Become an Instrument in the Hands of God

 

_{By Ms. Victoria Poon}

 

Wong came to see me at recess because of his misbehaviour in class. It was the first month of the new school year, but this was already the fourth time he had to see me at recess. Wong was a class clown. He was definitely not shy nor was he afraid of picking on or making fun of everyone in the class. Not only did he annoy some of his classmates, he was also a challenge to his teachers as he ignored rules and instructions that most students in class had been following since the start of the school year. 

 

I was very upset with him even this was only the first month of school because I blamed him for trying to bring the chaos to an otherwise pretty well-behaved class. Because of his behaviour, I decided to talk to him at recess to set things straight. Wong was very talkative in class with his classmates, but he had another face on when it was a teacher he was talking to. As I sat down with him face to face, I was ready to let him know how I felt and what was expected of him. I was ready to go to war with this “special” student. 

 

At the last moment right before I started to fire away, I saw the defiant look on Wong’s face. And immediately, I knew he was not going to respond to anything I say, or he would just nod along and make promises he would never keep. He was ready to take the reprimand and hollering coming to him. In fact, he was expecting nothing less. I had a feeling that was how he communicated with most of the adults in his life. For some strange reason, my anger dissipated and out came the words “You know, I was afraid you would not show up at recess to talk to me again.” The sentence was said in a soft tone with a smile. Wong was so surprised because he knew how angry I was when I stopped him from messing around in the lesson. He turned his head toward me and made eye contact with me. It was the first time I knew he was really going to listen to what I was going to say. I followed that by passing him his book and going through what we did in the lesson which he had probably missed as he was not paying attention. 

 

“Here you go,” I said. “Be nice and respectful to your classmates and teachers. Have a nice day.”

 

Of course, those were not magic words and Wong certainly still played around in class sometimes. What the encounter did create was giving Wong and I the chance to build a working relationship. Wong still caused some trouble and he would throw tantrums at times, but because he knew I care, the communication was always open. Upon reflecting my relationship with Wong, it took more patience and love I thought I had. The most difficult part of dealing with “special” students is when they push me to my limits. But at the end of the day, I really believe I benefitted more than Wong from our experiences together. God has used them to shape and mould me to become the teacher He wants me to be.