It seemed to help one of the boys in 2nd period. Half the class continued their projects while the rest helped me look through information about 9/11 for an assembly on Friday. It's amazing how much teenagers don't know about what happened or how it affects them today. It helped bring up a few good conversations. And yes, I do get excited when students will discuss ANYTHING with me. Oh wait, did you just answer a question?! Oh my goodness, did you just ASK me a question?! I think we need to have a party and celebrate.
Third period I have a really hilarious student. He doesn't want to do any art, just theatre. The rest of the class is working on their art projects, but he prefers playing with popsicle sticks and telling me he's not going to do anything. I let him know that he had the choice between joining everyone else, or I'd send an email and let the AP know what was going on. He's a good kid, just thinks that being a good kid allows him to be above the law. Then I told him I wasn't going to let him start doing theatre until he finished the project. I know. I'm evil. Right as I was telling him I was going to email the AP, the AP himself walked in the door. He likes to pop in classes, make sure the boys have their shirts tucked in (part of the dress code) and check to see how things are going. Apparently he is afraid of the AP. He went over and got to work, then begged me not to email him. I said, "I won't have to. As long as you keep working, there's no reason for me to say anything to him." Pretty simple deal.
As with everything else, I'm learning to enjoy things while they last. Mr. I Don't Want to Do Art Only Theatre got to work today, but who knows what will happen tomorrow. The young man that I had a great breakthrough with last week with his mom when he wrote a beautiful poem was the one who disappeared yesterday when my back was turned. I need to find a way to remind him that I support him and am here to help him succeed.
Another student I lent a copy of Sangre de un Angel to read and give me her opinion of after she finished her project. At the end of class, she asked if she could bring it back later. I guess it caught her interest. Did I mention she did a fantastic job on her project? She added some of her favorite quotes to her mobile and drew pictures that represented how she's feeling. I need to remember to take a picture of it tomorrow and post it.
And then there is another student who has done very little other than talk with his friends. I went by a few times to help steer him in a positive direction. He made slow but few steps. I stopped and talked to him for a little while. He told me things like "I just can't do art. I've already failed art twice." Well you are in my class now, and the only way to fail my class is to do nothing. Really. It's the only way. You don't have to be great to do well. Sure if you're talented you'll get more points and finish sooner. But I reward even trying. It may take a few more projects to earn the points, but you can totally do this. And I'm going to help you get there.
Fourth period I had a student from third period come in because he had been out a few days and wanted to get more done. Hey, he's building a plane out of popsicle sticks and it's looking pretty cool. Done and done. The rest of the class had finished so we watched a clip and used it as an introduction to evaluating performances, opinions, and the elements of drama.
Sixth period a few students were absent, while others were getting antsy. I had a fascinating conversation with some of the students. Have I made it clear that learning respect is important? One of my students was like, "Miss, do you realize what kind of kids go here?" I laughed. "Yes, yes I do." All the more reason to stick to my guns. My favorite part of the conversation was not what was said, but that the students were showing me respect (and I was showing them respect) while we were talking about it. I told them that if I taught them nothing else, I hoped to teach them how to treat people, to teach them things that will help them be successful in life. He asked me if I was going to stick around or quit, telling me that a few teachers last year left.
Nope. Not going anywhere. I told him that I like it here. And I'm not going to give up on them.
No comments:
Post a Comment