How Can I teach Someone Who I do not know? – I cannot!

Reflecting upon a Situation from The Classroom 

There was a girl sitting at the first table who never smiled and did not want to participate in any activity. She insisted that she did not sign up for this class. She had better days but generally speaking not much was being accomplished class by class. My partner teacher shared some personal information about this particular student which helped us create a positive learning atmosphere (good start). This student drew worrying sketches and made bizarre notes in her sketchbook. She has been referred to a specialist for assessment. But what we also knew about her was that she loves to write stories and poems. The rest of the students were working on the printmaking project: stencils and lino-cuts, which I was actually teaching. Something had to be done to get this student engaged. My partner teacher had a great idea of incorporating her writing (typography) into the art. I thought it was a clever solution.  So I proposed that the student might create art which could be used as a cover page for her book. She accepted that proposal and started working on her front page. I found this approach very successful but it would not have been possible without knowing the student well.