It's not obvious which it is, at first, a combination of good behaviour in general and respect for the teacher, maybe. When one of the girls gets out a fidget spinner early in the lesson, for example, he addresses her directly and sharply:
"Use something quiet please, Miss Feldman."
And she mutters "yes sir" and relaces it with playdough.
The lesson starts like any other, with reading and a bit of a lecture, and a discussion - Spot will find that the group tables they're sitting at have hospitality-style bells in the centre that people use instead of putting their hands up. Silence is mostly enforced for obvious reasons.
Halfway through, though they are dismissed to grab instruments from around the room and work on compositions. But before the inevitable noise, he stands up and turns in Spot's approximate direction.
"Mr Conlon, can you come here, please? The rest of you, you know how it works."
Ah, so he's got really good hearing... that makes sense, Spot thinks, for a music teacher.
He doesn't really engage in the discussion, though he does at least respond when other students speak to him, and he does his best with the reading and the lecture, scribbling down barely legible notes that he doesn't entirely understand - he has a few advantages from ballet, but his previous musical education was definitely a few levels below this. Yet another thing he's going to struggle to catch up on, great...
He isn't sure what to do when they're dismissed, but before he can even decide who to ask he's being called to the front of the class, and it's unexpectedly a relief - getting called up while everybody else is busy and not paying attention is about the best-case scenario, actually.
He makes a vague noise of acknowledgement (he normally wouldn't, but recently he's become far more aware of the importance of certain adaptations) and shoves himself up from his chair, heading over to the teacher's desk.
"Yea?" He says, partially a genuine question and partially just to announce his presence.
"Come with me," Mr Jarrus says as Spot approaches, grabbing his cane and leading the way over to the grand piano in the corner of the classroom, at which he, but without opening the keyboard cover yet. He doesn't lay his hands on top of it though, automatically running his hands along the wood to check it's clear.
Spot follows him over curiously, not entirely sure what's going on. At the question, he shrugs.
"Spot is fine." He's had mixed results with getting teachers to use the nickname, but it doesn't hurt to try. He thinks he can probably live with 'Mr Conlon' if Mr Jarrus is the type to object.
"Okay, Spot," the teacher says, confirming the name before continuing. "I've had a read of your notes. The induction mics are still on order, as you know but I've requested a few for the music department especially because I guess this can get a bit noisy on general. You doing okay now?"
He's not going to beat around the bush. This isn't his first troubled kid, though it is his first Deaf kid and he wants to get it right, even if he's only a teacher for this one.
He's pleasantly surprised at both the easy acceptance of his nickname and the question, though he supposes he shouldn't be - just as he was ready to adapt for Mr Jarrus, it shouldn't be strange that the teacher is just as conscious of the reverse.
He nods easily.
"Yea it's fine. I mean, it's a bit noisy but I can deal with it." After all, he can turn his ears down if he needs to, the other kids can't - though he guesses they probably have other ways to deal with the sound in a fancy school like this.
"Right, Kanan continues. "So a couple of ground rules here. I don't know if you noticed," and he gestures vaguely at his face with a self deprecating smirk, "but you're not the only person in need of accommodation here.
"So. I'm going to ask you not to turn your hearing aids off if I'm talking.
"If you absolutely need to during independent work you tell a peer so they can let me know if I need to get your attention.
"If you need my attention and talking isn't going to work you can tap me on the shoulder, or arm. You're the only person in your class with that privilege so I'm going to know it's you. Don't take the mick, okay?"
Spot considers the rules for a moment and then nods.
"Yea, I can do that." He can't actually see any scenario where he'd abuse those rules - except maybe turning his hearing aids off, but truthfully he knows that's usually more trouble than it's worth in a classroom setting anyway. He has problems with authority, sure, but that tends to be reserved for people who throw their weight around or demand the unreasonable, and all of those rules seem pretty straightforward.
(and, okay, maybe there's just a tiny little bit of not wanting to piss off his new - and currently only - friend's foster dad)
And that's when he sits back, and lifts the lid of the piano keys, after setting a dictaphone on top of the instrument, a short distance from Spot.
"And back to music. I just want to get an idea of your sense of tone and pitch and then you can go back to your table."
It's not long, and it just involves getting Spot to repeat a few notes back to him, then a couple of scales, and then sending him back to his group for the last ten minutes of the class.
It's awkward, and vaguely uncomfortable, but at least the rest of the class are busy doing their own thing and not watching him.
His pitch isn't too bad, and his voice might even be half-decent if he wasn't very obviously holding back and being hesitant about it - he's never done anything like this before and it's obvious. Mr Jarrus might not be able to see the faces he's pulling, but he'll be able to hear his discomfort in his voice.
Not to mention the relief behind his mumbled thank you when he's released back to his group, and the way he practically flees to the table. He hopes he doesn't have to do that again.
