This morning before school started one of my lovely students from 4th period opened the door just long enough to shout "Quit!" before walking away. At first I was shaken a little by it. I know they are just looking for a reaction, and as long as I react, they will keep doing it. My initial plan was to just ignore them until they stopped. Then I had an idea. When my 1st period was walking in the door, I said to the kid who told me yesterday to get a real job, "Have you quit yet?" and smiled. "Nah Miss." And he laughed. The boys kept to themselves all period as they worked and didn't harass me about anything.
2nd period I really tried to work with some of the boys who have not been working. There are a variety of underlying reasons, and I'm trying to figure out the right motivation to inspire them to try. I spent a lot of time with one group to help one boy that's been turned down at the high school, but has another chance next year to go back and play football. He's had brief moments of motivation, but very brief and spends most classes just sitting there or slowly scribbling on his folder. I asked lots of questions, asked about things he was interested in, then told him that if he could work the next few days and finish the project, I'd take the whole class to the game room for a while. He said he'd start fresh tomorrow. Crossing my fingers. And my toes. The girls are doing a show about teen pregnancy. All but one of them is actually pregnant. I had tried to get one to talk to the social worker a little while ago, but she didn't seem open to any help. After the girls decided on their own to talk about teen pregnancy, I invited the social worker to our class to talk to them about ideas they could use about resources available to pregnant teens. One of the pregnant girls was absent. When she came back today, the girl who was not wanting help before told the other girl about a program she could apply for that was free that could help her out. She was listening after all!
At the start of 3rd period, I asked my table/window climber to sit in the back while I went over instructions for the day. Turned out to be a good idea. Seemed to keep her calmer once everyone got together and started working. Now comes the "What did I get myself into?!" moment. Four of the girls decided to do a makeover show, and they needed someone in the group to get made over. But each of them was already responsible for a different part of the makeover.... So after much pleading on their part I agreed to let them use me. What have I done?
After the "Quit" comment, each time I saw that boy in the hallway, I said, "Have you quit yet?" The first time he responded with the same thing back. Then I'd say you first. Then I walked up behind him after lunch as we were about to walk to class, and said, "Did you quit yet?" By that point, I think he got tired of it and the lack of reaction on my part. He gave up and didn't say a word about it for the entire class period. Take that!! I also have a guy in that class who gets so excited about costumes. He started trying to make a top hat out of construction paper. He is going to be interviewing stars on the red carpet. Can't wait to see what they do. Remember when my 4th period class was really quiet? Ha!
As 6th period was about to start, one of the girls in my 3rd period snuck in and asked if she could hide in there for a moment. Apparently she was hiding from her boyfriend who she wants to break up with. He really likes her. She's still in love with her ex-boyfriend. Ah the teenage drama. Poor guy. I then worked on the art of creating groups. One lesson I learned? Keep groups of five or smaller with these kids. A few guys that were gone yesterday were back today, plus a new student (that had been in one of my classes for about a week at the beginning of the year). They stared with a group of six, but nothing was happening. So I asked in anyone wanted to split off. At first only one did, but eventually two more wanted to, and each group had an idea that they liked. I had to coach one group, but helped them with an option they could work with and then they felt better about moving forward. They are going to have a debate on which is better: soccer or football. I'm really curious to see how it all works out.
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