Topical Teaching

I once taught a child that refused to talk. He was already in fourth grade by the time I had him and some of his previous teachers had told me that they hardly recall a time when they heard the sound of his voice. No matter what I tried, nothing was working. By the end of Term 1 I was beginning to doubt I could do anything for him.

Then it hit me. It was a long shot, but I couldn’t think of anything else so it was worth a try. The boy reminded me of Harpo from the Marx Brothers. Not only didn’t he talk, but he had the same facial features and a similar haircut. I decided to show the class my favourite Marx Brothers movie, Duck Soup, and dedicate the screening to this student that refused to talk. I mentioned how Harpo Marx is cool and so is this student who happens to share a resemblance.

I figured that instead of trying to get him to talk and making his silence a negative, I would celebrate it and cannonise it. The class loved the Marx Brothers and particularly enjoyed Harpo Marx. In fact, no one loved it more than this particular child, who would mimic Harpo, get his parents to order the Marx Brother’s DVD’s and yes, the positive attention from peers in particular made him start to talk!

I recently stumbled on a valuable website that deals with helping parents and educators deal with shy children. The website is called shakeyourshyness.com and it features some useful tips. By following the link provided, the tips below are explained in more detail.

1. Normalize shyness and depict it in a positive light.
2. Make regular contact.
3. Give shy children a job to do.
4. Comment on their successes and post their work.
5. Help Children Learn To Initiate Contact With Others.
   
6. Educate Parents.
7. Reward Small Improvements
8. Keep an eye out for teasing

It turns out that he was just waiting for somebody to at least attempt to understand him. He didn’t want people to try to change him, he wanted people to appreciate him for who he was.

Later that year, this very child performed in the school concert. Thank you Harpo!

Tags: Child Development, Confidence, Education, Film, Harpo Marx, life, Marx Brothers, Movies, Parenting, Self-Esteem, Shyness

This entry was posted on January 11, 2012 at 12:22 am and is filed under Child Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.