Two Little Stars in a Sea of Circles

Jim (not his real name) was late handing in his math homework. I had graded the other students' homework and most did very well. As I began to grade Jim's paper, I did what I normally do: I circled the incorrect answers. My heart sank as I circled and circled and circled--the first 12 problems were incorrect. I kept on grading and, suddenly, I saw a correct answer. It gave me such an emotional jolt that I quickly made a star next to the answer. To my amazement, the next answer was correct as well. Another star. Normally, I don't star each correct answer, but I did this time. It turned out that those two stars were the only stars in a sea of circles. I looked over the many incorrect problems to see why he had missed them and realized he was quite confused about the topic. I'd need to work with him and I was not looking forward to him seeing all the circles. There was so much we needed to cover. Where would I begin? How could I build his confidence? The two little stars seemed to call out to me: begin with us, they told me. And so I did. When Jim and I sat down to work together, I began with the stars. "You did a great job with #15--tell me what you did to get the answer." As he talked me through his process, which was mathematically solid, I had the impression that we were constructing a foundation--something solid we could build on. We both saw that he had done some competent math, and so it became comfortable to bring up the problems he did incorrectly. We talked about how the incorrect problems were different to him and were able to pinpoint areas of confusion. His attitude seemed open and hopeful. I felt the time we worked together was helping both of us to move forward. Thank you, little stars.