Quirks

I am learning about hundreds of new types of students in this job. Please read on to see if any sound familiar....

Personal Space Invader: This student will stick his or her face right up against yours no matter what. Mine likes to see if I'm wearing eyeliner or not (slightly odd and disturbing at the same time). This student also likes to come up behind you and stick his or her face over your shoulder so when you turn your face, you smell his or her breathe. Usually needs to be reminded that he or she is invading your personal space.

The Rocker: This student enjoys rocking back and forth on his chair. Despite numerous reminders, he will continue to do this. Inevitably you will either become seasick from the rocking or, most likely, he will end up on the floor because you have taken his chair away.

Um.......: This student ALWAYS has a question. Unfortunately, he usually cannot remember the question that he has. Yet, it seems to be that he doesn't want to lose the teacher's attention or the "floor" because he will say "ummmmmmm" for about ten seconds before asking some random question. Usually this question has absolutely nothing to do with the actual lesson and is just another way to prolong his control of the floor. Every once in a while, he rises to the occasion and actually remembers his question.

The Silent Surprise: The kid who says absolutely nothing, always sits by himself, works better on his own, is so quiet that you dont' really remember what his voice sounds like. But when you're trying to get an answer out of the students and no one i responding and you fele like the world is ending, Silent Surprise not only surprises you by raising his hand but doubly surprises you when he answers the question correctly! Amazing.

The Adoring Girl: This student is always a girl. It doesn't matter what you look like, what you wear, how long it took you to do your hair in the morning, she will look at you adoringly and tell you that you look good or that she likes your hair/eyes/makeup/shoes/clothing/earrings/etc. Always good to have around on those bad days where nothing is going right. It's like your personal mood-upper.

The Expert: This students become smore common in high school but can be foudn in middle school as well. This students is an expert on something, be it Japanese samurais, The Five Pillars of Islam, the Incas, etc., either because of a personal interest or because of too many hours watching the History Channel. Whatever this person's expertises may be, they enjoy monopolizing the conversation when the class is studying the area of expertise. They will always raise their hand and when the other students realize that there is an expert in the class, they will clam up and force a conversation between the teacher and the so-called expert.

The Cupcake: This student is called the cupcake because he or she is so absolutely adorable that you just want to eat them up. Usually small, sometimes chubby with a cute round face, they usually are pretty hard-working, sometimes a little low on confidence but with the greatest smile ever. So cute that they put a smile on your face too and just make the day better.

The "Perfect Student": This student is just perfect. Hard-working, participative, works well with others, turns in his or her work, is inquisitive, enthusiastic, and always on-task. Abslutely a teacher's dream. Unforunately, tends to be picked on by the "less-perfect" students. Which then makes the teacher love him or her even more for having to put up with these less perfect kids. Truly a teacher's dream.

The Antagonizer: ALWAYS a larger student. This student enjoys driving the teacher up the wall and driving the other students up the wall. Sometimes just is obnoxious in class, sometimes doesn't know how to keep his hands to himself and ALWAYS thinks that he's the cat's pajamas. Inevitably, you and he/she end up having numerous talks outside one-on-one and numerous threats of detention is things do not shape up. Oftentimes, the Antagonizer is also a Rocker, which just is a recipe for disaster.

Well, it's late and I can't think of any more right now but this is a little taste of what I deal with on a regular basis. I'm sure more will come out of the wordworks as time goes on so stay tuned for more developments.