ducklings, parent phone calls, and a clean closet

Yesterday, after I finished my lunch, I gave Gabe a ride to the church. We had just turned off of our road when up ahead we saw some guy walking really slowly across the street and he looked to be dragging something behind him. As we got closer we realized the guy was a mechanic from the auto shop on the left (he was probably in his early 20's, he had on a grimy baseball cap and coveralls) and wasn't dragging anything, but rather escorting a mama duck and her dozen or more ducklings across the street to safety. They were SO tiny, and it was so sweet to see this guy taking the time to walk at a snail's pace in order to make sure some wacko didn't mow a dozen ducklings over with his car.

A number of you have asked me how my student with the murder plans is doing. He was doing really well for about a week, but was out of class the last couple of days. He had befriended two nice boys in my class. All three of them really enjoy drawing, so I let him pull his chair up to their desks and they had daily been talking and laughing and drawing together. I spoke with the behavior (problems) teacher yesterday and he said that A was really emotional the last few days and refused to leave the behavior ed room all day. Bummer. He seemed to be adjusting so well. I guess everything needs to be taken in stride. Hopefully he'll be feeling up to coming back next week.

I spoke with one of my student's mothers earlier this week regarding the ATTITUDE her son has been giving me the last two or three weeks. It finally was too much, so I gave his mom a call. I explained that Jamal had, since the beginning of the semester been one of the most polite, helpful students in that class. I was basically calling to say, "WHAT THE HECK?!" only in much more diplomatic, parent-friendly terms. She (home for health related issues, by the way) explained that J's dad was in and out of his life on a very sporadic basis, and currently (for the last few weeks) had been back. Apparently this disrupts the whole family's balance (totally understandable) and that she has been having trouble with him disrespecting her because Dad-of-the-year tells his kids they don't need to respect mom, because she's only a WOMAN! So am I! So thanks J's Dad for attempting to turn your son into a chauvinist, but I'm sorry, he actually gave me a very sincere apology yesterday and is back to his normal nice self. Your poison has been rendered ineffective. Maybe you should stop messing with your own kid.

I have made two other parent phone calls in the last two weeks. Both were from the same class as the boy in the story above. All of the parent conversations were wonderful and completely enlightening--which does NOT always happen. One mom explained that she is a single mom raising these two twin 8th grade boys who are increasingly testing their limits. She said she felt like she had always been too easy on them and now they're turning into little monsters (not so little), so she was cracking down and they weren't loving it. She had taken away their video games until they both brought up their grades, and they were now expected to share in housework and cooking. Yeah Mom! I encouraged her to stay strong and consistent and that she'll thank herself later when they finally start to realize she means business and is not caving.

The other was about a boy that is so hot-and-cold with his behavior it drives me a little nuts. I spoke with who I thought was his father, but actually his uncle who, along with his wife are raising this boy. Apparently they told him he is not going to the 9th grade unless he brings up his grades and matures enough to be in high school. And he's getting a job this summer. To pay for his own summer school. Explanation for M being in a pretty bad mood. So now M and I have talked and he's mostly on board for raising his grade in my class.

Since speaking with all of these parents, this class with all these boys is doing much better (translation: they are back to being nice to me again, which is what all teachers really want :)--which means I spend less time disciplining and more time teaching, which means their work is better, which means their grades are getting better, which means their parents are happier, which means they get to be happier, which means everybody wins. The end.

Now, it's Saturday, so I'm done talking about school.

Last night I reorganized and cleaned out our office/guest room/storage closet. It was a mammoth task, but it is done. This morning when I got up, before I even when down for breakfast, I had to go look at the pretty closet again. Sigh. Consequently, I discovered I have accumulated enough art supplies and craft materials to start my own store, so be looking for that in the summer months.

Gabe has finally started a blog, so I'm going to give him the computer now. Have a wonderful Saturday everyone!