Sweet moments

There are DEFINITELY rough days in teaching, but there are those sweet moments that make it worth it. I must have had a really good week in October because these two quotes came from male students in my 1st and 2nd period classes:

"I like this class - it's like my only favorite class. It starts us off right." (10/21/13)

"At least one teacher notices us…most teachers don't like us - but you actually like it when we're working." (10/18/13)

At the end of 4th period yesterday, another male student said, "I really like this class. We can do homework."

I hope I can continue to create a safe, fun, but productive environment for my students. It really does make a difference.

-Ms. Damron-

Christmas Gifts

Christmas break is HERE!!! I am beyond excited, yet it doesn't quite seem real. I have really been looking forward to the gift exchange that happens among faculty members. Why have I been so excited? Because I made the most DARLING pinecone Christmas trees. I got the idea from Pinterest, and after chatting with a friend about making Christmas crafts, we decided to get together and make these:

I successfully made 15 and they were a hit! I gave cookies to the gentlemen friends (I didn't think they would appreciate them as much), but I was seriously so excited to give them away. The endeavor took about 5 hours total, but it was worth it. I love exploring my crafty side!

-Ms. Damron-

"If girls are ugly…they get make up."

I adore my students. They make me laugh and they truly say the funniest things. A couple of weeks ago, I had a male student look at me and say, "Do you know what's not fair? If a girl is ugly, she can just put on make up. If a guy is ugly…he gets nothing! There is no way to fix it. Girls can fake it, but guys can't."

This boy is darling and has cool glasses, a clear complexion, and some great looking dark hair. He couldn't have been referring to himself!

Also, as is typical for this particular student, the comment came out of the blue, and was likely while I was mid-sentence.

It's the little things in life, right?

-Ms. Damron-

Lunch Duty: pro door keeper

At the beginning of the year, I signed up as a sub for lunch duty. Lunch duty is not required for teachers, but if you do lunch duty, you get paid a little (emphasize LITTLE) extra and you get a free school lunch. Several teachers choose to do lunch duty regularly (even a little bit counts - plus you get free lunch!) and when they are at trainings or sick, they contact me to be a sub.

Today was my 3rd day in a row being a sub for lunch duty due to teachers being sick. Boo. I don't mind lunch duty too much, but sometimes I just want to sit and relax for 25 minutes and eat my lunch and talk with friends! haha (I'm so needy sometimes.)

Yesterday had a funny moment though. I was in charge of watching the door going from the lunch area hallway to the main office area. Students who have neon yellow library passes can go through the door to the library. No one else can pass (it would be way too chaotic to have random students wandering the school while other classes are going on).

While I was watching the hall, one student said, "Hey! Some students are going through the main office to go to the library!"
I opened the door and confronted a boy who was heading to the library. I told him that next time he needed to go through the main doors. While still walking, he said, "Okay." I told him I needed to see his library pass and he flashed a neon yellow paper at me...while still walking. I told him I needed to actually SEE the yellow paper. At that point, he said, "Aw man!" He just had a ripped yellow piece of paper and was trying to get by without a real library pass.

Don't worry, I'm a really good door keeper.

Ironically, another student had mentioned earlier that day that students could easily just flash a yellow piece of paper and I wouldn't know if it was real or not (I wasn't looking at every student's library pass individually).

Hopefully all the teachers are healthy and well tomorrow so I can enjoy my lunch period. On the plus side, today was the free Thanksgiving dinner provided by the cafeteria. :)

-Ms. Damron-

The first good cry of the school year

I wrote my brother (who is serving a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints) a letter and told him the following:

"Well – my life has reached the point where I am prone to some serious meltdowns. It takes very little to tip me off!.

Exhibit A: After 4^th period today, I realized that one of my classroom ipads was missing. I totally freaked out. I looked all aver my classroom and I couldn’t find it anywhere. I had planned on going to my apartment during lunch to put dinner in the slow cooker, and then I had to write an IEP (a document that includes present levels, goals, accommodations, etc. for a student with a disability) during my prep period. My meeting was after school at 3:00 and I needed to be ready! I went to my apartment and put dinner together, then I went back to school and heated up my lunch, then went into my classroom and just cried. I couldn’t believe I had lost one of the ipads. I felt like I had finally lost it. Grad school and full time work and the business of my schedule had finally gotten to me and I was performing insufficiently. I was so sad. I called in the students from my last class (I called their 5^th period teachers and had them come to my classroom). They were awfully confused, but when I started explaining what I needed and asked them to open their backpacks so I could check inside, I started bawling – in front of them. NBD. Seriously. It was terrible and embarrassing. I let the kids go because they didn’t have the ipad and we had looked all over my classroom. So again, I started crying, and then I realized I needed to write my IEP, so the ipad was going to have to wait. So I wrote my IEP and then went to find my facilitator. I had texted her about the missing ipad, and when she saw me, she asked about the ipad and I just started crying AGAIN. (Seriously – there was no end to the tears. It was terrible.) I had to have one of the classroom aides cover my 6^th period because I still couldn’t control my tears and my face was red and splotchy. Holy cow I was a mess. Right as 6^th period started, another classroom aide went into my classroom to look for the ipad and she found it on my desk. I couldn’t even believe it. Was I blind?! Who knows how it got there or if I’m truly blind. It was seriously ridiculous.

That is just one story of how my days seem to be going lately. It’s just one more thing every day. Yesterday I realized I had brought the wrong computer to work (because I have two matching computers now). I couldn’t access the internet (because my computer was not registered at the school), so I was on my own. My smart board (which uses a projector) is out of commission because the light bulb burned out last Thursday morning and in the chaos of things, no one ordered it (although I was under the impression that it had been ordered). So I’m going old school style because I don’t have my smart board that I can use to project my lessons on! Ack.

That sounds awfully complainy – I really am happy and satisfied with how things are going. It’s just been one of those weeks!" 

I am fairly certain that sums up my life right now. I am seriously embarrassed at how I reacted to the whole missing ipad thing. When I brought my 4th period students in for a poorly executed interrogation, one student said, "Don't cry Ms. Damron! Everything will be okay." Another student looked at me and calmly said, "Ms. Damron, the worst case scenario is that someone stole the iPad." He further explained that said thief could have put the ipad in a locker or placed it somewhere hidden where it would not be discovered. It was kind of cute. 

That same girl who told me not to cry stopped by 7th period and asked if I had found the ipad. She sounded very concerned. 

I really do have great students. I love teaching. (Really - I'm not just saying that to make up for the apparent stress that my job/current emotional state sometimes incurs.)

