Shame and a lack of confidence seems to play a huge role with learners that are behind. While this is quite intuitive and I had an idea that it may be the case, today I noticed how much of a hurdle this was. I was working today with an older boy who is still in fifth grade. We’ve always struggled to engage with him and despite almost six months at the center none of us have really managed to work with him. I was quite happy that I was able to make some progress with him today.  I had a sense that this learner was really ashamed of what he was learning. I noticed that he did not want to initially pick up the worksheets and wanted me to write down the addition problems. Perhaps if I wrote it he felt it would be easier for him to hide what he was doing. I also noticed that he wanted to sit in a corner away from everyone. Many people were curious to see what he was doing but I made sure that people didn’t bother him. I feel like he found some comfort in this.  Later on when he was troubling some other learners I asked him to show the same respect to others later on and I was happy to see that he was able to reciprocate. This was a massive stride for someone who has always had a tendency to trouble other learners. This is really a huge lesson for me in terms of really persisting. This was a learner who we could not engage with for almost six months. We finally managed to earn his trust. Looking forward to how the next few days go.