Today, one girl told me I was the only teacher in the school who matches his ties with his shirts. I took it as a compliment. I was honest with the class, giving credit where credit is due, and told them it was only because my wife buys all my clothing and gives the final word of wardrobe approval before I walk out the door each morning.

The girl who said this to me is the same girl whom, for the past month, I have been begging to pay attention and to do at least a little bit of classwork, reminding her constantly of the grade she has in my class, giving her detentions, and so on. Today, when I handed out their updated grades, she learned she has a 50something percent in my class. She didn't seem to notice, as the rest of the day she talked through the lessons and didn't complete a single question on her classwork. I talked to her after class and reminded her of her 50-something. She asked innocently, with a slight tone of victimization in her voice, "What can I do to bring it up?"

I almost lost it.