-Ms. Damron-

One of those weeks...

It has just been one of those weeks! I feel like I have been GOING - GOING -GOING literally all week long. I had another grad school class on campus on Wednesday, and let me tell you, the thought of biking up to campus after a full day of work is seriously exhausting. And along those same lines - doing homework after an entire day at work is almost impossible because sitting down and concentrating on such a quiet, non-active activity makes me fall asleep!

Fortunately, I love the people in my cohort, and the information given in class was good. Still, I sure was tired.
To top it off, I went to bed late one night, and then the following night I didn't fall asleep until almost 1:00 am because I had so much on my mind! (I don't care what some people say - you canNOT just turn your brain off when you want to.)

Last night I went to Salt Lake to visit friends (which again, was fun, but took effort, energy, and time) and this weekend I'm going to Moab. I'm excited for this trip, but we are leaving early, so I will have to leave right after the bell rings and rush to meet up with the carpool. Who knows when I'll do my homework or prep lessons for next week!

This is the first lunch and prep period I've had this week where I've been able to sit down and actually relax for a few minutes and get some stuff done. I've been administering a standardized test to a student whose 3-year eligibility for Special Ed is due soon and it has taken my lunch and prep period to get it all done.

(Sigh.)

Even though this entry sounds complainy and doesn't make a whole lot of sense, I am still so grateful for my job. I love my students and things have been going so smoothly. So far, this year has been great!

-Ms. Damron-

Sub day went well

I have the students in my Writing Skills classes write in their journal for 5 minutes at the beginning of every period. One the day I had the sub, I gave the topic: "What do you think Ms. Damron is doing today? You can make up a story or write what she is actually doing." Here are some good blurbs for you:

"Ms. Damron is sleeping because she stayed up late last night until 12:00 pm. And when she wakes up she is going to go sky diving. After that is going to a fancy restaurant and ordering everything on the menu."

"Ms. Damron is at a petting zoo. She is petting all of the animals like goats, lions, tigers, and white tigers. She is having the time of her life. That is what I think Ms. Damron is doing."

"Ms. Damron is on a crazy adventure in a tropical jungle. With pousiness creatures all around the jungle, and she has to make get out alive. Tune in on the next show Saturday at 8 pm."

(very clever. haha although I don't know what "lousiness" means...)

"Miss Damron decided to take a day off. When she woke up she decided to call the school and take a day off. Then she got out of her bed. She made pancakes and she ate them all and then she decided to go back to bed."

(I wish this one had actually happened.)

The day I got back, I had them write about this topic: "What was the sub like yesterday?"

These were a few of the responses:

"The sub was pretty cool. And I think we should get a better sub that gives us candy and chips and maybe money. And that she let's us do whatever we want."

"The sub was boring, slow, dull. If I wanted a sub I would want a fun, active boy teacher. I would want a fun teacher because little breaks try to like make a game out of the work! That we had to do that day. Most of the subs I had were very strict, "No fun you can't work in groups." It would be fun to have a chilled out teacher."

"The sub we had yesterday was meen. She would not let us do anything we could not do our little bit about us. She go mad at us if we did not follow along to the story about the Chicago fire. That is the sub we had yesterday."

"The sub was really dull. and not helpful."

Hopefully the next sub is a bit less monotone! haha

-Ms. Damron-

UG. First sub day is coming up...

My sister Alyssa is going on a study abroad to Jerusalem this fall, and I get to take her to the airport this Tuesday. What does that mean...sub day! I debated and debated if I should take the whole day off or just take the morning off, but after talking to several co-workers, I decided there really isn't any point in writing sub plans and then coming back for two periods! It helped when my principal said, "Just take the whole day off." Zero regrets now.

I despise writing sub plans though. I would rather go to school feeling terrible and then just go home and be lazy rather than write sub plans and stay home all day. (I realize that sub plans might take 1-2 hours versus a 7-8 hour school day, but that goes to show you how much I don't like writing them.) Plus, it is so hard to leave my dear, SPECIAL, children with a sub. They need structure and routine, and they often goof off and accomplish almost nothing with a sub. When you teach a homework help class that is geared towards helping them pass their other classes, it is extremely difficult to have someone else teach the class because they don't know what is going on in all of the other classes! (That was a long-winded sentence, but you get the idea.)

Anyway, sub plans are finally done and I am ready for my break on Tuesday! Boo ya!

When I told my classes I would have a sub, they all complained and said they would miss me! Talk about endearing. One girl said, "But you make it fun!" Definitely tender.

Another tender moment occurred in my Writing Skills class. I have a Hispanic boy who is tall and looks very well put together. He has beautiful hair that is always perfectly sculpted, he has cool socks and shoes, etc. Yet, his writing looks like an elementary school student's handwriting and he is in the lowest reading class we have. He has already nabbed a place in my heart though. He is well-behaved in my class and on Friday, he asked where my notes were in his journal. (The past few days I have read their journal entries and written personal comments.) He sounded bummed that I didn't write back and he said he was going to leave space for me to write a comment. My heart just melted. A-dor-a-ble.

On the same lines, the first time I wrote back in their journals, another kid wrote my note and said, "That's really cool that you do that. My other teacher didn't do this."

(Sigh.) I love my job. Year three is already AWESOME.

-Ms. Damron-

Honeymoon Stage is Over

It only took a couple of days, but the blessed, and slightly awkward, honeymoon stage is over.

I had my first true behavior issue today. We were reviewing what is in a planner and I asked students to follow along (by being on the same page). One kid purposefully was not on the right page ever. In fact, it was kind of comical to watch because it was so...determined. He did end up changing his behavior after about 10-15 minutes of that, but then later he was asked to leave the game we were playing because he was acting inappropriately.

I called his mom after school, and she mentioned that one of his teachers (I told her it was me), made a point of explaining that the class he was in was a Special Ed class. Mom asked if the teacher explained it in a positive manner, and this kid said yes, but he was NOT happy with his mom because he didn't want to be in any Special Ed classes this year.

So, when he came to my class today, it made sense that he had a negative attitude. I was so confused because this kid was PERFECT the first few days. He was super polite and courteous and talked about how everything you do in school is good for you and helps you have a better life later. When he showed up as mister Grumpy Gills today, I was shocked!

Talking to his mom helped a lot though. She was extremely grateful that I called and she said that she had been really worried about the transition to middle school, but having a teacher call and show concern about her son made her feel so much better. PARENT CONTACT is CRUCIAL to success with students. Today was another testament of that.

