didn't see thru it... it's been, what, five weeks now? There are two things he likes/craves: Attention and Finishing. (Can't you just SEE the Leo/Virg working out through this one? To make a short story short, he saw other kids on the classroom computer, became discouraged and just stopped. At the same moment, Sheyanne asked for help, which didn't help him because he's *such* an Attention Hog. Mrs. Schmidt took him and I worked with Sheyanne. Both finished their papers at the relative same time.

posted by Ergane @ 3:03 PM