The Ants Adjustment

I had a hard time getting [pronoun] situated in the classroom. Classmates were disrupted. [pronoun] would manage not to alienate or annoy those who sat close for a day or two but, in the end, classmates would end up alienated and annoyed. [pronoun] would bump desks and chairs and tables while moving from place to place in the room. And [pronoun] moved around a lot. We all needed an adjustment.

The Player(s)

[pronoun] had a wonderful smile. I’d watch [pronoun] as he was doing work or interacting with friends and the smile was infections. Everyone around [pronoun] could feel it and react in the same way. [pronoun] generally wasn’t trying to hide anything, was ok with being at school, had a lot of friends, was athletic, and did ok on school assignments. All-in-all an easy addition to the class. Except for one thing.

The Setup

So it went. [pronoun] had to move and was unable to sit still. [pronoun]’s classmates got annoyed, then snippy. Eventually the annoyance and snippiness would lead to some sort of an outburst, a brief conflict, even a fight (had I not been able to distract and redirect). Interestingly, none of these outcomes were deliberate. [pronoun] was genuinely liked by [pronoun]’s classmates. [pronoun] was a great addition to class discussions and worked very collaboratively with peers. [pronoun] didn’t mean to annoy or bother anyone, it just happened.

The Sequence

I’d had enough. I moved [pronoun] to an isolated area of the classroom, away from classmates. Now [pronoun] was far enough away from peers so they wouldn’t be annoyed and, perhaps, I would be able to focus my attention more on things besides [pronoun]’s disruptions.

Day 1 was great. Everyone seemed to think the new arrangement was ok and would not be problematic. Things went very smoothly.

Day 2 started ok, but [pronoun] wasn’t behaving as usual. There was no smile; there was no participation in the group discussion; there was no happy chatter during transitions. It was as if [pronoun] sent [pronoun]’s body to school and left [pronoun]’s mind and spirit at home.

I knew I needed to do something or I was going to lose [pronoun].

The Denouement

So we talked. During the next recess I found [pronoun] on the playground. He was alone, not playing basketball, or jumping rope, or tag. I climbed into the swing next to him. It wasn’t uncommon for me to do this. I tried to have a meaningful out-of-class conversation with every student at least every few weeks.

I asked what the issue was. [pronoun] was feeling isolated and alone. [pronoun] felt as if [pronoun] wasn’t a part of the group so, even during transitions and small group activities, [pronoun] didn’t want to add anything. [pronoun] understood why I had moved him to his current location. [pronoun] also understood why it had been done. We couldn’t have [pronoun] continuing to pull away from the class, but the feelings of the class also had to be addressed.

We, [pronoun] and I, came up with a solution, an adjustment that would enable [pronoun] to be connected to the class, but would allow [pronoun] some freedom of movement. I moved [pronoun]’s desk back into the regular class grouping. But now, [pronoun]’s desk was situated so that there was space beside it, and it was at the back of the group. This gave [pronoun] the option to stand up and dance around near [pronoun]’s desk if needed.

It’s one of my favorite memories as a teacher: we’d finished a math lesson and I looked up. [pronoun] was standing up behind [pronoun]’s desk, bebopping to the music that was playing in [pronoun]’s head, with a huge smile on [pronoun]’s face, while working on the math assignment.

[pronoun] was engaged and working. [pronoun]’s classmates were engaged and working. No one was unhappy and no one was distracted.

The Moral

Adjustments can be made for students to engage, even with ants-in-pants.