oofta

Monday monday, la da la la da la, come on! sing with me! And a Monday it was too. I really feel like I'm more getting a hang of these kids. I can't claim that the class is getting any better, but I'm lesson planning better for them and getting on better with them. Their last teacher only made them do three hand outs a day, so I am slowly weaning them off the concept of "free time." Today, for example, I only gave them 20 minutes of free time. And those minutes were only to the kids who had already finished their work.

The mornings generally go a lot better than the afternoons. Dr. M. (the psychologist) says that that is because 2 of my kids are high in the mornings and they always crash down in the afternoons and that is when they turn into hellions. And honestly, I think that she is right. The administration is trying to figure out a (legal) way to get these kids drug tested right now because we have a high number of users right now.

Wanna hear something fun though? Today I started teaching them how to write an autobiography and they totally knew what it was because I've been teaching them the latin roots. That was so cool for me to see! (I'm telling you, it's all about latin word pictionary!)
auto = self
bio = life
graph = write
"Oh, so we are writing ourselves about our life Mrs. Y!" Yup, they may be stoned and emotionally disturbed, but they are not dumb. I'm actually really proud of some of the progress that they have made academically in the past few weeks. I keep telling them that they aren't dumb, and I think that they are starting to believe me. Because honestly, they aren't dumb. They have issues, but dumb is not one of them.

Josh is doing well. He started off his week seven at the academy today. Two things about Josh that I'm really proud of and then I'll stop boasting.
1. Yesterday Gichan asked Josh for help with his VCR/DVD recorder, and Josh got really excited and happy because Gichan _asked_ him instead of _ordering_ him to help. The thing that I was really excited about? That Josh _noticed_ that Gichan asked! He never would have noticed before! He would have gotten pissed at being bugged by his grandpa either way, but not any more. Yay! He's growing more and more considerate of others! Then he cheerfully went and helped his grandpa. What a guy.
2. Josh is going to a study group tonight to get help on writing his reports for his class. So many things about this behavior from him that excite me! (a) he noticed that he is not perfect in his academics (b) he is open enough to admit that he is not perfect (c) he is humble enough to seek help from his peers because (d) he really honestly cares about learning how to do this stuff correctly. That's just so cool and so not like the old Josh! No way would the old Josh have been vulnerable to his peers about his weaknesses and humble enough to seek correction! He is truly growing!

Funny thing today? You know how most women realize that they are becoming like their mom? I swear that I am growing more and more like my father in disciplining my boys. Ju was acting up today while the principal was trying to address the P.E. class, and I found myself coming down to his level, getting right up in his face, and talking softly and very directly to him while making straight-on eye contact. It was only later that I realized that that is exactly what Dad did to me when I was a kid. I think in a lot of ways I'm going to parent like my Dad ... only I am definitely more sensitive to the kids' emotions like my mom was to mine. So I'm still a mix, but it was just a very "dad" thing that I did not even know I had in me. =)