WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!

Today was one of those days, that we usually only dream about…everything worked.  This was the best day I have had since returning to teaching.

It started out that one of my students came in upset, and just needed some time…I let that student have a little time in the back of the room and within 20 minutes was back in class participating – just needed some time, not someone telling at her to get to work and sit in her seat.

We decided yesterday that today one of the student’s would teach the class.  When the originally planned student decided not to a different one stepped in and did a great job.  But the student did get a taste of reluctant students and some frustrations that teachers face. 

That student had skipped out of lunch detention yesterday for refusing to participate in SSR, today the same student reminded me he would be showing up and did a great job at doing what needed to be done.

The next class came in for SSR (usually 10 minutes is all they do) and sat and read for 25 minutes before they realized how long they had been reading. One of the students who normally announces the time looked at me at 10 minutes and I just put my fingers to my lips and indicated for him to go on his laptop.  The tech and I were just smiling and the student kept looking at me like he was doing something wrong.  That whole class just went like clockwork.  One student who “hates” to read said “It felt like no time passed when I was reading today.”

In my last block, during the read-aloud my reluctant student managed to stay in the classroom with a lot of prompting and support.  When we got to the activity of finishing up the Future Me letter, he didn’t finish, but made it through the period, without a major disruption (minor ones are expected and worked through).  Which is progress.

At lunch I usually let students come up and do work or sit and relax a little bit.  For some of them the cafeteria is just too stimulating and they need a quieter place, otherwise they are wired after their lunch and the next class really suffers.  Today my reluctant student surprised me (he has told me what he thinks of me pretty explicity lately) came in and ate with everyone and then opened his laptop up and finished up the letter, and actually asked for some help and smiled a couple of times.

The final class period, the students have discovered a Computer basic computer graphics site that actually allows the student see if their design works (I can get the URL if anyone wants it tomorrow) and all but one of students in the class were working on the site.  They were helping each, getting excited about their different designs and giving suggestions to make it better or work differently. 

The synergy in the room was simply amazing and I had to make it useable into an English lesson, the students were so engaged. Instead of doing my planned lesson, I winged it.  So I made what they were doing into a reflection piece on their collaboration and they will need do some research what is graphic design and what do graphic designers do. Also, they have to provide a screen shot of their favorite design and describe it and critique how it worked. It was absolutely the right decision and I know we all were having a lot of fun with that project.

The one that wasn’t involved in that graphic design work had been doing some reading on Deer Hunting in Maine, so his assignment  is about that.  After I told him what his assignment was he said “you want me to write about Deer Hunting?” and smiled and said “I can do that, at least it’s not boring”.  We both laughed and then he went back to work.

Even my Guided Study period which is probably our toughest period of the day, went better than expected and we made it through on an up note.

To say that I was pumped after today is an understatement.  Days like this are really rare and need to be savored when they do occur.  I know that tomorrow could be a complete 180 and understand the ups and downs of the population that I am working with.

But here is to savoring a GREAT DAY in Resource Room 220.

Remember it is about the kids – not you or me.