If he does hear discomfort, he opts not to remark on it, but he does make a comment about 'releasing' Spot back to the class when he does.
When class is finished, there's a Senior girl waiting outside the classroom, her colourful jewellery and red highlights just skirting the uniform policy, holding her bags and a big art portfolio case.
She gives Spot a curious look but doesn't say anything, heading into the classroom when everyone's filed out.
Ezra, meanwhile, got away with his half-done homework and is back at the cafeteria the next day, already falling into habit.
Spot raises an eyebrow at her as he passes, but if she's not going to say anything then neither is he. Probably just wondering about the new kid, everybody has been.
The next day he drops into his seat at lunch looking particularly unenthused, but he unpacks his food and slides the package of cookies into the centre of the table as normal.
He's supposed to have ballet again this afternoon. He still doesn't know what to do.
Spot snorts in amusement, a little of his unhappiness easing - it doesn't do anything to solve his problem, of course, but the reminder that at least he has a friend to eat lunch with is something.
"You's lucky I can't eat all those cookies, then, or I wouldn't share." He returns - it's a joke, of course, since there's definitely enough cookies in the package to give away that they're for sharing.
"No homework to do today?" He asks with a faint smirk.
Spot nods - that much was clear, he definitely came across like somebody who didn't accept any nonsense, but even Spot, who has an anti-authority streak a mile wide, couldn't really find too much to object to in the instructions he was given. On the whole, he'd seemed kind of reasonable.
Or maybe that's just because (for once) he didn't want to make a nuisance of himself in case it caused problems for his new (only) friend.
"Better than every teacher at my old school, but that ain't hard."
"I mean it's only been one lesson, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Spot says with a faint snort of amusement - he's pleased, though, at the knowledge that he must not have messed anything up too badly.
He takes another bite of his sandwich and contemplates what he's going to do this afternoon - at least knowing Ezra has music means he knows where he'll be, he doesn't want his new friend to see him skipping twice in his first week, it might make him ask questions.
Ezra, who lives in the hellish overlap of being empathetic to other people's moods and having very little actual emotional intelligence, swallows a bite of food while studying Spot's face.
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branchandroot
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 11:57 am (UTC)"Use something quiet please, Miss Feldman."
And she mutters "yes sir" and relaces it with playdough.
The lesson starts like any other, with reading and a bit of a lecture, and a discussion - Spot will find that the group tables they're sitting at have hospitality-style bells in the centre that people use instead of putting their hands up. Silence is mostly enforced for obvious reasons.
Halfway through, though they are dismissed to grab instruments from around the room and work on compositions. But before the inevitable noise, he stands up and turns in Spot's approximate direction.
"Mr Conlon, can you come here, please? The rest of you, you know how it works."
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 12:06 pm (UTC)Ah, so he's got really good hearing... that makes sense, Spot thinks, for a music teacher.
He doesn't really engage in the discussion, though he does at least respond when other students speak to him, and he does his best with the reading and the lecture, scribbling down barely legible notes that he doesn't entirely understand - he has a few advantages from ballet, but his previous musical education was definitely a few levels below this. Yet another thing he's going to struggle to catch up on, great...
He isn't sure what to do when they're dismissed, but before he can even decide who to ask he's being called to the front of the class, and it's unexpectedly a relief - getting called up while everybody else is busy and not paying attention is about the best-case scenario, actually.
He makes a vague noise of acknowledgement (he normally wouldn't, but recently he's become far more aware of the importance of certain adaptations) and shoves himself up from his chair, heading over to the teacher's desk.
"Yea?" He says, partially a genuine question and partially just to announce his presence.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 01:22 pm (UTC)"How do you like to be addressed, Mr. Conlon?"
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 01:34 pm (UTC)Spot follows him over curiously, not entirely sure what's going on. At the question, he shrugs.
"Spot is fine." He's had mixed results with getting teachers to use the nickname, but it doesn't hurt to try. He thinks he can probably live with 'Mr Conlon' if Mr Jarrus is the type to object.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 05:25 pm (UTC)He's not going to beat around the bush. This isn't his first troubled kid, though it is his first Deaf kid and he wants to get it right, even if he's only a teacher for this one.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 05:41 pm (UTC)He's pleasantly surprised at both the easy acceptance of his nickname and the question, though he supposes he shouldn't be - just as he was ready to adapt for Mr Jarrus, it shouldn't be strange that the teacher is just as conscious of the reverse.
He nods easily.
"Yea it's fine. I mean, it's a bit noisy but I can deal with it." After all, he can turn his ears down if he needs to, the other kids can't - though he guesses they probably have other ways to deal with the sound in a fancy school like this.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 06:12 pm (UTC)"So. I'm going to ask you not to turn your hearing aids off if I'm talking.
