Scout's Honor

Today's bell work asked students to outline or summarize (two of our test-taking vocabulary words) what is happening in the current chapter of a book that they are reading. I left it open for the kids to either write about ANY book that they are reading.  

Throughout the day. I had at least 4 kids swear up and down that they weren't reading any books at all right now.  "Scout's honor, cross my heart, pinky promise, Mrs. Combs!   I'm not reading anything!"

Now, I'm not saying that they lied, but....we have LITERALLY been reading a novel for 2+ weeks in each of my classes.  Sigh.

Option C

No one was psyched to go back to school today.  Nope, not even me.  However, after two cups of coffee and a department meeting, school was back in session.

During the morning, I teach five hours in a row, and fortunately, four out of five went absolutely smoothly.  I have never had such a quiet, focused group of kids!  Because we attempt to use a data teams system, we pre-test and post-test most of our main topics.  Today, my kiddos took a pre-test, and then silently read chapters from their novel.  It was lovely.  I actually got some work done while they read.

Then there was 5th hour.

I've finally figured out how to deal with the spaced out kids, the ADD kids, the ADHD kids, the kids with terrible families, and the kids that smell funny.  What I have yet to figure out how to deal with are kids who have some sort of emotional disturbance whether from medication or "natural" causes.  Please let me know if you have any tips!

Some background on this kiddo:

1. His good days are GREAT days.
2. His bad days can ruin an entire class period.
3. He is the muse for my August 23 blog post.
4. He has a great arm.  I clocked one of his pencils at 75mph the other day!  His glasses aren't as aerodynamic, so they only registered at 35mph.  Still, not shabby!
5. If you have any papers that need to be destroyed, he's your go-to guy.
6. He really is very sweet when he wants to be! 

Apparently, he was already somewhat worked up when he came into my class, and the pre-test I administered set him off.  After several thrown pens and at least three destroyed answer documents, I had enough and recorded his actions on the referral sheet.  Throughout the hour, he continued to destroy things, kick the desks, talk out, and disturb the class.  I've been instructed to give him options when he gets upset.  His final options were A) Go to the office by himself or B) Wait for the assistant principal to take him.

He chose C) Run out of the school.

Luckily, he was mostly bluffing, and stayed on school property.  It was an exciting time, though, and I am very grateful for the teacher across the hall.  She helped me to find a male teacher to bring him inside while I watched both of our classes and kept an eye on the escapee (an impossible task). Even though it added some spice to the day, I do hope that this is my first and final runner!

-Mrs. Combs