Teacher 0, Sleeper 1

I had to persistently work on keeping one of my students awake in yesterday’s first hour. Every time I’d get him to sit up, he’d have his head back on the desk in moments.

He sat in the exact same place in the room as did a student in my first-hour class years ago when I student taught. And he was doing the same activity as that student.

Every morning, that student from long ago would come in and immediately drop his head to the desk and instantly fall asleep. I was greatly annoyed by this behavior. It set a very bad example for other students and, truthfully, it was very discouraging to me.

Finally, I requested advice from the other teachers. They told me to stand next to him and drop the largest book I could find.

I located the biggest teacher’s edition the classroom had and set it on the corner of my desk. I was primed to give him a big wake-up call. My mind lingered on the delicious sight of him jumping several inches out of his chair, perhaps even to the point of carrying his desk with him. Oh, it was a glorious picture. Teacher 1, Sleeper 0.

The next morning, the student came in and actually stayed awake. He sat up in his desk and participated in class. Any other day, I would have been delighted. But on this day, my reaction was more like “Darn!”

My student teaching time was nearly up and I never had the opportunity to drop the book again. What an anticlimax. My lovely picture burst just like a soap bubble.

Teacher 0, Sleeper 1. Sort of.