How to Be a Memorable Student

I'm in the same class as yesterday. The teacher is sick. I wish her well.

There was this kid yesterday. He is in the later periods, so I haven't seen him yet today. He caught my attention. That generally is not a good thing.

This is one of those classes where I basically sit around and watch. My job is to monitor the class and make sure they are doing what they're supposed to be doing. Some days this is a more difficult assignment than others. Yesterday and today, it has been a pretty boring assignment, but that's a good thing.

So, I sit in my chair and I watch. And I try to keep my mind occupied. What I should see when I look out across the room is a classroom full of students with their heads in their work. I should not find anyone looking back at me.

He was.

More often than not, I'd look his way, and he'd be looking back. Not good. I started with the motion I make to indicate that the student should be looking at his book and not at me. That worked once. After that I played the stare game. I'd stare at him until he would go back to looking at his assignment.

But he had his own game. He decided to have fun with my stares. He'd smile, or he'd play like there was someone behind him (and I must have been staring at them the way he played it). He even took out a paper, wrote a phone number on it, and motioned for me to "call".

He thought he was being cute. What he was being was memorable. One should not be memorable for the sub. When I remember your name, I'll write it down, and the words following won't be complimentary.