Whirlwind

The past few days were a whirlwind!  This is the first chance I've had to catch my breath since Monday.  The week definitely had it's ups and downs, but either way I am looking forward to 5pm tomorrow (If there's one thing I've learned this year, it's that 95% of the business that bars get between 5 and 9 on Fridays is from stressed out teachers).

On Tuesday, my 7th period was an emotional wreck.  It's funny, because now that we're in a new semester, my 7th period is mostly made up of my old 2nd period students, and yet 7th period is still crazy.  It must be because it's the period after lunch, so maybe it's not (entirely) me after all.  Cristy came in crying, because her boyfriend broke up with her.  Dennis and Jon came in looking like they were going to cry, put their heads down, and refused to do anything (I found out later that Dennis' cousin died, and Jon's girlfriend interrupted class to tell me that they got into a fight and that's why he wasn't doing any work). Amy came in freaking out because one of my 3rd period students punched her in the face in gym.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw Arnelle rolling down her sleeves and caught a glimpse of a hideous bruise on her arm, which I immediately told her I'd discuss with her later.  Sweet, quiet, focused Steve decided to morph into JT in his craziest form (which I like to describe as being similar to a severely ADHD person with tourrettes having a seizure), saying "diablo" over in over at the top of his lungs, while JT followed along saying a different Spanish word over and over (which Amy told me later was the Spanish word for "vagina.")

Needless to say, it wasn't the most productive period.  I made them all finish their Algebra test from earlier in the day, which didn't take more than 15 minutes, and the rest of the period we sat in a circle and talked, watched old morning announcement videos, and drew on the chalkboard.  It was like one big therapy session.

Yesterday I took four girls (who are not my students, but who I've bonded with while co-teaching their Algebra class) on a field trip to Pearl Paint on Canal street after work before grad school.  They were like kids in a candy store, it reminded me of the first time my Uncle took me there when I was their age, and I realized it was five floors filled with every kind of art supply you could imagine!  I missed the staff meeting while I was gone, but Pedro was voted student of the month!

 Today I had four IEP Annual Review conference, for Pedro, Jay, Monique, and Steve.  I was really impressed with Jay, who is not my most mature student, because although these meetings are incredibly awkward, and although he has told me that he doesn't want to have an IEP or Resource anymore, he handled his meeting the most seriously out of any student I've seen yet.  He articulated everything he struggles with and decided, on his own, that he did want to keep his IEP and even add to his testing accommodations, and talked about how the behavior contract for the baseball team is really helping him stay motivated.  He really, truly ADVOCATED for himself, and I've never been more proud!