Nineteen wanted to wash his hair

So second block rolls around on a random day in the middle of the week and I get everyone settled in and give them directions for our Interim Assessment (think of it like a test for multiple sections of related curriculum). We have been virtual all year, so none of that happens the way it normally would, but I think we are navigating the changes pretty well. All things considered.

I was feeling satisfied with myself, which any adult who works with children will tell you is when they will drop a surprise in your lap. Every time. Without fail. This day was no exception, and you’d think with 25 years in teaching I would know. But instead, I was sitting in my living room, thinking how smoothly the start of the assessment was going. I mean, who tempts fate like that? Apparently, I do.

So we are about five minutes in when Nineteen types in the chat, “Miss, I need to wash my hair.” I was not amused and answered, “You better not wash your hair during my class. Especially when we are having an assessment.” I have no idea why I added the last part, I was not thinking there was ever a reason to wash one’s hair during a class period.

I waited a minute, and thought I had made my point when he messaged me again, and I realized he had only been quiet because he had been typing. He replied, “I have to, it’s covered with glue.” Now, I know Nineteen’s older brothers, they were both my students as well, and I was immediately suspicious. I answered, “What is going on over there? Who put glue on your head?” There was another pause. Now I was watching the chat to see which brother had been so cruel as to put glue on his younger brother’s head. I even had my suspicions as to which one of them it was. I waited.

At which point I got another message that said, “My mom bought me gel and it said ‘hold strong’. I put it on, turned out to be wig glue.”

I could barely control my face, I was on camera so the entire class would have seen me laugh, so I typed a reply that said, “Oh my lord. Go wash it out”.

In that minute Nineteen taught me a very important lesson. Well, two, I suppose. The first being, never put wig glue on your head. The second, it’s important to listen when children tell you they need something. I know there are times their priorities differ from those of adults, but they aren’t unaware of what is going on around them, or happening to them. They know what they need, they just don’t always know how to ask for it. If I hadn’t listened to Nineteen, he might have just walked away from the camera and washed his hair anyway, but whatever trust I had built with him would have gone right down the drain with the wig glue. Instead, he knows that if he tells me something, I’ll listen and let him tell me what he needs.

Thank you for the reminder Nineteen. And the giggle, because ‘glue on my head’ messages don’t exactly happen every day…lol