Immanuel

I’ve been asked to keep up the profiles so here’s another! Immanuel is also in my grade 6 class and he is (shhh… don’t tell) absolutely one of my favorites. I think he’s older—maybe 13 and he’s tall and skinny. He is super shy and usually pretty quiet, but can also surprise me and be a total goofball. He has this ridiculous walk that he does when he’s proud of himself (if he’s turning in a test or worksheet) that I swear came straight out of a bad 70s movie.
He takes a lot longer than most of the students to do his work, and is frequently the last to finish, but I’m doing everything to encourage that because I know if he takes his time he is incredibly intelligent, he just makes mistakes if he rushes. He also surprises me sometimes because if I interrupt them to explain something that everyone is struggling with, I will be convinced he is working and not listening, but when I go over to check on him, it’s clear he has heard and absorbed every word. Lately he has gotten really into some of the Berenstein bears books, and gets super enthusiastic about them.
My second week at school in natural sciences they were told to make a pie chart of people they can go to if they have a problem or need help. They had to make one at school which had at least one teacher and one friend, and one for the community which had at least one family member and one friend. As I was trying to explain it to him I said, “ok now think about a teacher that you feel like you could talk to if you need help.” He unabashedly and matter-of-factly replied, “well that would be you miss,” completely unaware how much this warmed my heart. I tried to keep from smiling too big as I said, “okay then that’s what you write here” and left him to continue.