My bad student, and it’s bad that I know he’s bad in only the second class, was bad again today in his own special way and he had me thinking about something a friend used to say to his bad students.

He’d ask them “Why are you here? You’re just wasting your parents’ money.” That’s especially true at the school where I work as it is a fairly pricey private school. My bad student is definitely doing his best to waste his parents’ money.

First he did nothing and wrote nothing, which isn’t that unusual. What was unusual was that he wouldn’t work with fellow students, even when they were speaking Japanese to him. Instead he’s apparently decided that he can wait me out. And that might  work except for three small issues: 1) he’s a teenage boy which means he’s incapable of sitting still and doing nothing for 50 minutes; 2) I won’t let him sleep; and 3) this isn’t my first rodeo.

After doing nothing for a while, he finally lost patience. I had already told his partners to work without him and then we all just ignored him. I’m guessing he mostly wants the attention so that he can be a comedian.

He decided, once he lost patience, to put his head down and go to sleep. I woke him and he had a moment of attention getting by putting his head back down. Using my teacher ninja skills, I pulled his chair out from under him and told him to stand.

Instead he held the same pose as if the chair were still there and I just ignored him until his legs gave out (in about 10 seconds) and he stood up. I kept ignoring him until he sat down on the floor. At that point I laughed and suggested, in Japanese, that he clean up some of the dirt and trash that was down there. Then I continued ignoring him.

He didn’t go back to sleep, although he did put his English textbook under his butt as a cushion. He also remained in place as everyone left the room.

Next class, he’ll get to sit at the back. If he tries to sleep, I’ll take his chair again he’ll have to stand or get back on the floor. He doesn’t realize, of course, that he’s actually helping me. Although I can’t let him sleep as that sets a bad example, they way I treat him serves as a warning to other students. It also lets me play bad cop/ good cop with the entire class.

I’ll chat with his homeroom teacher about what to do, as I suspect mine isn’t the only class he does this in. My only hope, at this point, is that he’s one of those students who doesn’t write anything on his exams. (I’ve even had a student turn in an exam with nothing on it but glue.) Makes marking a lot easier, and I get some of his parent’s money no matter what.