Are you Sleepy? No....

So, I have the best job in the world, hands down, no competition. I get to work with children in grades K-6 and help them with their homework. I have recently started working with a little boy in 1st grade. He is an obstinate little fellow and tries everything to get out of his homework. These are the things that I love about him the most: 

     1. He calls every tutor who works with him teacher
     2. He has the most adorable smile. :)
     3. When he looks at his homework packet or sees anything that is a mess (or is told to do anything that he doesn't want to do) he says, "Oh! What a headache!" in the cutest Spanish accent ever.

Naturally, I look forward to working with him and his adorable personality. Today, he didn't have a homework packet, but I still made him read. Maybe I should mention that he HATES reading. It kind of turns into me reading to him, but I feel like he is still getting some literacy benefits. I try my best to make him help me read, but it is to no avail. I will point to an easy word (today it was to), and ask him what it says. He says, "Teacher- you know what it says!" So, then I try the "I forgot what that word is" technique. To this he responds, "Sound it out!" Well, I am not to be out-smarted, so I tell him that I don't know how to sound it out, and ask if he can tell me what sound the first letter says. He finally gets so fed up with me that he just says the word. I eventually give up, because he focuses much better if I can get him to listen to the story.

One of the books that we read today was based on The Lion King, and he was actually paying attention. As I read, I would look over at him to make sure that he was still listening. About half-way through the book, every time I looked over at him, he would give me one of his heart-melting smiles, but he looked super sleepy. His personality seemed quite subdued, so finally I asked him if he was tired, and he said that he wasn't, so I kept reading. A couple of times, I actually thought that he was about to fall asleep. He kept insisting that he wasn't tired at all. Somehow, his half-shut eyes did not have me convinced. 

All in all, it was a fantastic day at work!