Today was Day 1 of ISAT testing. Let's review today's events.
10 of my kids did not have calculators. That made the math portion interesting. Usually the school provides them, but I don't know what happened this year. So it wasn't just my class that was affected. But I certainly wasn't going to harass the principal about it; she wasn't there today because of her high blood pressure, which is work-related, I'm sure.
K, my special little guy (as Marge Simpson likes to say) was having trouble staying quiet and in his seat. So I texted his mom after the first test to let her know. (That's how familiar we are with each other; we don't even have to call anymore.) He was pretty upset, and when it came time to take the math section, he refused to do it. 20 minutes in, I convinced him to get started. After a few minutes of trying, he gave up and said, "I can't do this." The problem was that he couldn't read it. This makes me so angry, because I have been trying for months to get him tested. And the social worker keeps saying he's her top priority, but keeps putting off the meeting. He's reading at a second grade level. When I was testing him, he read a 4th grade passage at a rate of 22 WPM. What really makes me mad is that if they had just tested him and gotten him help, the math section could have been read to him. So finally, 40 minutes into the test, he just started marking answers. At least he finished; most of the kids in the other sixth grade class did not finish.
There is still crazy girl drama going on in my classroom. One girl has been ostracized. Yes, she said some stupid things, but she doesn't deserve this. Meanwhile, this group of "popular girls" (they have even ranked themselves) have given each other nicknames and call each other sisters. They said they want me to be a sister too, and asked if they could call me Little E. And I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist... it's a Gossip Girl name! But they are really starting to get on my nerves. They are so cocky, and constantly playing.
Today, that resulted in an injury. Y was hitting and kicking the boys when they lined up, and she hit J in the eye. Rather than punch her, he punched the wall and ended up with a broken finger. I called him after school to tell him how proud of him I was for not hitting a girl. I told him that showed a lot of maturity, and that's something a man, not a boy, would do. Poor kid.
Meanwhile, in the other 6th grade class, this boy got confrontational with the teacher and started running down the hall and just being crazy in general. When he came back, he told her he was going to cut her. As she recounted the story to me after school today, she said, "I started to go after him, but Jesus grabbed me and held me back... seriously, that's the only way I can explain it. I was halfway to him and just stopped mid-step." Coincidentally, some of his relatives were there picking up his cousin, who was sick. I got to see the scene in the office. Rather than defend their poor, innocent baby (which most parents do), they asked the teacher if she wanted to press charges. As they walked out the door, we overheard the aunt say, "I'm going to beat the hell out of you..." The assistant principal chased her down and said, "What's your number?" Now she will know who to call when there's a problem.
I'm just so sick of these kids and their craziness. They are seriously crazy. The art teacher told me the other day that my class is the worst in the school. "Your class is a walking advertisement for birth control," she said. Maybe Planned Parenthood should open a branch at our school.
10 of my kids did not have calculators. That made the math portion interesting. Usually the school provides them, but I don't know what happened this year. So it wasn't just my class that was affected. But I certainly wasn't going to harass the principal about it; she wasn't there today because of her high blood pressure, which is work-related, I'm sure.
K, my special little guy (as Marge Simpson likes to say) was having trouble staying quiet and in his seat. So I texted his mom after the first test to let her know. (That's how familiar we are with each other; we don't even have to call anymore.) He was pretty upset, and when it came time to take the math section, he refused to do it. 20 minutes in, I convinced him to get started. After a few minutes of trying, he gave up and said, "I can't do this." The problem was that he couldn't read it. This makes me so angry, because I have been trying for months to get him tested. And the social worker keeps saying he's her top priority, but keeps putting off the meeting. He's reading at a second grade level. When I was testing him, he read a 4th grade passage at a rate of 22 WPM. What really makes me mad is that if they had just tested him and gotten him help, the math section could have been read to him. So finally, 40 minutes into the test, he just started marking answers. At least he finished; most of the kids in the other sixth grade class did not finish.
There is still crazy girl drama going on in my classroom. One girl has been ostracized. Yes, she said some stupid things, but she doesn't deserve this. Meanwhile, this group of "popular girls" (they have even ranked themselves) have given each other nicknames and call each other sisters. They said they want me to be a sister too, and asked if they could call me Little E. And I'm sorry, but I couldn't resist... it's a Gossip Girl name! But they are really starting to get on my nerves. They are so cocky, and constantly playing.
Today, that resulted in an injury. Y was hitting and kicking the boys when they lined up, and she hit J in the eye. Rather than punch her, he punched the wall and ended up with a broken finger. I called him after school to tell him how proud of him I was for not hitting a girl. I told him that showed a lot of maturity, and that's something a man, not a boy, would do. Poor kid.
Meanwhile, in the other 6th grade class, this boy got confrontational with the teacher and started running down the hall and just being crazy in general. When he came back, he told her he was going to cut her. As she recounted the story to me after school today, she said, "I started to go after him, but Jesus grabbed me and held me back... seriously, that's the only way I can explain it. I was halfway to him and just stopped mid-step." Coincidentally, some of his relatives were there picking up his cousin, who was sick. I got to see the scene in the office. Rather than defend their poor, innocent baby (which most parents do), they asked the teacher if she wanted to press charges. As they walked out the door, we overheard the aunt say, "I'm going to beat the hell out of you..." The assistant principal chased her down and said, "What's your number?" Now she will know who to call when there's a problem.
I'm just so sick of these kids and their craziness. They are seriously crazy. The art teacher told me the other day that my class is the worst in the school. "Your class is a walking advertisement for birth control," she said. Maybe Planned Parenthood should open a branch at our school.
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