Well, it’s been a while. Increasing your class size by 50% makes for a very buys year, it turns out. Go figure. Anyhoo, I’m back for a few. Spring Break is around the corner and I couldn’t be more pleased. After Break it is a 9-week push until summer. Wow!!
I’ll write more about my year at another time. Right now, I need a little help with a student situation. One of my young students is about twice the size of all the others. He is gentle, caring, always involved in class discussions and terribly enthusiastic. On one field trip to a park he said, “Ms. Teacher, we are so luck to be out on this beautiful day. Thanks for taking us here.” What a dream. The problem is, he allows himself to be a total pushover.
Big Fella was told by another kid to run laps around the yard, so guess what he did? He ran. He will not say anything to his friends to put them in their place. He just goes home and cries about it. Mom wants to help him develop the tools he needs to standup for himself. I have suggested things like being honest about his feelings and telling is friends things like, “that makes me feel bad”, “if you are my friend, why would you say that to me?” or “I would never try to make you feel bad, like that”. These have not been implemented.
My question to all of you in cyberspace: How do you get a pushover to standup for himself? Keep in mind he is one of the youngest, as well as largest, in my class. He is teased about his physical appearance, including the fact that he suffers from plumbers butt almost all the time. We’ve tried belts and gentle reminders to no avail. His shape simply does not support pants well a this stage.
Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment. I’ve been wracking my brain and searching the Internet for a week or better now. I’m at a loss. Any input would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks all!
