Bradley Chalkers: The meanest baddest kid?

Bradley Chalkers
Oldest and toughest-looking kid in 5th Grade
Monster
Never gets a gold star
Mrs. Ebbel's class
Last seat, last row

Bradley Chalkers is the main character of the story, who, at a readers first glance, seems like the student from our nightmares. In the first couple of chapters, this is how Bradley is introduced:

"There are some kids-you can tell just be looking at them-who are good spitters. That is probably the best way to describe Bradley Chalkers. He looked like a good spitter."

Bradley Chalkers sits in the last seat on the last row of his teacher, Mrs. Ebbel's class. He doesn't do his homework, tells outrageous lies, doesn't have any friends, and has an overall bad attitude. Now, as future teachers, ask yourself this question, "How would I handle/help a child like that in my classroom?" Mrs. Ebbel handles Bradley the way many teachers handle problems in their classroom, they ignore them and hope that by putting the student in the back away from everyone, that the problem will go away.
But it doesn't.
At the beginning of the story, it shares that Bradley failed the 4th grade and had to repeat it which makes him a whole year older than everyone else in the 5th grade. As future teachers, we know what an enormous impact repeating a grade has on a young students self esteem. This clearly has an effect on Bradley, who doesn't try to get a gold star like everyone else in the class. He makes himself believe that he doesn't even want a goldstar and that he will proboably be doomed to repeat the 5th grade like he did the 4th. Mrs. Ebbel has given up on him, other faculty in the school has given up on him, the class has given up on him, so therefore Bradley has given up on him.

Bradley Chalkers: The meanest baddest kid?
or
The misunderstood lost boy of the 5th grade?