Also, I hope I can build a better relationship with this student so that he isn't so against a Special Ed class. Maybe next year I will wait a week or so to talk about that. I don't think I've had enough time to build a strong enough relationship for that not to be a crushing conversation.

-Ms. Damron-

First week down!

I don't know if I should title this entry as "First week down" because we only had a half week with the students, but holy cow, I am exhausted. It feels like there wasn't even a summer break and I have just been teaching forever, but it's only been 2 1/2 days. (Yikes.) Granted, I have been back to work for the past two weeks and I finished up summer term of grad school just last week (which seems so long ago now).

I really miss a lot of my 8th graders from last year. They were my 7th graders my first year teaching and we really did create a special bond. I have primarily 7th graders this year, and (don't tell my 8th graders I said this) I'm not as attached to most of the 8th graders this year. My first period is going to be difficult because of behavior issues, and my 7th period is going to be difficult because it is my largest class: 15 students.

One more time for emphasis though, I SERIOUSLY MISS MY 8TH GRADERS from last year. They were such good kids! (sigh)

It's been a good couple of days though. Amazingly, I have been in bed before 10:00 pm for the past 3-4 nights, which has been so wonderful. My throat hurt at the end of yesterday because of all the talking! You really do have to get used to talking so much. And standing all day. And emotionally, mentally, and physically draining yourself every day. I should be good to go in another week or so.

Just one term of grad school has already motivated and inspired me to do so much. I feel much more innovative and I'm trying to change things up (teach lessons that are much more hands-on and interactive). To teach my procedures, I made QR codes with clues to puzzle pieces I had made out of poster board. Students took turns finding the puzzle pieces and then we put together a poster that says,

"A single grain of rice can tip the scale. One man may be the difference between victory and defeat."

After putting the puzzle together, I asked my student what that quote had to do with class rules and procedures. I was delighted that at least one student in every class made the connection that "one person who breaks the rules can ruin it for the rest of the class." Very impressive!
When I introduced the QR code activity, I asked if anyone had any questions and one student raised his hand and asked, "Did you take a class on how to be awesome?"

I feel like that was well worth the effort!

I love love LOVE teaching, and I'm excited for this upcoming year!

-Ms. Damron-

7th Grade Day

Maybe I will finish writing all the stories I need to from last school year before this next school year starts...that would be great! haha

My principal approached me near the beginning of the school year and asked me to be in charge of 7th grade day. My first thought was, "NO! Now I won't be able to go to Lagoon with the 8th graders" and I loved doing that my first year. Boo. I also saw it coming somehow. Earlier that year or during the previous summer, I remember thinking, "I hope my principal doesn't ask me to be in charge of 7th grade day. I don't want to!" I joked with my principal that I felt like it was a calling, because I kind of saw it coming and I didn't particularly want it, but I felt that it would be a good experience.

Ironically, I had never attended a 7th grade day because I went to Lagoon the year before, and this was my second year...so I had no idea what it was even supposed to look like or what I was supposed to do...ug. No fun.

Thankfully, the teacher who had run it for the past several years was extremely helpful and provided me with a basic time frame and gave me suggestions and tips from what went wrong the year before. She totally saved me and was such an angel to help me despite all that she had on her plate already.

The day before 7th grade day, I got in a car accident. (Long story short, my sister's car was stolen, so she was borrowing my car and driving me to work and right as we pulled out of my apartment complex we were hit on the left...it was beyond terrible.) My car was deemed a total loss and I was without a car for several days. That was a great trial right before this BIG day I was in charge of.

For 7th grade day, we went to Classic Skating in Orem, came back for lunch and a movie, and then ended the day with kickball outside. It was fairly easy, but I had to be in charge of making announcements and I had to be the EXPERT on the day's activities. People came up to me and asked me what was going on. It was kind of strange.

Classic Skating was great. We had just the right number of buses (5-6) and the kids had fun. I even put on some skates and skated around. Next year I will have to give more explicit instructions on when buses are allowed to leave, because buses just started leaving before I had taken a head count, and I just hoped everyone was there...

At the last minute, with the suggestion of a very helpful and technology-saavy math teacher, I decided to hold the movie (with the popcorn) in the boys' gym instead of in individual classrooms via the classroom televisions. Teachers were NOT happy because they wanted time to work on stuff in their classrooms. I did not feel bad. I didn't get to work in my classroom - I was in charge of the whole event! Besides, that was not a teacher preparation day, it was a day FOR THE STUDENTS. Sheesh. Calm down people. The custodians were beyond happy though because instead of  having to pick up popcorn mess in every single classroom that had students, they only had the gymnasium. So, that made me feel better.

Kickball seemed a bit unorganized, and we lost a few items (a ball, a couple of cones...), but thankfully they were returned within the week.

Overall, it was a smashing success! That same math teacher said, "...super job today...I heard from many it was the best day so far for 7th grade day...I heard a lot of people say the kids being able to hang out together [for the movie] was great"

Heck to the yes!

-Ms. Damron-

Maybe I am making a difference

There were several times this past year when I felt a bit disheartened that nothing I was teaching was getting through to my dear students! I felt like I was wasting time, or worse than that - I was unable to teach in a way that could get through to my students. There are two incidences that encouraged me to keep going and let me know that I was making a small difference.

Near the end of the school year, I finally realized that I needed to make my students apply what I was teaching to their own lives. So, on a more regular basis, before I began a lesson, I would ask the following questions:

How does this apply to you?
How can you use this in your other classes?
Why am I teaching you this?

I waited for thoughtful responses, and then we would go on. (Teacher note - this is a great idea. I feel like it helps your students take more responsibility in what they learn and possibly even care a little bit more!)

One day in 7th period, I started my lesson with these routine questions. One student, who is particularly studious, but attends my homework-help class to relieve anxiety and stress over class assignments, raised her hand and said she had a story to share. She said something like this:

"One day in Spanish class we were watching a movie. I didn't get the answer to question number one and I started to panic and freak out. Then I remembered what we learned in here: Don't freak out. Read a head. You can ask the teacher/other students to help you get the answer later. So I read a head and everything was fine."

I could have cried from sheer pride and happiness. This girl actually applied something I had taught. It was working!

Then, on the last day of school (and I mean the LAST official day when hardly any students come to school and it's basically a classroom clean up day for teachers), one of my 8th grade students from my 1st period showed up. He is always very polite and asked me if there was anything he could help me with. I told him I had it covered, but thanks for offering. He then said, in the most sincere voice, "Ms. Damron - thank you so much for your help this year. It really did change my life and I would have been a wreck without this class." I kind of shrugged it off and said, "Don't even worry about it - I'm just doing my job."
This student looked me in the eye and said, "No. Really. Thank you so much."

