Lost Tooth

I was talking with Dale last night about my little L in my classroom.  He is generally a rather floppy, clumsy ball of energy, but he never seems to seriously get hurt (though Mr. G, my parapro, and myself always have our hands out to catch him just in case).

L has had his little fist in his mouth for about a week straight trying to get a very wiggly tooth to come out with no success.  No wonder I have been following him around with Clorox wipes, since everything he touches is thereafter covered in spit ;)

In gym with his 1st grade General Ed class last week he bumped (rather, collided quite forcefully) with another little boy, and this "bump" caused his wiggly tooth to finally come out.  I was not with him at the time, but Mr. G was, and he retells the conversation like this:

L: "Bryce! You knocked my tooth out!"
(Here is where I would expect an explosive fit where he would claim that it was "on purpose" and that some "stupid" inanimate object, which is usually the case, hurt him!)
L: "I want to get you something. Tell me anything you want!"

That day, I learned to hold higher expectations for these kiddos, and expect that not every bad behavior is generalized to different situations.  I see growth in these kiddos every day, and it's quite a pleasant surprise.

That day, I was Specially Educated :)