You're Preachin' to the Choir

When the 1st grade teacher dropped off her class, she told me, "Mr. Bowers, can you talk to Dorian, I've had it with him."

I took the class into the room and put Dorian up on a chair--standing. I asked him why adults make children go to school. After a minute or so, I finally got him to come to the conclusion that we make kids go to school to learn how to someday become good adults.

Then I said to him, "Dorian, do you see how much taller you are than me when you are standing in this chair? Well, it won't be too many years until you ARE taller than me--for real! See, I'm only 5'4"--that's pretty short for an adult. You are gonna be way taller than me, and you need to learn how to behave appropriately."

Out of the blue, Quinlyn raises his hand. Quinlyn is a new student (he's only been in Dorian's class for two days) and this is the first time he has ever been to my Drama class. I wonder what he has to say, so I call on him. He says, "Dorian isn't a bad kid, he's just making bad choices."

BLEW MY MIND--FIRST GRADE!! THAT IS SOMETHING I HAVE BEEN TELLING THESE KIDS FOR YEARS!!! I'm always saying, there is no such thing as a bad kid--only good kids who make bad choices."

I asked the class, "Who wants Dorian to try harder? (All raise their hands) See, Dorian, your class supports you. Who thinks Dorian can do better? (All raise their hands.) See, Dorian, your class believes in you too. Now, let's get busy with some Drama"