I was really touched by his remarks. I may have mentioned him before, but his parents told our school counselor that ever since he was put in special ed, things have really changed for him and he was a whole different kid after that.

It's experiences like these that remind a teacher just why they chose this profession and why they should keep going.

-Ms. Damron-

First (unprepared parent) declassification

Some time in April I had my first declassification from Special Ed with a parent that wasn't going to find out until the meeting. I was actually a bit nervous. So far, whenever I've had a declassification, the parent has been very aware and felt that it was time. This parent was not on the same page as me though.
This students was in my Writing Skills class and although his handwriting was difficult to read most of the time and his spelling was beyond atrocious, he had good ideas and knew how to write. In fact, he fell asleep several times in my class and was kind of an all-around-punk in the sense that he always skirted around the rules and wanted to goof off. Still, I adored him. (That was probably part of the issue - he knew I liked him and could get away with doing ridiculous things...hmmm...)

Anyway, when it came time to have his IEP and three-year re-evaluation for Special Education, I did some standardized academic testing to see where he fell in the category of writing. From other testing measures, I already knew that he is on grade level for reading and math (that is the whole point of Special Ed), so writing was his last hope of staying in Special Ed.

I told him that he needed to do his very best on the tests I gave because that would determine if he still qualified for Special Education.

The day we finished, he came to my Writing Skills class some what anxiously and said, "How did I do on the test? I have been so nervous ever since we finished I couldn't even concentrate in band."

This was somewhat surprising to me. He really did care and take an interest in how he did on these tests and what they meant. Good for him!

Although I hadn't held the meeting yet, I drew a visual aide and told him that there was not a discrepancy between his writing and his IQ, so he did not qualify for Special Ed anymore.

"So I don't have to take this class any more?!"

haha I told him no. (I think that was the main motivator for him. It wasn't about "being in Special Ed", he just wanted out of my class!)

I was really happy for him, but I was nervous about the meeting with his mom. Friday afternoon we had the meeting and his mom, the assistant principal, and his English teacher. and the student himself attended.

When I explained that this student's test scores and grades showed that he didn't qualify for (or need) Special Ed services to be successful, the mom was a little bit put out. I know she was just worried about him, especially because he is going to be in high school next year and it is scary to send your kid off to high school thinking they will have ZERO support any more.
The mom was pestering me with questions and scenarios when the English teacher stepped in and gave a wonderful English teacher perspective and calmed the mom down. I could have hugged and kissed that dear English teacher - she was wonderful! And the assistant principal was very supportive as well. He said, "The whole point of Special Ed is to reach grade level and be successful on your own and you did it. Sadly, very few kids in Special Ed leave, so you have something to be proud of."

I was a little sad to declassify this student because that meant that he wouldn't be in my class anymore, and I really did enjoy him.

He did actually stop by a few times and say hi, which is out of character for him (he doesn't really care much for teachers). He let me know that I was special because he doesn't ever go back and see teachers that he doesn't have any more. haha

The last week of school, his English teacher told me that he pulled off an A- in her class. That was his first A- in English all year long. I think she was a bit skeptical about declassifying him at first, but when he pulled off the A-, her whole outlook changed. She was so excited for him.

I'm really proud of this student and I hope that he is successful in high school and I hope he accomplishes all that h wants to in life. :)

-Ms. Damron-

Acrostic poems

Yearbook day was on Wednesday, May 29. We have shortened class periods and then we dismiss classes early (around 1:45 pm) so that students can find their friends who aren't in their classes and sign yearbooks, say good-bye, etc. Basically, it's complete chaos and I was lucky enough to have a couple of students stay in my room and help me clean up! So great.

I only teach a maximum of 14 students per class period, and the entire class never actually shows up. I started this last year, when I sign yearbooks, I write acrostic poems using their first names. It is so much fun. (I hate those boring and very non-personal messages: HAGS!)

My second period had the most students and I created some pretty good acrostic poems. I think one of them mentioned ninjas, and another one talked about NOT eating oranges in my classroom (because this student would frequently eat oranges in my class when she wasn't supposed to!).

Another student cracked me up. I adore this student and I will miss him. I was telling him that it would take a few minutes for me to "sign" his yearbook because I write acrostic poems with using names. They are all originals, so it takes some time to come up with them! He read one of the poems I wrote and thought it was hilarious.

I was still trying to come up with one for him when he came up to me and said the following:

Kade's
Awesomeness
Dwells
Eternally.

I was stunned. And I loved it! It was brilliant. I asked him where he came up with it and he said that one day he was looking at his name and trying to come up with something it could stand for. That's when he came up with that fantastic acrostic poem. Of course I had to use it. I was laughing all day over that.

The only other poem I remember was this:

Marry
A
Dashing and
Darling
Entrepreneur

I think that was totally fitting because when this girl signed my yearbook she told me to get married! Kids these days. haha

-Ms. Damron-

Thank-You Notes

Having school after Memorial Day is tough. Especially when you only have 2 1/2 days of school. Tuesday was still supposed to be an academic day, and all weekend long I tried to figure out what I should do with my students. Finally, I decided I would have them write thank-you notes to their teachers. I instructed them that they had to write at least two thank-you notes to an adult at the school (teacher, counselor, principal, class aide, etc.). I told them that they weren't supposed to write one to me (at least not for the first two thank-you notes) because I already know I'm awesome. haha One student didn't get that instruction though. He's in my 6th period Writing Skills class and, if you can remember, that class has been very difficult. Here is his letter:

"Dear Ms. Damron,

You where very nice and kind. I am sad to leave, but I think it is for the best. Luckly, I'll still say "hi" in the halls. I thank you for teaching and keeping your anger in when some people were being annoying. I do not know how you do it, but your good at it."

This was just too good not to share. He doesn't need my writing class next year, but man will I miss him. He was a great kid!

-Ms. Damron-

A true sob story

This story involves legitimate tears. And lots of them.

This morning during our PLC/faculty meeting, I was looking over and preparing for an IEP and 3-year eligibility meeting I have scheduled for tomorrow morning.

When I was creating the notice of meeting, I noticed the date from the previous IEP was not as it should be, and when I researched a little bit more, I discovered that this IEP is past due. My heart pretty much stopped. (Dates are SUCH A BIG DEAL in Special Ed. It's ridiculous.)

