Days 79 & 80

I totally spaced out writing yesterday, the first day back after the holidays, so today is a tofer. Monday went well for the first day back after over two weeks off. Students were hyper as expected. We spent a lot of time pre-testing on new units along with some other work. The big change is we are starting Science after a several week layoff. During the break I sent my students either an email or a letter with a couple of optional assignments to pass their time. I had four students complete the math problem and several studied the spelling words so they could pass the pre-test. I left yesterday at 4 p.m. because of the weather. It snowed all day and the snow was sticking on the ground.

Today went well also. Only one drama issue of note. One of my students was dumped by his 5th grade girlfriend and he was very broken up. I talked to him and I also emailed his mom so she could talk to him. He also made what could have been construed as a threat towards the girl and I talked to him about it also. He thanked me for trying to keep him out of trouble. Tonight was my weekly "stay after school and help students do their homework night. I had two students stay and they both got some work done. It was worth my hour to help them. Hopefully, I am building up some good will with my parents. Additionally, a student I had decided to move to a different reading group, his mother contacted me and asked me not to move him. She felt that moving him would discourage him from doing well. I met with my tutors and we agreed to let him stay, however there were some conditions. It will be interested to see if he follows through. I left tonight at 5 p.m. I had done a lot of work during the break and completed several weeks of work. I start my night class tomorrow night. I hope it works out well.