Worst Student In Class?

Days ago, I was talking with a friend of mine when half way through the conversation she gave me advice on something. I then proceeded to attack her ideas with my own views on life and such. At the end of the conversation she told me (word for word):

“I’m just trying to be helpful, but you’re always too busy justifying your own logic that it doesn’t seem like you take my advice into consideration.”

For a brief moment I was stunned by this sentence (how could I not be, it makes me sound like an ignorant b*tch), but then I realized something; this is one of the positive qualities that makes me, me.

Hear me out.

"Anyone can give advice, but few can defend it once it’s attacked."

In a classroom scenario I would probably be that kid constantly asking the teacher “Why, why, why” after everything she says; the worst student in class. However, I wouldn’t be asking them all the “why” questions so that I could catch them slipping up, or somehow prove I’m better than them. I’d be asking them so that I get a better sense of what they are saying for myself.

Yes, I can choose the easy path of just nodding my head and being a yes man (yes child in this case), but that wouldn’t do anything to fulfill the reason why we are all there in the first place, for someone to truly learn something.

In fact, that kid that chooses to constantly ask “why” in class is the only one truly learning anything! You might not notice it at a quick glance, but all those “yes kids” who listen, agree instantly, and nod their heads in unison are actually learning less than that kid who stands out from the group by questioning the teacher’s every word

What he’s doing by questioning the teacher is

- Listening to the advice but acknowledging that they still don’t properly understanding the full idea.
- Acknowledging that the teacher has a reason to say what they are saying.
- Asking “why, why, why” in order to find a way in which the advice aligns with his already held beliefs and views in life.
- And lastly, getting his questions answered (hopefully); finally aligning his personal beliefs and fully understand what the teacher is saying.

What the other students are doing is stopping at point number two and just taking the teachers status as the answer to their questions.

"They questioned because they understood that those words the teacher was saying had more weight and experience behind them than could possibly be understood in one brief sentence."

Why do you think the “application” area is worth so much in schools nowadays? Teachers want to know that you can apply the information they gave you to different situations in life.

"They want to know that you can fish for a life-time, not just one-time."

Maybe that’s why they usually end up being the teacher’s favorite student at the end of the year. Throughout the year the teacher probably noticed that the worst student is in fact the only one that truly understood them, while the rest were just a bunch of hollow “yes kids”.

And surprisingly, in all that questioning the student actually helped the teacher learn something too! Through all “self-defence” they had to do, the teacher got a better sense of why they said what they said, and how they themselves could apply it to other, now obvious, areas of life.