There was not fixing that. I went and told my facilitator what had happened. Yaaay.

When I returned to my table, I looked a little bit deeper and realized that not only was my IEP due last Thursday (4/18), but the eligibility was due yesterday (4/21), which happened to be a Sunday, by the way.

I had to leave the room and go cry in my classroom for a good 5-6 minutes. I realize that this is not the end of the world, BUT, dates really are extremely important and this student is an 8th grader, meaning I'm sending a folder to the high school that is already out of compliance and messed up. How lame!
While I was crying in my classroom, I honestly contemplated getting a sub so that I could go home and crawl into bed. Faculty meeting was starting soon though, so I had to pull myself together. I said a quick prayer, went to the bathroom, and magically pulled myself together and had a wonderful day.

That problem is still there, but hey, I feel better now! haha

-Ms. Damron-

It felt like Christmas

Here's my (not so) sob story:

I have a faulty school key and a very low frustration level. I don't have time to wiggle and jiggle and jangle and whatever else you do to a key to make it work! 

My key has always worked in my classroom door (thank heaven), but it is a bit tricky when it comes to getting in the team room. Awesome. My favorite time is when I am all by myself (think weekend) and I can't get into the team room when I need to because my key is special and apparently I am MORE special because I can't get a darn key to work!

When I had an IEP last week and I needed to pick up somethings I had printed in the Special Ed team room, I asked one of the aides to leave the door unlocked for a couple of minutes because I had to go back and print something else. I received an email from my facilitator later that day saying that we are never allowed to leave the team room unlocked when no one is there. (This was not an angry email, just a gentle reminder of something I already knew, but had momentarily forgotten.) I sent back a somewhat whiny email about how my key doesn't work and is there any way I could get it fixed...

Well what do you know - it worked! My facilitator put in a work order and today during our team meeting, some custodial guys came and cut me a new key! Thankfully our secretary knew where to find me, so she sent those wonderful men right to my facilitator's office and I accompanied them to the team room where I showed them the problem/my specialness with attempting to open that blasted door! 

They cut me a new key right then and there! One of the guys just took out a box and set up shop on our team room table. So cool! I've never seen a key made other than in a machine that just cuts it without you seeing it. This guy had a portable key cutter - it was cool. 

Then I explained sob story #2: The door handle to my classroom door is broken. When I told our head custodian about it, he had someone come and look at it. A man came and looked at it and took it apart, but apparently the handle is so old that it can't be fixed - it needs a new one. Well, after that man put the handle back together, my door stopped locking! Awesome. First the handle was just sticking, but now I  can't lock my door. It's cool though - I ONLY HAVE COMPUTERS AND IPADS and all sorts of technology type things that children/shady individuals might want. Not to mention I have an entire cupboard full of candy. (That's what I'm really worried about.)

I mentioned my broken key to these saintly custodians and we went down to my classroom to take a look at it. They tried and tried and had to admit that my door handle was very much broken. BUT we found a way to work around it (it involves a lot of jiggling while turning the key in the lock). Fortunately, they are now 100% on board for getting me a knew door handle as soon as possible. 

Did I tell you that today felt like Christmas?! I was literally beaming. You would think I had just won a huge award or been given the coolest praise something-or-other! But no - it was just a new key and the possibility of a new door handle that would lock. 

I am easily gratified. :)

-Ms. Damron-

7th period favorites

I love my 7th period. I dreaded last year's 7th period, but this year, I love my 7th period. My students aren't perfect, and I don't even know if I help them as much as I do my other classes, but I love the students. They are so much fun. Plus, I'm a little bit more lenient (okay - a LOT more lenient) because it's the end of the day and I'm tired and a little bit giggly at times.

There are two 8th grade boys in my 7th period that I adore. I will miss them when the move on to high school. They both have an English teacher that demands a lot, and neither of these boys likes to write. Or will write even despite their disdain for writing.

While looking at their grades, I noticed that one of the boys had a 0 on a huge project. When we went to the teacher and received instructions, I learned that this past Friday (4/12), was THE LAST DAY EVER that the assignment could be turned in because the student teacher was leaving and that was her project.

Awesome. That meant we had A LOT  of work to do.

The two boys stayed after school on Thursday to work on their projects and I left the room a couple of times and came back to little structures they had created here and there. The final time I left and came back, this was their creation:

They were quite proud of their creation and wanted me to notice the flag made out of tissue paper and markers, and the gold fish that were idolized on the upside down table.
I wish I could show you a picture of their confident faces (because of course I made them get in a picture), because they are all smiles and happiness.

Staying after school with me is just so much fun. haha

-Ms. Damron-

Feel good moment

The Monday after Spring Break (4/8), I had my Resource Learning students watch a science movie and fill out a corresponding worksheet. We went through the steps of filling out a worksheet and discussed what you do if you don't get all the answers. What a great study skills lesson/FANTASTIC lesson for after Spring Break.

One of my students in 1st period was struggling with getting the answers and was a bit anxious about it. During the break, I heard another student say, "That's what I used to do until I took this class and learned how to do things better."

I loved hearing that! The student who made that comment used to spend HOURS on homework and night and was always overwhelmed. According to his parents (and what he's said), he's doing much better now and knows how to organize and prioritize so that he's not as stressed.

That was definitely a feel good moment.

-Ms. Damron-

"Dude! They're special ED!"

Bahahaha

This was the funniest moment.

In my 7th period a couple of weeks ago, one of my students said, "Oh my gosh! Will next door just be quiet?! If they won't, we should go over there and beat them until they are quiet!"

**Quick background - one of the rooms next door is the severe/profound special ed classroom and 7th period they have singing time, so it's usually a little more noisy than usual.**

As soon as this student said that, one of my other students (who actually attends some of those classes because he is so low in reading) turned around and very passionately said,

"DUDE! They're SPECIAL ED!"

Student #1 immediately sobered up and said, "Oh my gosh! I didn't know! I thought it was THAT class!" (and he pointed to the other classroom).

It was ABSOLUTELY HILARIOUS. I wanted to say, "What do you think you are?!" But I didn't want to burst their bubble. And it was cute to see one of the students stand up for the severe/profound kids.

It's just so funny because I have told my students over and over that I teach Special Ed. They are in a Special Ed class. But of course, they must forget sometimes.

I was cracking up. I tried to cover my face with the clipboard I was holding, but I don't think I was very sneaky. It was pretty funny though!

-Ms. Damron-

"She's giving me THE LOOK!"

