Joseph, adjectives and popularity--with a new picture of me!!

Last night during tutoring, Joseph, the fifth grader who I've been working with on reading comprehension, said this: "I don't really care if I'm popular. Does that make me weird?" This caught me a little offguard--mainly because we weren't on the topic of popularity, we were learning about adjectives. No matter how highbrow the conversation of "adults" can be, there are times that the simple words of a child are much more bold and much more true.

No, Joseph, it doesn't make you weird--in fact it shows that you are already much more intelligent than most adults. Each time I work with any of the kids at tutoring, and especially Joseph, I feel a great hope for them and their future. I relize that, given the right tools and some help along the way, that these underpriveleged, minority city-kids, are very much capable of great things. I hope Joseph realizes this.