When we think about engagement we almost immediately focus on the student who won’t talk or just doesn't engage. But what about the student who is over engaged? On today’s podcast we’re continuing our series of conversations with Cornelius Minor. Today we’re talking about a student he has nicknamed “Prez” short for president of the class. 



Mr. Minor is a frequent keynote speaker and Lead Staff Developer at the Teachers College Reading and Writing Project in New York where he works with teachers, school leaders, and communities to support literacy reform in cities. In his work, Cornelius not only draws on his years teaching middle school in the Bronx and Brooklyn, but also on time spent skateboarding, shooting hoops, and working with kids. He’s also currently writing his first book for Heinemann.  

Cornelius says we need to use our teacher superpowers of engagement even with students like Prez, who Cornelius says, tends to take all of the space in the room. Here’s Cornelius with more on Prez.

See below for a full transcript:

Cornelius:    Oh my gosh, Prez. Just to kind of talk about Prez, I gotta rewind a little bit and talk about why his name is, Prez is short for President. I had to make him the president of the class, just 'cuz, so many things. But Prez's name is actually David, and one thing you gotta know about Brooklyn, New York, is that Brooklyn, New York, tough guy persona is like a thing. Kids spend a lot of time grooming their inner tough guy. For a kid like David, the name David just doesn't sell tough Brooklyn kid. So I've watched him over these last two years, trying to invent his tough guy persona, but it always comes back to David. 
    So one of the things that has happened with him, he's the kinda kid, he's all in. So many people they talk to me, they ask me, like, "Oh, I've got this kid who won't talk, or I've got this kid who won't do homework." But David is not that kid. When you talk to me about David, people are like, "How do we get David to calm down and give other people some oxygen?" And that, to me, that's a question of engagement. You know, you use your kind of teacher super power of engagement to bring out the quiet kids, but then you use your power of engagement to kind of democratize the space for those kids who are like all in, like Prez. 
    My mind goes to this one moment where I was doing this thing on inference, and it's always inference. I feel like inference is the teacher Achilles' heel. I was doing this thing on inference, and it was all about making wild guesses, you know. I was trying to encourage the kids to not hold back on their guesses. You know, you want to make these cool theories, and you want to test out your theories in your book. And man, when I said, "wild guess," he was like, "I got this." 
    So we were reading, and it was this innocuous story, like Paper Bag Princess. It's the one every workshop classroom does Paper Bag Princess. I'm like, how can this fail? Prez will find a way. So he's making these ridiculous guesses, and I'm like, "Prez, you're guessing about like, dinosaurs and spaceships. We're in medieval times, dude." He's like, "Yeah, you told me no theory could be wrong. Just allow me to test it out." 
    One of the things is, Prez got going, and people started laughing at his guesses, and right away again, I knew that okay, this is a space that he's beginning to occupy fully. And he shares this space with 31 other kids,