Maria doesn’t like school, and wants everyone to know it. She glued the lens cap on her teacher’s LCD projector in retaliation for a recent lunch detention.

Glen is one of those kids that you can always count on to do good work. His attendance is impeccable, and he behaves in class. You won’t see his hand raised very often to respond to a question. Just “getting by” is his goal.

Lee wants to know how things work, and what he can do with what he has learned. He strives to make connections between the content he is learning today, to what he learned yesterday. He likes to write about how the learning is used in the outside world. He loves interacting with the teacher and his classmates. He uses what they say to help his own understanding of the topic.

Sophie is relentless. She is always asking for extra credit to boost her grade. Her parents give her money for good report cards. Sophie’s teacher gives her a pass out of the cafeteria on a regular basis to work on extra things, even if it is cleaning the room to boost her citizenship and effort grade.

Eve regularly reads the “Do Now” displayed as she enters the room, and will think about it for a moment. However, she usually decides to go on to something else because she believes the task is too difficult. She’ll put forth some effort on assignments, but she tends to lose interest after a short time. “What’s the point?” she’ll often mutter