Twisted

One of my students asked to spend his detention with me the other day.

I agreed.

I was only a little reluctant.

That same morning, this is the kid who spent the hour contorting.

I mean literally twisted himself into pretzels.

He was sitting in a office chair and had a stool next to him.

At one point he had his head in between the back and arm of the chair and both feet sideways on the stool.

I thought he was going to fall at least three times.

He wasn't bothering anyone, so I let him twist.

That kind of behavior, though, isn't exactly what I want around after school.

But I said yes.

I'm a huge sucker.


The kid came down after school right on time.

A surprise in and of itself.

And I was pleasantly surprised.

Instead of task avoiding, he worked.

He asked questions and we chatted.

Turns out he was actually listening in the morning while he squirmed.

At one point, I said something to him about his choices, I don't remember exactly what.

His response was pretty precious:

"That's what my mom says too. I should really start listening."

I agreed and he grinned at me.

The next time I see him in class, he will probably engage in all the same low level foolishness.

But maybe not.

And either way, a positive interaction with a pain in butt kid is always a good thing.