Day Three

...Or should I say Day TREE? We're going to be killing a lot of trees in my classes, I think. Today was a practice essay day. I'm going to use their first essays to see what we really need to work on to get these kids ready for their big writing test on April 19th... yikes! Here goes:

BEST MOMENT: The girl who I wrote about in my "worst moment" yesterday volunteered to answer almost every question today. I was really happy that her name was at the top of the alphabet. I'm commenting on approximately five students' writing in each class every day, and luckily, she was on the list. I got to respond to her comment and she seemed to really appreciate it. She showed me that we were "cool" by participating in class. Thank goodness!

Okay, ANOTHER best moment: My behavioral transfer didn't do much work in class today (he didn't disturb anyone either, so no huge deal), so at the end of the hour, I asked him if he was going to turn in an essay tomorrow. With some negotiating, he told me that he would. This was an accomplishment in itself... but there's more! He proceeded to tell me that he doesn't understand "all that period and question mark... and comma sh*t," so I smiled and told him we'd work on that. I said, "Deal?" and held out my hand for him to shake it. He replied, "Deal," and shook my hand in the informal way he would have with his friends. I think I'm starting to form something of a bond with my fifth hour after all.

WORST MOMENT: I'm concerned about a student who has turned everything in so far and who is generally pretty upbeat and friendly. Today, when everyone else was busy writing their practice essay, he was sitting there, staring at his paper. When I asked him if he needed some help getting started, he politely declined. It's not the end of the world, but I really hope he turns in an essay tomorrow. If he doesn't, I think I'll have to figure out a way to give him some individual attention.