I have a special needs student in my class. She has physical trouble getting around the school, but intellectually she is quite adept.
From day one, she has interrupted me while I was speaking to tell me that she didn’t have a handout since she hadn’t been to the first classes, or that she had a totally unrelated question. She constantly would tell me when she finished her work, which was always before anyone else in the class. Even though I have asked her a number of times to hold her answers until others are able to respond, she continues to shout out her answers before anyone else has a chance, thus silencing the class.
My teaching style is to let students shout out answers rather than call on individuals because I believe it creates a more open atmosphere, but she has continuously been trying to prove herself to me and her classmates that she is sharper and better.
Finally, yesterday I called her out in front of the class asking her to confer with her classmates about answers since she was in a group and to perhaps let others participate before she responds. She then clearly complained about my reprimand in Arabic, which one does not need to know the language to understand what was said. So, I asked her if she had something she’d like to say to me directly, to which she completely stopped talking for the rest of the class and wrote little notes in her notebook.
In the afternoon, I was called in to the Assistant Director’s office because she had made a complaint to Student Services about me not being fair or understanding of her needs. I politely explained that while I respect her special physical needs, I will not provide her with any slack on the intellectual side. Though I do not know the culture here regarding people’s responses to those with any kind of disability, I refuse in any country or culture to treat people differently if their minds are fully intact. Perhaps she is not used to this kind of treatment.
The good news is that the AD is being very supportive of the situation from my perspective and is taking what I’ve said back to Student Services who will then speak with the student again. Eventually, I will probably have to speak with her directly, though she should have just asked for an appointment to speak with me at the beginning as I have quickly learned that this culture is much more open about expressing their feelings than in Japan.
We shall see how it plays out, but this is very clearly contributing to my current lack of enjoyment with my students. I still have to see them for another 5 weeks, so it will have to get sorted out somehow.
On the bright side, they all just gave fabulous presentations! π
Until next time…
-T
