Tom was nearly crying. The simple math problems glaring at him was killing him. He was on his seat looking around half-expecting his classmates to offer him some help. But they were too busy doing their own; some of them knew what to do, some still ‘getting it’. Clearly, Tom was having a tough time.

“Mr. P?” he softly called me. “I can’t do it…” He was pleading for help – more like scared to try and fail.

I was beginning to feel irritated. I explained the lesson three times already, the last one, just ten seconds ago. But, I remained calm, fighting the negativity that clouded my mind. I glanced at his paper, still unanswered.

“It looks hard…” he said, and looked back at his paper, giving me the impression that he’s staring at strange numerical questions.

A teacher shouldn’t help a student during a short quiz. So I firmly said, “Tom, just solve the questions.”

Knowing he won’t be able to squeeze out anything from me, I saw his lips trembled, and I knew if he uttered one more word, those tears will begin to fall.

Continue reading ‘If You Don’t, You Can’t’

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