Feb. 21 (Tues.)

Whew… Today is one of those days that I have to reflect upon as a whole, not just Block 2. Something is going on right now, and the principals are not getting to the bottom of it fast enough. My team is falling apart and everyone is bonkers! Luckily, it is not all happening in my room, therefore I do not feel like the cause of the craziness, rather an innocent victim wrapped up in the whirlwind…
Today, you name it, it happened. We had a real fight, and a threat to fight, a kid openly wishing she owned a gun (thank goodness, no real guns), arguing to the point of referrals, and a complete lack of paying attention that even rivals the day before spring break. Granted, I am overly nervous and sensitive about the writing test right now, and I feel that every lesson on writing is vitally important to their ability to pass or fail (therefore they must WANT to pay attention, right??). It seemed like today all of my students got together and planned to let their minds wander to the furthest corners of the room, and completely ignore the writing lesson. I don’t think the lesson was at fault, it was really interactive and the few kids who were paying attention were really into it. They just had their own agenda today, and it didn’t include my class.

Rationally thinking, Block One was great, but they are always great. They never get lost or off track. They pay attention, they CARE, and they don’t let themselves get wrapped up in the petty stuff that the other kids get into. So what makes them so different? It’s not money, because there are kids in that class with absolutely nothing. Of course, several of them are wealthy, but the majority of the group is as middle-class as the rest of them. There is a racial difference present, but the kids that were noticeably in LaLa Land were not all one race or the other. Yes, more than half of the kids are gifted, but with the modifications the material is virtually the same. Block One kids have some sort of drive to achieve that the others are missing. Parental support is varied throughout the whole team- even with the B1, some parents are too busy for their kids.

Anyway, the classes for B2 and B3 were pretty much a loss. They have another practice writing test tomorrow, and hopefully the other lessons from the week will make an impression, but the introduction material that we worked on today will have to be revisited, and I don’t have much hope for improvement in this area.