Meet Jaden M.

Room 206 is full of character and personality. Over the course of this year I will probably spend at least a few entries focusing just on one student at a time. Today, I’d like to talk about Jaden M. Jaden is the kind of kid who confuses most teachers. He can be very kind, considerate and gentle at times. I’ve noticed this past week that he has taken one of the shy and quiet kids, Shamin, under his wing (often offering his snack to him when Shamin doesn’t have one and helping him hang up his back pack in the closet when he can’t reach his rung). Yet at other times Jaden can be incredibly difficult. He often turns small problems into big ones, refuses to do the independent work he is supposed to do and occasionally resorts to giving me a defiant glare that says “I’m not going to do anything you say, so what are you going to do about it?” This week, however, I think I may have found something I can use to connect with him: Pokemon.

Jaden is absolutely obsessed with Pokemon. Everything he draws, writes, reads and talks to me about has to do with Pikachus, Bubasoars and Squirtles. His favorite Pokemon is Charizard, but he also seems to like Snorlax quite a bit. This past week, while Jaden was waiting for his father to come pick him up after school, he asked me, “Mr. Miller, what’s your favorite Pokemon?” Now I have to admit that when I was younger, I, along with millions of other little kids, jumped on the Pokemon bandwagon. I played the video games and collected the cards for a few months of my elementary school days, but that was over ten years ago. (Side note: isn’t it crazy that Pokemon is still around and popular years later). I can barely remember anything about the game.

Digging deep down into my memory, I said, “Hmm...I think my favorite Pokemon is Jigglypuff.” For a split second, I was scared that I had chosen a Teletubby instead of a Pokemon. But I was soon relieved when a huge smile spread across his face. He was elated that I liked Jigglypuff—it was in his top 10 most favorite Pokemon. The next day after school, Jaden presented me with a large drawing. Amid the clutter of the stick-figures and dialogue boxes I could make out a tall figure that was labeled Mr. Miller and another round figure labeled Jigglypuff. Even though, I had no idea what was going in the scene, I acted very excited and thanked Jaden for the present and told him that I was really happy that we was sharing his Pokemon stories with me. I think that simple acknowledgement and indication that I was interested and excited in something that he is really passionate about has helped me to connect better with Jaden. He seems happier during my mini-lessons and has even volunteered in class. I think the key with Jaden is to continue to show interest in things that he likes. And with that, I think it might be time to whip out the gameboy and do some comic book reading so I’m prepared for Monday.