Houston - Two days left!

This is a bit late of an update, already I only have 2 more days left of Institute.

Highlights since last week:

Something happened one day that changed the dynamic in my classroom and I'll always remember this incident with regret and reflection. Over last weekend, I was extremely frustrated because I didn't feel my students would be able to grasp all the objectives by the end of institute, which means they would not pass the final exam, setting a lot of them at a potential to fail the course and not move on to 10th grade. My frustration led me to give a whole schpeal about how I didn't want to waste their time in class, and I don't want them to waste time for each other; therefore, I'm not going to stop the class for something minor they did, or explain to them what they did, and why I'm giving them the consequence they would receive. Everyone listened silently, knowing that I was completely serious about what I said.

Come Tuesday when we were in our "asserting authority" session, we were in groups, trying to figure out a solution for a particular student and situation. I was in a group that was talking about one of my student - it was perhaps my curiosity of how he misbehaves in other teacher's class because he certainly would not be considered as trouble in my class, he comes to class on time, shows up consistently, and even hands in homework on a daily basis.

Perhaps our group work had a subconscious effect on my mood for that day. During the guided practice in the lesson, eveyone was filling in the blanks at an equal pace. One student moved ahead and filled out the entire block. That was OK in fact, because knew he understood the material and really needed some more challenging extension work. However, JH took his paper and began copying the answers. While it was not an exam or quiz, I did not accept his behavior because he DIDN'T know the concepts and material, not to mention that he was supposed to be following the rest of the class. I didn't say a word but took the paper out of his hand and put it back on the other student's desk. Right away, there was a change in facial expression, and a solemn death stare ensued for the rest of the class.

Afterwards, I reflected on what I did. It was hostile and disrespectful of him as a person. I thought about what happened and decided an explanation and even apology was necessary, because perhaps I could forget it the next day, but he might remember it for the rest of his life. After his fourth period, I found him, and told him that I was sorry for disrespecting him but it was because he was disrespecting the rules in my classroom. His response was a simple "OK...". Later my faculty adviser said that it was a good thing what I did because he probably doesn't get apologies from adults very often even when he is not at fault, so an response is better than silence. I guess so, but I wondered how he would behave for the rest of the summer school.

As expected, he remained solemn for the rest of the week and even decided to skip my class one day to 'hang out at the mall'. In fact, it was OK with me because he made a choice and there is only so much I could do. In fact, deep down, I dared him to skip one more time so that he could be simply sent to the principal's office.

Today, our class review of jeopardy went extremely well. I was worried that he would not even try to participate and simply sit there and say "I don't know" as he would often say (to which I would target him and push him to answer - never take "I don't know" for answer!). So I made a rule that said "Two I don't know's would result in an automatic loss of 500 points." But to my surprise, he was thinking the whole time, even when it wasn't his turn to play, and when he did play, he knew all the right answers. In fact, all the students did really well, and some of them were really intense too, trying to figure out the right answer, and trying to answer by raising their hands. It was a funny game today, even I couldn't help but laugh sometimes.

They seem ready for tomorrow. As a little pump-up, I wrote each of them a personal note with a star stuck to the back of it with their name on it. In the note, I mentioned how proud I was of them because they came so far in this class. As the class slowly disperses out the door, CW came in, and said, "Miss, can I get a picture with you?" I totally forgot that I had my camera with me today and would definitely have taken more pictures during the game. I happily took picture with her and JS, my girls and the only two in a class of 8. I have nothing but high hopes for all my students, who are all doing very well in the class.