Krithika Thandapani

When I began writing reports for my students, I found myself pausing — not because I lacked words, but because I was held back by a question that I could not frame. I was thinking of a seven-year-old child in my class, a child who fidgeted constantly, filed the edge of his scale repeatedly until one end had become triangular in shape, and rarely sat still. Yet, when questions were posed in class he responded intuitively, expressing his understanding through language that felt personal and comfortable. As I prepared to describe his learning progress and participation in a report to his parents, I stopped. What could I say? Could I tell them that the child was learning to listen, even though he was physically restless?