The first time I encountered Jacob was a bit inauspicious. I was working in my room, during my Prep block (when it's wonderfully quiet) and the peace was suddenly interrupted by a long and LOUD stream of obscenities from next door (the computer lab). The speaker wasn't angry but their language was pretty... uh... strong.
I shrugged it off and got back to my marking when suddenly it happened again. And then again... After the fourth or fifth time I'd had enough. I jumped up and marched next door to confront the guilty party. And so, my first meeting of Jacob involved me chewing him out for his bad language.
But that's actually not what I remember most about the incident. What really struck me was how Jacob responded to my disciplining. First of all, he immediately owned up to his transgression. He looked me in the eye and apologized profusely. He did not make excuses or "give me attitude" for daring to discipline him. AND THEN he came to my classroom later in the day and apologized again. Remember, I did not even teach him at this point. I was - and still am - so impressed with this.
Since then, I have had the pleasure of teaching Jacob (PreCalculus 11 last year and Calculus 12 this year). Some of the things I have learned:
- Jacob is a very strong Math student
- Jacob has horrible handwriting (sorry Man!)
- Jacob LOVES his phone
- Jacob loves to laugh
- Jacob is thoughtful and personable