1-4-11 6:06 pm The Prisoner

"A" took his imprisonment well today. He was shy before entering, hanging back at the door. He smiled, but his feet weren't moving. So, we hung up his coat with the others. If his joining the group was too big a first step, his coat could make the first move. And it did. Then he followed, with a tiny pinch of bravery. At first, he seemed to appreciate being stuck with me. Maybe it gave him a sense of belonging in his new setting.

There were plenty of allowances to buffer the blow of his being shackled. He was asked to call on volunteers, observe and report the behaviors of others, and choose teams. It's more than was fair, but "A" is a special case, and this is a slightly unusual situation.

At first he was definately a player. He excitedly reported the goings on at each table, and eagerly looked around for our next target. I'm not sure how long this first round took. Maybe 10 minutes. He showed stamina, and if there'd been more stations, he'd have been up for more reporting. But the moment he realized we'd made a complete circuit, he wanted in. Ah! Maybe I snagged him. Maybe learning activities are on his agenda. Time will tell.

With any other student, it would have been time to let him join, but I wanted to give "A" that permenant memory of my presence at his side. And sticking together gave us plenty of opportunities to bargain.

"Oh, you'd like to join Table 2? Well that could happen tomorrow. What will you do when you're at Table 2?"

"Wooork quuuuietwy."

"Wonderful! You'll get a lot done working quietly at Table 2 tomorrow."

And so on, for each station.

He began to ask to go to Table 4. It's a number chart game where students fix a 100's number chart. 100 number cards are all out of order: 23, 45, 11, 37, 90, etc. Students find the correct numbers and put them all in order. The best part is, cleaning up at this station means putting the numbers in the wrong places. They all love it. "A" asked several times to join that station, regardless of the team working there. Hopefully that means the activity is more enticing than the people. We repeated the bargainning conversation for that one several times.

And then there was the straying. He'd begin to wander off, trying to join the others on his own. Rejoining me reluctantly was, I thought, a healthy sign, even though it was by coersion.

"A, when you rejoin me, the class can rotate."

"A, we'll get started when you rejoin me."

"A, I'll wait..."

But he smiled for the entire hour and a quarter. My fingers are crossed so hard for tomorrow their knuckles are white. It's a real white-knuckle finger-crossing. I'm hopeful - very hopeful.