First, it's raining here, and this city does not handle moisture/cold/anything but sunshine very well. There was a stoplight out at a major intersection so I had to sneak around side streets in a questionable neighborhood and arrived to work ridiculously late (along with everyone else). When I arrived, I looked down the hallway and a feeling of doom began to set in. One of my students from 1st period that has been gone for the past few months was standing in the hallway. I took a deep breath, walked into my supervisor's classroom and said, "I'm screwed." Then later I saw a girl that used to be in my 6th period. Earlier in the semester, she acted out and told me she didn't care because her mom was putting her in a high school. I think I might have said something along the lines of, "What are you going to do if that doesn't work out?" It seems it didn't. Both situations ended up less difficult than I thought they would. I've made a lot of progress with my students since they've been gone and wasn't sure how having them back would change the dynamic. I made sure that I did everything I could to keep things light and make them feel welcome. I think it helped them stay off the defensive. It's hard to rebel against authority when authority is showing kindness. I hit a bit of a bump when the girl told me at the beginning of 6th period that another student had mentioned to her that I had said some very negative things about her. Eeek. I remember him using those particular words to describe her, but I'm not in the habit of using that particular language. Note to self: Talking about other students with other students is a no no, but so is letting other students talk to you too much about each other.
After school, my supervisor came by and said that we couldn't do what I'd been planning for covering the windows in the cafeteria. Too much materials, too much manpower. He wanted me to scrap that part. I admit I cried as he left. Not because of all the work I had done, but because my students had worked so hard. I'd struggled to keep them working on probably the longest project these students have ever worked on. I didn't want to walk in tomorrow and tell them that they'd wasted their time. I think I've limited it enough to cover less of them. We'll see how it goes over tomorrow. I'll have to remeasure everything I've already done in the morning and see what I still need.
Now for some positive. During 6th period a few students came to my class from English. The computers were down so they couldn't do anything for the assignments they were working on. One was a girl who has visited my class before, while another was a girl in my 3rd period (that I just gave student of the month to, but has a habit of ditching her other classes). We were talking about my expectations regarding respect, and the visiting girl said, "I don't know why anyone would disrespect you, your class is cool." Seriously. Can't argue with that one. But what was really humbling and made my day was when the girl from my 3rd period said, "This class is the only reason I come to school." I have the best job. Ever.
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