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-