an interesting week

So, let's see...we had our first prep day this week, went on lockdown, had all kinds of union issues and I ended the week by writing a referral for a kid. Fun week.

The week in review

So, an interesting week this past week. I finally broke down an wrote a referral for a student who has been passive aggressive disrespectful since the first day of school. I gave him so many warnings and I think the kids can tell that it really pains me to go through the office for any kind of discipline, but I just got to the point where I had had it with this kid. And even though I was pretty sure he was not one of the more difficult kids in my difficult class, the class was calm on Friday, when he was in-school suspension.

The school I'm working at is so much more organized than any place I've ever worked, but one complaint I have is that I don't know the history of any of my kids. I found out when I talked to the vice-principal about him that he has a long history of misbehavior and it could be bordering on a personality disorder. His parents are having him tested because of all of the problems he's having at home. This is the way it works with a lot of my kids, and that may be a biproduct of teaching junior high. You don't get all of the detail on your kids that you get in an elementary school classroom.

I've found out over the course of the week that I have 5 boys in my third period class that have been diagnosed with ADHD. It's no wonder that class feels like a zoo sometimes. I love all of these kids, but together they are so loud. It is my most fun class and also my most frustrating. Hmmm... I actually said to one of those 5 boys on Friday, "boy I'm glad it's Friday because we need a break from each other." To which he agreed. Haha.

A minor triumph to mention- my kid who's on probation was so into this week's story. On Thursday afternoon, when we were having a discussion on it, he started arguing with students in class about points in the story, flipping through his book to find details to support his argument. I watched this in amazement and said to him later how impressed I was that he was so involved in class. Later he came up to me to tell me that he really liked the story. I've dealt with these kids enough to know that I haven't won him over or anything-- I will probably see misbehavior on Monday. But I also know that he can be reached and an interesting story will make him a captive audience. That's a victory in my book. Now if I can just keep him in my class instead of juvenile hall.

The Tell Tale Heart

This week was kind of fun in reading class. At least for me. Hopefully for the kids too. We read the Tell Tale Heart. A few kids had read it before, but most of them were suitably impressed by reading about the dismembering of the old man. They were surprised to be reading about stuff like that in school, for sure.

I'm still struggling with my 8th period class. I have two kids who are good at getting the others riled up in this class. One of them was out two days this week and the class was great those two days. Working on reaching them is going to be difficult, but I will of course keep at it.

Start of week 4

A lot has happened in the last week. I got sick, lost my voice and missed a few days of school. Fun! I also survived Back to School Night on one of those days that I was out sick. All of the parents I met with were very nice and very supportive.

I'm excited that this week I will be doing the Tell Tale Heart with my kids. I hope it goes over well. It's a little dry, but I think that the kids will appreciate the horror of it. Plus, I'm showing the Simpson's to introduce Edgar Allen Poe. I'm hoping it's fun.