In 2nd period a few days ago, I was helping a student with something and I overheard another student teasing a student saying, "Billy! Where's your binder? Do you know where it is?!"

I didn't quite know what was going on, but I knew something fishy was going on, so I just looked directly at that student and this was the reaction I got:

"She's giving me THE LOOK!"

He pulled out that student's binder from between the desks, then went on a rant for a good 60 seconds about my "look."

He was saying things like,

"Did you see the look she gave me?!"

"She gave me THE LOOK!"

Then he topped it off with, "You would be a great mom. You would just give your kids the LOOK and they would do whatever you wanted them to do."

It was SO FUNNY.

Later that same period, one of my students said, "You will make a great mom because you've already had so much experience with teenagers!"

When I mentioned that comment to my assistant principal and one of the counselors, they laughed and said that it might not make me a better mom because I will know what's coming and just want to kill them! (I don't remember exactly what they said, but that's close enough.)

Gotta love my students!

-Ms. Damron-

Middle School Boys' backpacks

The title should be scary enough! Oh my goodness. Boys in middle school have some NASTY backpacks!

I went through two backpacks today. It is hard for me to understand how in the world a person can just shove papers into a backpack without caring what happens once those papers are inside the backpack. The term "black hole" really does apply to some cases.

The first backpack was pretty scary. There was a stack of paper and folders and garbage at least 4-5 inches tall. At LEAST. We didn't get the chance to go through the whole thing, but tomorrow that project will be completed.

I got to go through another backpack 4th period. Again, the bell rang before we could finish, but this backpack was in serious need of help, and we were about half way done, so I told the student to come back after lunch and we would finish the job.

The student came back and we went through the rest of his papers. About 1/3 of the papers were almost unrecognizable because they were crushed and smashed and had pencil smudgings and were just dirty. Yuck. But, we did organize all the papers into subjects. We didn't quite finish math because there were an awful lot of math papers in there. We will have to finish that tomorrow.

This student didn't have any binders or folders though. Everything was just shoved into his backpack. I have a few 1/2 inch binders that I use for purposes just like this one: a student needs a binder and most likely does not have the support/finances at home to have binders.

So we got a couple of binders, three-hole punched some papers, and then put them in those binders.

The student joked that his backpack seemed so light - almost like nothing was inside it! I told him that considering how many papers we took out, it made sense!

After he had gone to his next class, I realized that he had left a couple of notebooks behind. I ran over to his class and gave him his notebooks. He was sitting in the front row, and on his desk was his newly organized binder.

I don't mean to get all mushy on you, but some of these kids don't have the support and resources that you and I are/have been blessed with. They don't have parents at home who ask about school and help them with their homework. Their parents also don't have money to buy school supplies. I was so touched that he had his binder out. This kid can be a punk (he NEVER stops talking), but he has a place in my heart.

I love my job and I LOVE the opportunity to help my students. :)

-Ms. Damron-

Sad moment

Before 3rd period started, I noticed that one of my students was looking...sad...about to cry actually. I asked her if everything was okay and when she sat down in her chair, she started crying. I knelt beside her and asked if she wanted to talk about it. Originally she said no, but I offered to talk to her during journal time, and she agreed.

Once I got everyone started on their journal entry, I walked this student to a nearby bench outside my classroom and the poor girl broke down and said that her hamster died last night. (I really hope you didn't just laugh, because that would be mean!)

______

Here's the thing about this girl - I don't know all of her background story, but I get the feeling that it isn't perfect. (No one's is, but hers seems particularly difficult.) She is from Mexico and I think she came up here with her siblings to live with her aunt/uncle? Her parents may have joined her...I'm not sure on the details.

She's actually quite the bully though and can be rude to other kids. (When a student is a bully, you know there is something more going on than what you see at school.) BUT, she has a love for animals, particularly her hamster. She always talks about her pet hamster and even printed out a picture of a hamster on a get well card she made for someone who works at our school. Ironically, we are writing persuasive papers in my class and her topic is: convincing parents to buy a wonderful pet. EEK. 

______

Back to the present situation though...

She was really distressed, so I told her that she could take it easy today and we wouldn't work on her paper. Fortunately by the end of class she seemed okay, and I saw her laughing in the halls later that day. 

I hope she can get a new hamster! I remember pets dying when I was younger. It can be rough!

-Ms. Damron-

Can birthdays get any better?

I work with THE BEST people and my students are FANTASTIC.

I was late to work because not only could I not figure out how to do my hair (I wanted it to look good today!), but my 2nd period had earned donuts, and I had to go buy them. Let's just say I barely made it to work by the 5-minute bell. (As in FIVE MINUTES BEFORE SCHOOL STARTS.) Oops.

What surprise was waiting? One of my dear friends (who is a para for the Special Ed department at the school) and her friend (who also works for the district) decorated my classroom last night. I opened my door to a birthday wonder-land! There were fun little birthday signs and on my desk was a pink sash with the words "Birthday Princess" printed on them along with a matching pink button. Of course I immediately put them on!

Leslie, my facilitator, had given me a pink crown to wear last year and I kept it and wore it today! (Leslie asked me where my crown was though, and then I took it out of my purse and put it on.)

Leslie prompted my 1st period to sing to me. My 2nd period sang happy birthday to me right before we had donuts.

3rd period spontaneously started singing to me when one lone student began singing "Happy Birthday" solo-style. I probably sang the loudest though.

At the beginning of each period, I told my students that as a birthday present to them, I would allow them ten minutes of free time at the end of the class if they were ON-TASK for the rest of the class period. It worked! During free time 4th period, we had a Temple Run contest to see who could last the longest. We had about four kids on ipads and a couple on their personal ipods. It was so fun. I won the first round. (I don't think that's something to be proud of though...)

Leslie bought me lunch from Zupa's and I opened presents. (Like I said, I work with THE BEST people.) Lisa and Char bought me a cool game that I might be able to use in my classroom. Leslie bestowed a pair of her earrings to me. (I say "bestow" because she owned them and gave them to me because I have a necklace that matches them perfectly.) Then she bought me a book called The Art of Clean Up: Life made neat and tidy. The book is both a joke and awesome. It's awesome because the pictures area really fun, but it's a joke because I'm the "neat, organized" one who is slightly OCD about my classroom being organized and clean. (I freak out at my students if they make a mess and don't clean it up.)

Various co-workers stopped by during lunch time and said hi and wished me happy birthday. :) Of course I loved all the attention.

6th period I received some flowers! My dad sent me flowers, which is just the sweetest thing. I remember when he sent me flowers at work last year. I LOVE IT.

