Kitchen Aid Connection

There is a student who I have been having a difficult time connecting to. He is a bright, little Chinese boy who seems to have a tough time communicating his ideas through words. I tried asking him about the books he was reading, the crafts he was making, pictures he drew, and often times received very little verbal response. During the past week, he was reading a book about “making things” and I began asking him questions about it. He gave me very little response until I asked if there was anything in the book that he enjoyed making. He flipped to a page about baking and I started asking him about things he had baked and his favorite desserts. All of a sudden, the floodgates opened and he rattled off all sorts of things that he enjoyed making with his mom. There was a picture of a Kitchen Aid mixer in the book and when I pointed it out, he started asking me all about it and I described the one I had at home. I realized then that I had found an opening into connecting with this student through something as simple as baking, even though I don’t have much experience with it. Over the past week, this student has continued to express his love of baking to me every chance he gets.