Falling Through the Cracks!

     Think back on all of the classes you have had over the years.  Consider the class you have this year.  I'll bet that you could easily name (From any year) that one student who was the Troublemaker, or the Drama Queen, or the Instigator.  That one student who took Class Clown to a whole new level.  That one student who's middle name was "I didn't do it." 
     This is the student that the teachers from a grade level below warned you about at the district breakfast.  This is the student who warranted a visit from your principal prior to the first student day of that new year, with a Head's up about what was coming your way.  This is the student who barely passed, or who attended summer school in order to pass.  This is the kid who was very intelligent, but never applied him/herself.  This is a student who spent more time in the Principal's office than in the classroom.  This may even be a kid who was moved from classroom to classroom, because the teachers just could handle him or her.  Chances are real good...almost 100%...that this is a kid who fell through the cracks.  Chances are 100% that the kid didn't even know he/she was falling!
     Whether they are requested into my classroom, or get their by the luck of the dice (I say this meaning that I am the lucky one, NOT that the kid is lucky to have landed in my classroom), I always have kids who...up to that point...have not had a pleasant academic life.  Upon entering my room the first day, these kids already have their minds made up that it is just another year, just another grade, just another bogus teacher, and just another boring ride.  I guess I have a sixth sense about these things (I am sure many other teachers do to) because I can spot this kid immediately.
     Now, before I continue...this posting isn't as much about how to handle a kid with a rep, as it is about how to UN-teach certain behaviors.  How to show this kid that my classroom aint your run of the mill, traditionally structured learning domain.  How to find that kid...wherever he/she is hiding within themselves, and bring them into the light.
     First, and foremost...the lion must always be present, even just under the surface.  I say this because I believe that no matter what the educator's teaching style is...said educator MUST be the dominant presence in the room.  Not completely overpowering, and not in a negatively intimidating way.  A teacher must be the "Go to guy/gal"...he or she must be the tie that binds.  Meek, weak and wishy-washy just doesn't cut it.
     As the year moves along this kid with a rep has demonstrated behaviors that are familiar to him/her.  Behaviors that have gotten this kid attention, or a trip OUT of the classroom.  Through this same space and time, the lion roars then explains..."You are MY kid now...I believe in you, and I KNOW you are better than that!"  A bit more roaring, and more words about the excellent character traits I have noticed.  A few mornings this kid might find a note on his/her desk...something about how proud I am for something the kid did the day before.  I now have this kid believing that I not only have eyes in the back of my head, but everywhere, and that he or she will get away with nothing.  Soon the kid is laughing with the others while I am joking about Columbus's Stubbornness...and then soon the kid realizes that if anything does go down...it is between he/she and I...not the principal, not the counselor.  A few more notes, and congratulatory words on a job well done regarding a test, or a bit of classwork.  Then...I give the kid something he/she may not have ever had before.  I give the kid trust.  I give him/her a classroom job, or I have him/her run errands for me.  Trust is REAL BIG in my classroom.  It is something earned, and always maintained.  Now their is less roaring.  The kid...who thought he/she had everything figured out...is doing things he/she never did before.
     The above bit of writing makes it sound easy...easy it is not!  It isn't easy to find a kid with a rep.  Sometimes he/she is hidden so well deep inside that it is easier to find a needle in a haystack.  It takes constant work.  Just when you think he or she Has it...the kid slips, the kid makes a mistake.  The thing is that when a kid falls, we need to be their to encourage them to get up!  Encourage isn't strong enough...give the kid no choice and make them get up!  When a kid falls we need to be there, we cannot stand idly by and allow them to fall between the cracks.
     As I stated in past posting...your kids must feel safe, and be happy.  In order to feel safe, we (The kid and I) may sometimes have to tread through dark forests in order to get to the other side.  It might be ugly in the beginning, there may be a bunch of roaring and the gnashing of teeth.  There is a difference, and this may be a bit deep, but...there is a difference between roaring at a kid, and roaring for a kid.  This kid is used to being roared at...he/she expects it.  When you roar for him/her...it reaches that part of every kid who desperately needs for someone to say "No!"  Look back on your own childhood with your parents at a time when you got roared at...or...at a memory of that favorite teacher you had who may have roared at you for doing something you shouldn't have.  You intuited then, and know now that they did it because they loved, and cared for you.  My parents roared when I needed it.  My two favorite teachers (Yes, I only had two teachers who found their way into my heart) roared also, and it made all the difference.  Falling between the cracks is for dust, and dropped pennies, not for kids.  These "handfuls" (And I know some kids can be BIG handfuls) need more than your best, most composed and brilliant students need.  They need to know they matter, and that they are just as important to you as your other kids. 
     Like parents, we teachers are not supposed to have favorites, but I will share a secret with you.  I love all my kids, but I have favorites from every year.  A large number of those favorites are made up of kids who entered my classroom with reps.