Alas....victory was his!

Yes, after going through the anguish I did on Thursday and thinking I was going to fail the guy another time, I got through to him!  Wahoo!
It is the first time ever that I have felt totally ineffective with a student and getting past the attitude and facade that they hide behind.  I tries everything, ridicule, comparison to his peers, direct discussion, passive feedback.....all for not, nothing would get through to this kid.  AAhhhh!  Let's try this!
At lunch time yesterday I read him the riot act!  I could see in him an ability to do what it was I needed him to do.  The exam is based on 13 points that needed to be demonstrated to a standard.  I saw at various points all 13 come out, but never more a moment.  He could show them and make them go away, then bring them back again!  I knew he had it in him if he could drop the idiot attitude!  So, after lunch I got on the chair with him and laid it out.  I told him that as of that moment he was failing!  I suggested that I knew he could do it, but his attitude suggested he did not want to be there, so drop it for the afternoon or leave now.  I asked to pretend if needed to, anything to show me that he cared.  In summary, I told him he would fail if he did not!  WOW!  He came out for the afternoon and pretended he cared!  It was great to see because I do not like to fail people, but......it needs to make sense.  Ultimately junior showed me the standards all afternoon so he was successful. All that being said, if there was a box that I checked off on the exam page that was the idiot box, he would have received those points as well.  I guess it was a learning experience for me as it pushed my limits in both patience and understanding of human mind.  But, as I was once told, some people are like wheel barrows they need to be pushed.  He was just one of those people!
Other than that adventure, this is one of the greatest courses I have taught!  The kids are awesome.  They are enthusiastic, want to learn and are putting all their heart and effort into it.  I can only wish that I was half as enthusiastic as these kids are!   It has been a blast!
The past couple of days has been great!  Mother nature had promised rain which would have sucked!  So far she has delivered, but not until the end of each day!  SO YAY for me and the class!  We have been dry so far and, lets see what tomorrow brings!  It will be what it will be, I have proper gear, I can only hope the students who will be teaching have it as well!
I also spent a few minutes with all of my clients from this season this afternoon.  It was great as all of them want me to return next year to teach/coach them again.  There is no better feeling or endorsment than that of a return customer!
I am off to the hottub to relax a few minutes and fix what ails me!  I hope your weekend has been a blast@!  Cheers!