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ii. the sleeping fish
TWO: the teacher's pov
"Look, it's not just once, twice or thrice, I caught him sleeping in my class five times already, Madam!" I slightly raised a voice to the head teacher to emphasize my concern.
"Will you please calm yourself, Mr. Josh? We can't think of a good way if you keep acting painfully inflamed!" said Madam Jones, the head teacher.
"Could you not yell in front of your student?!" she suggests.
Yes, we are three of us in the principal's office. There's a temporary silence in the room. Paper stacks, books, a cabinet of encyclopedia, and a non-flowering plant placed near the curtained window are the only witness in our argument.
My student, meanwhile, is silent with his face down. I ask him questions, but he answers me a rude silence.
I am proposing to expel the child already, because he shows no attention to my class all the time. Besides, I am not the only one complaining about the child's behavior!" I report.
"His English and Science teachers have also reported the same problem. He rarely appears in the class, and if he does, he barely participates. He doesn't say anything in the oral recitation. He even failed to submit the remedial activities I gave to him with lots of extensions and patience. The fact is, I don't know what to do anymore," I exclaim.
"So what do you want the child to be, uh?" the head teacher ask with her eye brows raised.
"You are withdrawing his right to understand what education really means! You are taking away the chance to help the child," she said.
I found myself in silence. Something about what she said has weakened my knees.
© ubik
"Look, it's not just once, twice or thrice, I caught him sleeping in my class five times already, Madam!" I slightly raised a voice to the head teacher to emphasize my concern.
"Will you please calm yourself, Mr. Josh? We can't think of a good way if you keep acting painfully inflamed!" said Madam Jones, the head teacher.
"Could you not yell in front of your student?!" she suggests.
Yes, we are three of us in the principal's office. There's a temporary silence in the room. Paper stacks, books, a cabinet of encyclopedia, and a non-flowering plant placed near the curtained window are the only witness in our argument.
My student, meanwhile, is silent with his face down. I ask him questions, but he answers me a rude silence.
I am proposing to expel the child already, because he shows no attention to my class all the time. Besides, I am not the only one complaining about the child's behavior!" I report.
"His English and Science teachers have also reported the same problem. He rarely appears in the class, and if he does, he barely participates. He doesn't say anything in the oral recitation. He even failed to submit the remedial activities I gave to him with lots of extensions and patience. The fact is, I don't know what to do anymore," I exclaim.
"So what do you want the child to be, uh?" the head teacher ask with her eye brows raised.
"You are withdrawing his right to understand what education really means! You are taking away the chance to help the child," she said.
I found myself in silence. Something about what she said has weakened my knees.
© ubik