7th period two students were late to my class. What did they come in late with? A huge poster. And they were singing happy birthday. It was awesome. They read me these little poems they wrote on the poster. It was so sweet. The past couple of days they have been coming into my classroom during their math class and asking for markers. Apparently they were working on this poster! Isn't that so sweet? They were so proud of their poster! (And they should be - it was awesome!)



All-in-all it was a pretty great day. I'm completely exhausted though. Some students asked me if they could stay after school and I said, "No! I'm going home and relaxing tonight!" Of course all I'm doing is prying my eyes ope and trying not to fall asleep before I got to dinner with my brother and sister!

Best. Birthday. Ever.

-Ms. Damron-

Teacher for the day

At the beginning of the week I had a student in my 7th period ask if he could be the teacher for the day. (This is the same student who asked me to be more strict.) I said, "If you can be on-task and totally awesome for the next couple of days, YES." I didn't really think about it a whole lot after that, but this student took me seriously and did his best to be on-task and do as he was supposed to.

Thursday we had a half-day due to Parent-Teacher Conferences. Our period were a bit shorter, so I figured this would be a fine day for this student to be the teacher.

I really wanted to "beef" the experience up so-to-speak in case I could use this as a motivator for later, so I wrote lesson plans for this student. They were as follows:

Thursday, February 21, 2013

Dear Mr. XXXXX, 

Thank you for being willing to cover my class. Please do the following:

• Take attendance on the clipboard.

• Do math minute 93. Give the students 3 minutes, then correct together. They should raise their hand and participate accordingly.

• Have students take out their planners. They need to fill out their planners for this week (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). If they don’t have their planners, they receive a red “Not Following Directions” point on Class Dojo.

• Have students break into independent homework time. Students need to check their grades and then you can bring them tickets. They get tickets for every “A” or “B” they have in a class. READ 180 counts for two classes.

• Monitor students to make sure they are on-task and doing their homework. If they don’t have homework, they can review notes/assignments from other classes, do IXL or VMathlive, Mavis Beacon Typing, or do a free time worksheet. 

Thanks again and let me know how it goes!

-Ms. Damron-

I know what you're thinking - and you're right - I AM AWESOME.

As soon as this student entered my classroom on Thursday, he went straight for the chair at my desk and sat down like he owned the place. I couldn't possible let that slide, regardless of whether or not he was "teacher for the day" or not! I told him to beat it, and I think he thought that meant he wasn't going to be teacher of the day. 

He left kind of disheartened, but when I told him I had made lesson plans for him, he perked up immediately, took the plans, and went straight for the front of the classroom. He was SO EXCITED. 

I enjoyed every minute of his "reign." It was so entertaining. He is a funny character as it is, but he was saying they funniest things. For example, he told one boy, "Is that how you speak to me, BOY? TAKE  YOUR SEAT!" 

At the end, he made himself quite comfortable and put his feet up on the desk and used my ipad to keep points on ClassDojo. It was so funny. One of our paraeducators said, "I don't think Ms. Damron would do that..." His reply was, "I am a much cooler teacher than Ms. Damron." (or something like that) 

He did leave a note, and it was pretty funny! It said, 

"it is a vary rebelius class. It need me more to Be teacher." I love this kid!

All-in-all, it was an enjoyable way to spend the class period, and I hope he had fun!

-Ms. Damron-

State Audit

Well, the state audit for Special Ed was today. I felt like it was so far away, but then it snuck up on me. Time really is flying by!

To give you an idea of what the audit entailed, our paperwork was checked to make sure it was in compliance with the law; there were several interviews that included special ed teachers, general ed teachers, and the assistant principal, and observations of special ed students were done to see if their accommodations were being met in their classes.

That's a lot, in case you didn't catch on.

Two of the six special ed teachers at my school were interviewed and I was one of the lucky interviewees! (When my facilitator told me I was going to be interviewed, I just laughed and thought to myself, "Of course I was chosen. This year isn't crazy enough!")

The interview itself went pretty well. I don't know how my folder fared, but the observation that happened in my class? Pretty sure it was AWFUL. It's cool though. Remember how my hardest class to manage is 6th period? Was that the class where the observation occurred? Of course it was! That's how my life works, right?!

And today wasn't any better than usual. When the observer from the state office came in, my students were acting typical: COMPLETELY INSANE. There were talk-outs up the wazoo, I was barely maintaing control, and one of the students might have fallen asleep.

Oh well. I only felt like crying and crawling into bed after the observer left, but fortunately I made it through 7th period. Funny enough, because I was not in the mood for any sort of mischief or disrespect, I was quite strict with my 7th period.
Last week, one of my students asked if I could be more strict. In fact, he begged me to be more strict. It was kind of weird and slightly unsettling. I couldn't figure out why he wanted me to be "more strict." The class wasn't out of control. We got work done, but we had fun.
Due to my lack of...cheer during 7th period though, I was tough! The poor kids didn't even get warnings (which they complained about), they just received a red point (which is not good).
When we broke up for homework time, that student who had asked me to be strict said, "Finally! You were strict and it was awesome!"

Huh?

I'm still confused about that one.

Oh well.

The audit is done and I feel so relieved. Now we just get to wait for results and feedback. Maybe it's not done yet...haha

To top it off, parent-teacher conferences are tomorrow, so I won't be leaving school until a little before 8:00 pm.
On that note, I'm going to bed!

-Ms. Damron-

Here's one more good one for you!

Happy Valentine's Day (middle school style)

Happy Valentine's Day!

Today started out with a couple of sweet girls bringing me goodies. They were both wearing pink or read with hearts on their shirts. One of them was wearing bright red lipstick. (She asked me if she should dress up as Cupid next year.)

Before school started, I had an 8th grade boy come in and ask if he could stash a heart-shaped box of chocolates and a rose in my classroom. They were for a special someone and he didn't want her to know. Then he asked if, during my class, he could go surprise her with the Valentine treats. I fully supported his romantic endeavor and even offered to record it for him!

2nd period came along and he was pretty excited! We decided to wait until 3rd period though because this cute girl is in my 3rd period and so it would be easier to record and we wouldn't have to disrupt another class.
One girl in my 2nd period asked him if he was going to get on his knee to give the girl the presents. He forcefully said, "No! I'm not proposing!"

The magical moment in 3rd period came and my class was watching a movie, so when I noticed him waiting outside, I paused the movie and turned on the lights (without any explanation) and then this student came walking in. He was blushing like crazy, but he went straight to my closet and got the presents and went up to this girl and gave her his gifts. They hugged while everyone awkwardly stared. I started clapping and encouraged the rest of the class to clap.

