Getting in the Groove

With all the changes in his little life this summer, JBP's not been handling things well. However, I do believe we're starting to see the light at the end of this tunnel.

I met with his teacher and principal after school yesterday to discuss strategies for dealing with his defiant, check-outist behavior. We couldn't have found a group more interested in helping him, finding what's best for him, not just getting him to shut-up and go along with the group, but to actually get settled, happy and learning.

Today, his third day of school, was the first day I didn't get a call about his behavior during the school day.

He also, tonight, willingly sat with me and did the "homework" the teacher had sent home that he wouldn't do during class. It took us an hour (he was eating while I read to him for a good 20 minutes of that) but he stuck with it until it was all finished.

Then went to bed with minimal fuss.

I finally have hopes that things are looking up, that he'll get used to the set-up, learn to trust his teachers, etc, and start to enjoy learning again.

Right now he complains it's all boring. He doesn't understand that he's got to do theboring stuff to get to the fun stuff (like computers, science, math, etc) the older kids are doing.

Meanwhile, I'm dealing with some pretty freaked out kids in my classes. Turns out my predecessor's Spanish 3 class was 90% writing papers (in English) about Spanish culture. So, the students know next to no Spanish. It's like my Spanish 4 students are where I'd expect Spanish 2 students to be with grammar and vocabulary.

So, I'm having to completely reconfigure how to teach the upper levels. But if I do nothing else, they'll be speaking Spanish comfortably by the time they leave my classroom. Maybe elementary levels, but they'll be speaking it!

Well, I've got homework to check in.
Nimitz' Lady

P.S. Day 2 in the classroom was much more comfortable on my part. And the principal (who's dropped by several times) says I looked comfortable from the first (all those years in front of a TV camera came in handy after all!).