Day Seventeen: Pass Incomplete

The one girl that was added to my 1st period class came up to me this morning before school and told me her schedule had been changed again and she would now be in my 4th instead. They told her they were concerned she wasn't getting work done in a class with all boys. Why do they make it so hard for me to keep a straight face?

This afternoon is an Open House, which I'm not expecting to see any parents at in my room, so the students were on an early release schedule. Only four classes met today and each period was shortened.

I took my 1st period boys over to the woodshop to start getting it ready to use. They helped move boxes and charge battery packs for electric drills. They whined a little about getting dust on their clothes but other than that seemed to be happy to be in there. One of the boys was hiding in the hallway before school instead of in the cafeteria for morning assembly. He was caught by the hall monitor and ended up in the principal's office. He has been refusing to work and participate when he isn't ditching class.

2nd Period I had the students watch the first episode of The Booth at the End and answer some questions about it after. Most of the questions were about the characters, who they were, what they wanted, and what they would have to do to get it. I learned my lesson and had 3rd period write down the questions before it started so they could answer along the way. It helped them pay closer attention and to ask me what was going on. Note to self: keep students engaged by letting them know what to look for ahead of time.

4th period was a little crazy. The boy that was moved from my 1st period told me he wanted to try to get his schedule changed back. Thought 1st period was a lot better. And they have been better without any girls in there. It started out okay. We went over to the shop to finish up and have the girls sort through the costumes. A few seconds after I turned my back to talk to the girls I heard a loud noise. They were trying to play catch with a large bottle of wood glue and missed. It crashed on the floor and started spilling out. So I had the students responsible clean up while the rest of us went back to the regular classroom. They've gotten in the habit of not straightening things up at the end of the period throughout the day, and I knew that I had to have the room put together before the Open House. Then I had the students clean up the room. I didn't worry about whether or not they felt it was a punishment. Just glad I didn't have to clean up after them for once. :) We spent some time at the end of class doing a little team building. One of the students said, "Hey do you know that I'm a published author?" I told him that was awesome (instead of worrying about whether or not he was telling the truth) and asked everyone else to share a "Hey did you know...?" about themselves as well. I told them about being on the wrestling team in high school which shocked them. It allowed us to end on a positive note.

I just had a set of parents come by. Yay! Their son is in my 6th period. They spoke a little English (mostly Spanish), and seemed really anxious to hear how their son was doing. I told them he's been pretty good. A little antsy to leave by the end of the day, which they laughed at and totally understood. They asked if I would call them if he was causing any problems. It was so nice to see parents caring about their son's success. The kids often underestimate how much their parents really do care around here.

Another parent arrived with about 10 minutes left. Also a parent from my 6th period. His son has been doing a pretty good job in class. We had a funny conversation about kids that act on their best behavior at school, but not out of school. He said, "When they're around adults, they put their little halos on. Then they walk out on the corner and the horns come out."

I think the parents could use as much positive reinforcement as the kids.

...After I wrote this I went to a faculty meeting. I have a student that has not been to class for a while and one of the teachers asked if anyone knew what was going on. He had been doing incredibly well, I was building trust and respect with him, he was working hard and asking if he could come in at lunchtime to keep working. Finally someone filled us in. He and his brother were thousands of miles away from their parents. Recently they had been kicked out of where they were living. That night they slept in a park. The next day they were seen around 6pm rifling through the refrigerators in the teachers' lounge looking for food. No one has seen them since. I don't know what to hope the best case scenario is in this situation. I don't even know where to start. Tomorrow I am going to hang up his last project in my room so that I will remember him.