A Big Heart for Sc**t

I have long been thinking of a title for something that I wanted to write about for quite sometime now. However, just because I couldn’t think of a way to finish my title, I also couldn’t start writing anything about it. I couldn’t organize my thoughts and couldn’t find the urge to actually put them in writing. Little did I know, that the person (I mean the little person) whom I wanted to write about is just the answer that I was looking for…Perfect!

That's Sc**t.

Nobody loves him...(it seems in school that is...)

But me.

He came to my class in January of this year. The teacher of the other class has been trying to get rid of him for the longest time and my assistant even warned me about him, and begged not to take him.

Still, I did.

A week or two has just passed since he came to my room, and he was already in danger of going back to his previous group because according to my directress, he wasn’t ready to be in my class, emotionally. He knows his stuff and is even better than those who are already in my class since the school year started. His academic ability wasn’t a problem. His behavior was. As expected, his parents were called in for a meeting and lo and behold, they are even worse of a problem than Sc**t was. Long story short, they were in denial and to a certain extent, blamed us all (yes, no one in the school was spared) for their son’s behavior.

The week after, Sc**t was absent. And when he came back, it was as if he was a different kid, at least for me. I don’t know what it was, but I saw something good in him that made me love him in an instant. He actually isn’t a brat (because that, I can’t stand yet!). I can’t really tell specifically, but somehow, I see his desire to be loved by everyone, and that he just needs someone’s loving and caring attention, and he’d obey.

My assistant still can’t stand him, but I’d trade him for no one in my class. I’m not playing favorites, but among those problem kids in my class, he’s my baby. And whenever I say this, my co-workers would either make a face or look perplexed, as if saying, “Are you out of your mind, Ms. Jam?!” And my assistant? Oh, she's disgusted (and at the same time, thankful because I said I’ll take charge of Sc**t).

I know Sc**t wouldn’t understand, but through my actions and the way I deal with him, I always say thank you. More than anything else, I thank Sc**t (and the others too, who are just like him) for giving me a lot of reasons to love this profession…for giving me another sense of fulfillment…and for making me feel that I am really cut to be an educator.

Now, I need to get back to working on my lesson plan. I’m only halfway done and it needs to be submitted tomorrow. But I worry not, because tomorrow doesn’t only mean work…it also means another day to spend with my students...another day of being a “mother”…and another opportunity for me to open my heart, not only for Sc**t, but yeah, hopefully even for those tiny little brats.

A big heart for the brat? Why not?


(written: March 21,2010)