There are times when one sits with a pupil that the session ends without really pushing the student forward but one finishes it with an open question.  This sort of question leaves one’s thoughts open and waiting to see if a change naturally occurred during the week or if I can help solve something more in the whole process.

There was a period in my teaching career where I was convinced that every lesson should end with a definite answer to a problem.  With experience, I have learned that one can conclude with an open question and not know the answer.

Gal goes to a special school.  We have been working together for quite a while now.

During our last session, he surprised me a couple of times with his reading ability.  When I put a book in front of him and asked him if we had read this book. His answer was “yes, but that’s okay,  it is always good to re-read books because I know what the story is about.”

His reading in certain parts was perfect and in other parts had no connection to the letters at all.

After a few pages, I stopped and looked him straight in the eyes and said.  “I have a question for you, I need your help, there is something that I am not understanding”.

“OK”, he answered.

“How come that sometimes you read perfectly and sometimes I can’t really understand what you are reading?”

He looked at me and with a very knowing smile  said:

That’s my magic!”

What do you mean by that?” I asked.

“That’s for you to work out .” was his answer.

 What else could I do but give him a big hug and remain with the mystery still to be solved?

This left me with a question unanswered and curious to know what would happen the next week.  There was no real way to plan the way things should or would go, I just knew that one of the key words that I had learnt today was “my magic” and am looking forward and excited to actually use his words to help solve the problem of his reading because it must mean something important to him, otherwise he would not have come up with an answer like that.