It was pretty cute. Young love is great!

-Ms. Damron-

Warm Fuzzies

Last week our 8th grade counselor stopped me and told me that she had met with one of my student's mothers for SEOPs (I have no idea what that stands for or what is entailed in that meeting- prep for high school maybe?). This mother's child was just classified and put into Special Ed around Thanksgiving. Apparently he used to go straight home and work on homework until 11:00 pm. He was very meticulous and it just took him a LOOOOONG time to get his homework done.

Mom reported that she is so happy with his progress and with the class he was put into (my homework help class) because he has rearranged his room to make it more conducive to studying and he is able to manage his time better (something like that).

Our 8th grade counselor is such a sweetheart and she told the mom that she had nothing to do with the change, but it was his teacher, "Ms. Damron."

Now doesn't that just give you the warm fuzzies?! Sometimes it's just nice to hear that you have impacted at least one of your students and he/she is able to function better and (in my case) study more efficiently.

I wish I could attach the powerpoint I made about "Preparing a Place to Study" because it was a pretty sweet powerpoint - and that is what inspired this particular student to rearrange his bedroom so that it was more conducive to studying. Pretty neat, huh?!

-Ms. Damron-

Hot Lava

Do you remember that game you played in elementary school at recess where the ground was lava and if you touched it you died? Well you missed out yesterday because that game was re-enacted in my 7th period!

I have a special place in my heart for several students in my 7th period. One of them, whom we shall call Special Agent X, is one of my favorites. He has told me several times that he is "observing" in my class and reporting to someone somewhere on the happenings in my classroom. He calls me "Coach" and always covers his eyes and refuses to make eye contact with me in the hall. I know. Now you want to meet him.

On Friday, Special Agent X was sitting on one of the tables. (He likes to do things differently.) When we finished correcting the Math Minute (our self-start), I noticed that he was strategically placing chairs across the room to the table close to me. It took two chairs to get over to my table and he walked across them and then sat on the table near me.

What was his explanation?

"The floor is lava. I can't touch it."

Yup. That happened. And that happened for the rest of the period. I left my seat to do other things throughout the classroom, and he very carefully climbed over to a chair by a table with a computer on it. He refused to touch the ground.

I was passing around tickets (one of my rewards) and I noticed that my chair was dirty because he had squatted in my chair. He couldn't sit in it the normal way because, of course, his feet might touch the lava ground.

I got "mad" at him and said, "SPECIAL AGENT X!!!! YOU GOT MY CHAIR DIRTY!"

He apologized and climbed over to my chair to clean it off. I heard another student saying, "Special Agent X, are you using Ms. Damron's computer cover to clean off the chair?!"

**I don't know if you remember, but I made the computer covers in my classroom, and I am very particular in how my students take care of them. I make them fold the computer covers if that gives you an idea.**

Special Agent X shushed this student, and I told him I couldn't believe he would use my computer cover to clean off the dirt from his shoes! (Again, all of this actually happened.)

He tried to come up with a good excuse for using my computer cover, but I wasn't having it. I still had the roll of tickets in my hand and so I unraveled some and started "whacking" him with the tickets. (In case you're worried, they probably felt like feathers - nothing harsh.)

Special Agent X was perched on the edge of the table, and during this "whacking" the table that he was perched on started tipping over. He was still determined not to touch the ground though, so he somehow managed to stay on top of the table with the help of another student. Sadly, he lost a foot to the lava.

I was laughing so hard I was crying my eyes out.

He blamed me and actually found some rope in his backpack and tied his foot back to represent his "lost foot." He did make it back to the chair by the computer and worked diligently for the rest of the period.

At the end of the period, he used a piece of paper on the ground to slide across the floor towards my door. While I was doing my end-of-class reward, all I heard was a crash by my door and Special Agent X was on the floor. I'm afraid to say we lost him to the lava.

He will be sorely missed.

_________________________________________________________

It was absolutely hilarious. I told him I desperately hope he becomes some sort of agent when he gets older because he would be awesome at it!

-Ms. Damron-

NO FOOD IN MY CLASSROOM!

When I'm walking in my classroom and I step on a chip that someone SOMEHOW didn't notice fall, something inside of me snaps. I haaaaate it. 

At the beginning of the school year I said that students were allowed to eat food in my classroom until they made a mess and it became an issue. If that happened they would lose that privilege. Well, they did lose that privilege, and before Christmas, I had to instate the NO FOOD IN MY CLASSROOM rule. Awesome.

I will admit I got lax with it, but students are still eating in my classroom! And the funny part is that they try to hide it. They will keep a bag of chips in their backpack and sneakily reach their hand into their backpack and then slowly bring it up to their mouth...

Yeah right. I HAVE EYES AND I CAN SEE YOU. Ridiculous.

Well, I was eating a muffin in class today, and two boys were sharing chips. What do you know, one of the boys dropped a chip on the floor. Of course I lost it. I marched over there, and yes, with my mouth partially full of food, I said, "NO FOOD IS ALLOWED IN MY CLASSROOM!" He of course came back with, "But you're eating!"

To give the boy credit, I'm pretty sure he was about to pick up the chip that he dropped, but he's most likely an exception. Middle schoolers aren't the cleanest human beings on the earth. 

So, 6th period came along and one student was quietly eating chips while writing in his journal. 

Considering the blow up earlier, I knew I couldn't just let that slide.

I went up to him and said, "You can't eat in my classroom, so I'm going to have to throw your chips away."

The students LOST it. He started furiously saying, "NO! But I spent a dollar on those chips! You can't take them away. I'll put them away, I promise!!!!!"

I can't back down! So I took his chips.

Well, what was his natural response? He screamed, pounded his fists on the desks multiple times, stood up, picked up a chair, threw it across the room and stormed out of my class. 

Awesome...

Granted, this student is quite impulsive and does have anger problems, but still. 

My students all looked shocked, which is natural. I just told them to keep writing in their journals. haha

The best part of all of this? 

I had a new student today! He was just classified and so this was his first day in a special ed class. 

I'll bet he's super excited to come back!

-Ms. Damron-

I know you are curious about how 6th period ended. I talked to the student who stormed out of my classroom, and he did come back in and work quietly and obediently the rest of the class period. The rest of my students were out of control though, and we did ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WE WERE SUPPOSED TO. It's cool. I like planning lessons and having such ridiculous behavior issues that we get nothing done that day. At least it's Wednesday, right?