As we all know, working with younger kids can be quite difficult, quite difficult indeed.  They like to test you, and see how far they can push you until you throw yourself over the edge. 

On Monday, I worked with a child who had such tendencies.  For the first time in all my experiences working with children, I actually felt a rise of irritation inside--it takes a lot for me to feel this way.  She understood the work, but kept insisting she didn't.  We spent 15 minutes on parallels and intersects, information that I knew she knew.  If you can tell me the definitions of both the terms, then you know how to apply it to the problem asking you to draw a parallel and an intersect because that is essentially the same thing. 

It bothered me because I could have been helping others who actually needed my help, but I felt that if I moved on and ignored her, this problem would constantly reoccur until I handled it myself.  I felt that if I went to the teacher about this and "tattled," I wouldn't earn her respect because it would question the effectiveness of my authority.  Also, if I had gone to the teacher, she could have easily feigned innocence and accused me of not being helpful.  Children are manipulative.  Either way, I felt that she wasn't a significant enough problem to report.  After all, the reason why I'm here is because the teacher needs the assistance--I can't run to her for every trivial obstacle that comes at hand.  Thus, I endured it and patiently explained over and over again what the terms meant until she herself got tired of her own bullshit and started doing her work.  GIIIRL, THAT'S RIGHT.  You can't touch this. 

On Tuesday, she behaved very well--no problems at all.

So!  If you experience a child testing your limits, keep calm.  It's a lot harder than it sounds, but patience is truly the key.