Level Two. Do it this way, not that way.

Level Two – Do it this way, not that way.

By Michelle Lloyd.

R V was used to being able to answer everything in class.  Question asked and he would be the first to put his hand up, give the answer and even refer to several different ways of getting to the solution.  He had a practical mind.  He was an achiever.  He knew his way around a classroom and it felt like home to him!

Unbeknown to R V his whole life was about to be upturned and he would have no idea why.  It was a general day or so it seemed to him and as R V made his way into his class he smiled at his two friends Little Herbert and New One.  He sat in his usual seat.  He looked at his teacher with his usual prepared for class expression.  He adjusted his desk, looked up at the front of the room and just as the teacher started to talk he felt his something almost stop in his chest…because the subject he thought they were about to study was not the one the teacher had begun with and R V watched her explain with dismay.

Their teacher said that it was on that morning they were going to study something different.  An art festival was about to launch in their area and their teacher wanted the whole class to work on a project that could be put out to show off what the school could do.  Almost everyone in the class looked happy.  Everyone that was, apart from R V.  He looked shocked, upset and far from at ease about the whole idea.

R V had never been very good at art type work.  He had tried.  He went into it with his usual can do approach but the end result was far from what was considered a triumph.  If it was a class with actual questions then that would be no problem for him.  He knew where he was with a question.  With an artistic project he was far from at home.  He watched as his teacher smiled at him reassuringly and at least paired him up with his two friends.

R V knew that with Little Herbert and New One at his side the whole thing could not be a complete failure.  Discussions were had, the class got going and each selected grouping was hard at work apart from R V’s trio.  The three friends had difficulty in deciding how to start because R V would not give up on his idea on what they should do.  New One and Little Herbert both had their own perspective on the project but R V, who was used to taking the lead in class felt that to give in would make him feel even less secure.  He had decided on his idea and he would not give in.  We need to do it this way, not that way, was how he explained it to them but neither Little Herbert or New One were happy about it.

Having started off later than the other ones in the class, R V’s trio were stressed and found that about half way through their idea had not worked at all.  New One and Little Herbert had said that they should do a little sketch first before they did the real thing but R V had not wanted to do it that way.  They were all used to R V having a lead in class and so they put their concerns to the backs of their minds and went with their friend’s way of going about the project…

About five minutes to the end of class Little Herbert had paint on his shirt, New One had it on his nose and R V was shouting at his two friends to put paint here, there and everywhere, but it was all to no avail.  Their project looked, well it was far from as well painted as the other attempts from the class.  As the teacher approached and asked how they had got on, R V looked rather guiltily at the rest of the class and felt like he had let everyone down.  He had been so carried away with telling everyone in his group what to do that when it came down to it he had not actually looked at what they had done.

Their teacher tried to look pleased with what the trio had put onto their poster but she had to remark about how little it actually met with what they were supposed to have done.  R V could not handle it and on having heard what he already knew walked out of the class.  He saw the worried looks on his two friend’s faces but he felt too guilty to talk to them about how he felt.

It was a while later that his teacher came out to find R V and she explained that she knew that he had wanted to achieve the aim of the project and that it must have been difficult for him because he was out of his comfort zone.  At first, R V, who felt humiliated, defeated and guilty would not say a word but as his two friends came out to see him he felt the need to tell them why he had tried to control the whole task.

New One and Little Herbert listened to their friend and then they said they should have spoken up too.  They both knew that they were going about the project the wrong way and they had let R V lead them.  Their teacher told them all that they should listen to what they believed to be right and always speak up if they felt something was wrong.  R V was happy that Little Herbert and New One had forgiven him but he had to admit that he was not at all comfortable with how their project looked.  Fortunately their teacher agreed to give them a break time to work on their poster again and this time R V took a different approach, he did not lead, well not all the time.  R V listened to his two friends and as it turned out both were quite talented at artistic pursuits as their second attempt gave them all something to smile about.