Leveraging Learning

  I have a kid who comes to class regularly. He always turns in his work, sometimes participates in the discussion through the chat and once has let me hear his voice. He was in my class last year, so I know what he looks like, know he likes math and know that other kids really like and respect him. In recent weeks, he had been a little less chatty in the chat (although he did comment that I was dressed as an avocado at Halloween and NOT a banana) and last week I had to ask him to refine his project before I graded it so that it would match his prior excellence. He complied within thirty minutes. I have suspicions about what was going on and I am fairly certain this dip in engagement had more to do with the content and flow of class than it did with anything the kid may have been facing. This I know for certain, the problem was more on my end than on his. Evidence of this theory came yesterday when he wrote this statement on this classwork: "also, it's fun doing this." I