Turning a corner

Boy, I was confused a bit this week. Somehow I thought my students had next Friday off - maybe because at least one of my children does, and I put our parent/teacher conferences there, also thinking Monday, President's Day, was a full holiday for us. Instead, reality made me cranky. Friday is a normal day, Monday is the conference day. Which messes me up, not just because of losing an imagined day off, but because I scheduled a doctors appointment Monday morning. At least I don't have to worry about a sub.

Aside from all that, this week was both exhilarating and troubling. It was interrupted by our awards program, which was fabulous, but ran 90 minutes and ate up two classes worth of learning. The prior day we had a practice writing assessment while the 8th graders did their formal TCAP assessment, and that ate up the first period plus half of the second. So we didn't do as much as was expected during the week.

During all this, several times I looked around the room and felt pride in my students. Not that they are all angels, or hard working, but that I was making a difference in their lives and it was showing in many ways. I am staying calmer, being more caring and they are responding, somewhat. I am hearing more students asking others to behave properly, to quiet down, when I am instructing. I am seeing a larger group offering answers, and correctly, than before. Even with disruptions in the routine, there are a large handful on task, participating, learning. It is a good and powerful feeling.

Another "fun" thing is the comments they make. Had one student ask me if I didn't get tired of giving the same lesson four times in the same day. Perceptive. We got talking, briefly, about acting, and if they didn't get tired of doing the same play over and over. Audiences are different, and that makes it new every time. Other students enjoy when I talk about different subjects still related to math. Many comment that I make science easy to understand...I can see myself teaching science and having a good time with it.

But with the good, there is the bad, or troubling. I have two students who have missed so many days of school there is no way they can make up 4 weeks of learning in the remaining two. And they missed, not due to sickness, but due to lack of concern on the parents' part. One girl doesn't live near enough to where a bus stops, so if it is cold, rainy, etc. her mother allows her to stay home. Not sure why there is no car, or why the mother can't get up earlier and make the 5 minute drive to take the daughter to school. The other failed 7th grade, and her parents lied during registration, and she was placed in the 8th grade. When the 'error' was discovered, she was placed in 7th grade, and resents it. Cuts classes to hang with her 8th grade friends, gets suspended, etc.

This week I have referred at least 4 students to Guidance. The counselor assigned to the 7th grade is a waste - elderly, often confused, basically holding on to a job waiting to retire. I think she may have health issues, so hasn't been seen in a couple of weeks or more. The blessing is that the 8th grade counselor has taken up the slack, and she is a miracle. Not a saint, but she straight talks the kids and doesn't hold back. One boy in my homeroom who, even after parent meetings and phone calls, can't seem to stop being a disruption, was referred. She found out he was a) over-age for grade and b) attending our school on a transfer. She gave him the choice of attending a prep school for over-age students and going into 9th grade next year, or attending the school he is supposed to be attending. No coddling - no trying to keep him around. If you are a problem, you are gone.

Another frequent problem crossed the line this week too. He wants to act out, then get angry that he gets "picked on." Well, earlier this week he called me over and told me a girl was trying to stab him. When I took them both out of line to go to the office and report this to administrators, suddenly he acted as if he were in trouble and demanded to call his mother. When we got to the office, he admitted he knew she was "playing" and was angry that I believed him. I am confident that, if I had not believed him, he would have been angry that I didn't believe him. Anyhow, he has been disobedient and disrespectful since then, and our counselor cut to the chase with him over this. She knows what he is doing, and pointedly told him to stop, and stop imagining what other people are thinking or trying to do. In short, stop keeping score about what the teachers are doing to and with whom.

Hopefully the rest of the year will be smoother as a result of this.