That was the question posed today by a student. First, let me set the scene (I can hear Estelle Getty as Sofia Petrillo on Golden Girls "Picture it!")
This is an inclusion class. Here, we call it 'collaborative', where I come into a class (actually a series of them, like running a relay) for half the period to support the content teacher in reaching the SWD. More on this model another time. Also, I've been a participant in a grant-funded project that aims to beef up teachers' pedagogical content knowledge in math and science. Some of the higher-ed folks involved in that have visited this class to observe me, so the kids know about it. They were impressed.
In this class, I arrive for the second half of the lesson. Today there was a test, and as kids finished up, they had instructions to start working on a project that was postponed from last week due to winter weather and heinous road conditions. So I come in, sit down at a student table, take out some stuff I need to work on, and use my mojo to keep an eye on the kids as they work and move around. Fast forward to me answering questions for two students, and a third one, sitting nearby, interrupts (as usual) and says loudly (as usual), "If you're so smart, why are you a teacher?" Before I can figure out how to respond (since I'm choking on my tongue at this point), my collab partner says, "Why would you ask something like that?" The student answers with "Well, I was just wondering why she's here when she's so smart?" Oooh-kaaay. Maybe the answer is that it's because I should have my head examined? Not sure how to take this. Should I be flattered, or insulted? Still don't know, after a couple of hours. It's good that the kid can recognize an intelligent (or maybe just educated) person, but, DAMN! Out of the mouths of babes, I guess.
No comments:
Post a Comment