Back in the Groove

The kids came back to school today. I managed to survive and actually didn't even start thinking about a nice glass of merlot until I got home.

Maybe I'm getting mellower with age or they weren't as bad as usual. Then again, most of them were half asleep which may account for the lack of major issues. Mrs. Langage, who often fills in for administration, was asked if she could work the huge stack of referrals that had rolled in before we left for break (remember the bottle rockets?) while the permanent sub filled in for her. The fact that at least 5 of my students were out of my classroom in In School Suspension may account for the smoothness of the day.

Apparently they worked the referrals I wrote for my little gang of thieves, and Mr. Enforcer, who had called them his office, wasn't satisfied with their level of contriteness and sent them to Deputy Dog who proceeded to scare the daylights out of them. Apparently all three were sobbing their eyes out, fearing that they'd be in handcuffs and hauled in front of a judge before the end of the day. As it was they earned 2 days in ISS.

We had three new kids roll in today, all transfers from Mrs. Eagle's team. Her team, truth be told, has the absolute kids from hell this year. They decided to remove six of them and put them on other teams in the hopes that the remaining critters would calm down and that these six would straightened up and by not being around the people who seem to encourage their bad behavior. We didn't, thank the Lord, get the worst of the bunch. In fact, out of the three, I think we got the best of the bunch. Then again, Mrs. Squirrel had called them all into her office first thing this morning when they found out they were getting a team change and apparently read them the riot acts of all riot acts. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that one.

One of these kids, as a matter of fact, has a huge amount of potential if he can overcome the fact that his mother is a crack addict. (I kid you not). He's pretty much raising himself while Mom bounces the two of them from one boyfriend's apartment to another. He's been in a lot of schools and is close to being neglected, but of course, not bad enough for mom to lose custody. His grandmother apparently called and cried to Mrs. Eagle about the situation right before Christmas (he does spend some time at her house, thank goodness). In any case, he was absolutely wonderful for me sixth period. He was polite, he raised his hand, he answered questions. He's a walker so we had a chance to talk for a bit after the bus riders were dismissed. He told me he thought he'd like it on our team and that he thought I explained things really well. "I think it's going to be good for me to be with new kids," he said.

This type of kid is why I do this. He's worth all the aggravation...let's just hope that he stays as well mannered and focused as he was today.