"If you absolutely need to during independent work you tell a peer so they can let me know if I need to get your attention.
"If you need my attention and talking isn't going to work you can tap me on the shoulder, or arm. You're the only person in your class with that privilege so I'm going to know it's you. Don't take the mick, okay?"
no subject
Date: 2023-03-03 06:54 pm (UTC)Spot considers the rules for a moment and then nods.
"Yea, I can do that." He can't actually see any scenario where he'd abuse those rules - except maybe turning his hearing aids off, but truthfully he knows that's usually more trouble than it's worth in a classroom setting anyway. He has problems with authority, sure, but that tends to be reserved for people who throw their weight around or demand the unreasonable, and all of those rules seem pretty straightforward.
(and, okay, maybe there's just a tiny little bit of not wanting to piss off his new - and currently only - friend's foster dad)
no subject
Date: 2023-03-04 07:54 am (UTC)And that's when he sits back, and lifts the lid of the piano keys, after setting a dictaphone on top of the instrument, a short distance from Spot.
"And back to music. I just want to get an idea of your sense of tone and pitch and then you can go back to your table."
It's not long, and it just involves getting Spot to repeat a few notes back to him, then a couple of scales, and then sending him back to his group for the last ten minutes of the class.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-05 03:59 am (UTC)It's awkward, and vaguely uncomfortable, but at least the rest of the class are busy doing their own thing and not watching him.
His pitch isn't too bad, and his voice might even be half-decent if he wasn't very obviously holding back and being hesitant about it - he's never done anything like this before and it's obvious. Mr Jarrus might not be able to see the faces he's pulling, but he'll be able to hear his discomfort in his voice.
Not to mention the relief behind his mumbled thank you when he's released back to his group, and the way he practically flees to the table. He hopes he doesn't have to do that again.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-05 01:37 pm (UTC)When class is finished, there's a Senior girl waiting outside the classroom, her colourful jewellery and red highlights just skirting the uniform policy, holding her bags and a big art portfolio case.
She gives Spot a curious look but doesn't say anything, heading into the classroom when everyone's filed out.
Ezra, meanwhile, got away with his half-done homework and is back at the cafeteria the next day, already falling into habit.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-08 12:18 am (UTC)Spot raises an eyebrow at her as he passes, but if she's not going to say anything then neither is he. Probably just wondering about the new kid, everybody has been.
The next day he drops into his seat at lunch looking particularly unenthused, but he unpacks his food and slides the package of cookies into the centre of the table as normal.
He's supposed to have ballet again this afternoon. He still doesn't know what to do.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-08 05:30 pm (UTC)"You can't have all my dessert today," he says. "I can actually eat this one."
He wants to ask if there's something up, but he's not sure how to approach it.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-14 12:52 am (UTC)Spot snorts in amusement, a little of his unhappiness easing - it doesn't do anything to solve his problem, of course, but the reminder that at least he has a friend to eat lunch with is something.
"You's lucky I can't eat all those cookies, then, or I wouldn't share." He returns - it's a joke, of course, since there's definitely enough cookies in the package to give away that they're for sharing.
"No homework to do today?" He asks with a faint smirk.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-20 02:14 pm (UTC)"Managed to get it all done for once," he says. "No way out of that - I've got music."
no subject
Date: 2023-03-21 01:25 am (UTC)Spot chuckles at that, nodding.
"Yea, I guess you couldn't really claim the teacher didn't give you any when he's sitting right there." He agrees.
He pauses, then, takes a bite of his sandwich as he considers his encounter with the man in question the day before.
"He seems like a good teacher though."
no subject
Date: 2023-03-22 09:03 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2023-04-08 01:08 am (UTC)Spot nods - that much was clear, he definitely came across like somebody who didn't accept any nonsense, but even Spot, who has an anti-authority streak a mile wide, couldn't really find too much to object to in the instructions he was given. On the whole, he'd seemed kind of reasonable.
Or maybe that's just because (for once) he didn't want to make a nuisance of himself in case it caused problems for his new (only) friend.
"Better than every teacher at my old school, but that ain't hard."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-12 01:17 pm (UTC)"Yeah," he agrees, "but now I'm guessing you don't suck at music. I hear he's a nightmare if you don't get it."
no subject
Date: 2023-04-16 01:53 am (UTC)"I mean it's only been one lesson, let's not get ahead of ourselves," Spot says with a faint snort of amusement - he's pleased, though, at the knowledge that he must not have messed anything up too badly.
He takes another bite of his sandwich and contemplates what he's going to do this afternoon - at least knowing Ezra has music means he knows where he'll be, he doesn't want his new friend to see him skipping twice in his first week, it might make him ask questions.
no subject
Date: 2023-04-19 10:57 am (UTC)"What's up?"