Every teacher has at least one kid who needs the teacher’s attention for every minute of every class. Often, those are kids I really enjoy having in class, as long as they have a sense of where the line is and don’t cross it. I had one two years ago, S., who took his chair apart during one memorable class.
The one I have this year is G. He’s fully aware of what he’s doing, he doesn’t do it out of malice, and I can usually keep him on track enough that his comments help move the class forward, at least most of the time. And I make a point of genuinely showing my appreciation for his enthusiasm when appropriate.
Today, G. showed up in one of my other chem classes (a different section of the same class he’s in). He participated in the class, and joined in the group activity as if this had been his regular class, so I didn’t think much of it. (I wondered at the time whether he was getting dismissed early and was attending a different class on his free period so he wouldn’t miss anything–he had been absent the previous day.) Then I saw him again in his regular class two periods later, so I asked him about it. Evidently, he just felt like joining one of my classes during his free period.
Whatever his motivation, I took it as quite a compliment that he decided to spend his free period in a chemistry class.
