Nobody’s Fool

Nobody’s Fool

by Paul McCann

Bapper went to school to learn to read and write . He was all brawn and knew how to fight so no one bothered him much . He always sat at the back of the classroom and when one of his teachers Mr  Boyd or Battler Boyd as the boys called him asked him a question , Bapper never spoke .

Mr Boyd recognised Bapper had some problems with adapting to school life so he spoke to him one day after school to see what was going on . 

One of the greatest things a teacher can do is to try to look at all the students in the classroom  and try and assess what difficulties some of the students might have in their learning capabilities . As it turned out at home with domestic violence . Bapper’s mother had taken out an AVO on his father who had a drinking problem and there were issues between him and his father . Another thing the teacher discovered was that he never had breakfast before coming to school . Most days he would never eat until he had dinner later that night .

A good teacher will always find a way to educate , some use discipline , others use kindness , some may even offer rewards for academic achievement but the best teachers get to understand what difficulties their students are having and try to address that issue . Mr Boyd had an idea .

He thought outside the square , it’s hard to  educate someone who hungry , so he spoke to Mr Stout  , the principal of the  school about starting up a breakfast club at the  school for students like Bapper who might be coming to their class  hungry each day .

Mr Stout thought it was a great idea and spoke to the teaching staff in regard to them donating a small amount from their wages to fund the breakfast club . Not one of the teachers hesitated to help fund the breakfast club project .

After it was approved , there was an immediate response from the students . It was well received and appreciated by many students in the school . Teachers in every class noted the change in the student’s attitude as their new  approach and concentration to their studies in the classroom . 

Bapper was one of those students and now when the teacher asked a question he was responding.

Bapper seemed to have a low esteem and lack of confidence so the teacher assumed that was due to abuse at home .

He spoke to the principal , Mr Stout about placing Bapper into a smaller class for students who also had learning difficulties so that an alternative approach to education could be tried . A program called basic skills that used working with the hands instead of using the head . Such as measuring three lengths of timber to be cut or cooking 6 eggs in two pots or bagging ten apples in plastic bags . These tasks were simple adaptations the adding and subtracting , reading , writing and comprehending .

Mr Stout thought that was a great approach to education and put that proposal to the school board .

After the basic skills program was approved Bapper was placed into that group of students with  Battler  Boyd in charge of the class .

A new roster for classes was developed that included , fence building , car mechanics , learning about farm machinery and wood working . floor tiling , concreting and paining .

After a few months using this approach to education the results were amazing . The students more confidence and a great ability to learning .

When Bapper left school although he couldn’t read or write , he could drive a truck , fix a fence , tune a car engine , paint a house , lay pavers and use farm equipment .

Bapper found a wife and they had a family . Built a house and was never out of work a day in his life until he retired . He learnt how to survive and he was nobody’s fool .

The End