Thursday, August 25, 2011

It has to be Mr. M.

This is the next installment in the Thursday blog project.  We are writing about our favorite teacher.  My favorite teacher is Mr. Maiste.  He was not my teacher, but one of Mac's teachers. 

We spent two years with Mr. Maiste.  When I first found out that .we had him, I was nervous.  He is a football coach, and the football kids like to pick on Mac.  Soon after we started, our first year with Mr. Maiste, Mac came home in tears, the football kids were picking on him... again.  I decided to see what would happen.  Would he defend these kids?  Would he stand up for Mac?

I sent him an email and told him what happened.  His response, was that he takes pride in squashing bullying.  He won't tolerate it.  Wait a minute, you are a football coach, where does this attitude come from?  He spoke to the kids in question and had them apologize.  Guess what, these kids never picked on Mac again.

It was like a turning point in Mac's educational career.  He felt safe at school for the first time in five years.  All of a sudden he felt like someone would stand up for him.  This act enabled Mac to build confidence and begin to be less "weird" and start to create some relationships with the other kids in his grade.

Mr. Maiste inspired Mac to learn more about sports.  This gave him something to talk to the other kids about.  All of a sudden he had something in common with these kids that used to pick on him.  Are they inviting him to birthday parties or to hang out?  No, but they aren't picking on him. 

I see in Mac a confidence and ability to navigate social situations that was not there before Mr. Maiste took him under his wing.  Mr. Maiste did for Mac things I could never do, because I am his mom.

Mr. Maiste also helped Mac deal with other teachers that just didn't understand where he was coming from.  He smoothed ruffled feathers and helped Mac learn to work with "difficult" people.  By providing insights in how to get Mac to do what you want him to do, he made Mac's life out of the main classroom better.

I don't know where Mac would be without Mr. Maiste, but I do know that because of him Mac is a better person.  I am sure when Mac is older he will tell his kids about Mr. Maiste.  I will always remember the kindness and grace he showed my difficult child.

Want to read about the other ladies' favorite teacher?  Check them out at Froggie, Merrylandgirl and Momarock.

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