A week in review...

So this week Summer School continued, and I found myself scratching my head quite a bit. I have pretty good kids this Summer, but I will admit it feels a lot different this Summer because I have a new crop of kids. The past 2 years I've had the same crew, and now that they're at the Middle School, I have a new crew. Which is good, I am enjoying it, but some of the things they say have caught me off guard.

I still have LostBoy on my caseload, and he was in fine form yesterday. He has already been sent to Mr. A. twice this Summer, and we're only 8 days into it. The first time he was sent for flipping off a kid on the playground. For the teachers who sent him for that, I commend them, as they don't realize that's actually pretty tame to what he's done in the past.

Yesterday, however, was his worst day for me yet. (Mr. H., if you're reading this, I have a WHOLE new respect for you!) He doesn't come to me in the afternoons, which has turned out to be a good thing. By the end of the morning, I find that I need some time away as he's worn me (and the other students) out. So yesterday after I did my lunch room duties, I came back to my room with Zach, who turned to me and said, "Someone's on my computer!" I looked at him, as he was walking ahead of me so I hadn't reached my room yet. Sure enough, I walked toward my room and LostBoy was sitting on the computer playing a game. I just about became unglued. He's not allowed alone in the classroom, much less unsupervised for ANY length of time. Through playing detective with his regular education teacher, it was found the he had lied to her (which sort of shocked me that she even fell for it because I warned her he lies, but that's a moot point at this point) and told her that I needed him for the afternoon. He was left unsupervised in my room for about 25 minutes. Nit wit.

He went on to say that he had smoke a cigarette the night before on a dare. I tell ya, by the end of the day I was WORN OUT. I did take him to Mr. A. I'll be interested to see if he lasts all of Summer School. Summer School is optional, so they can ask him not to attend. I have mixed feelings...part of me knows he needs me, but another part of me would like a break. We shall see what happens.

I did ask LostBoy what he wanted to be when he grew up, seeing as that he is showing no signs of caring about squat. He said he wants to go to the Juvie Hall that his brother is in so that he can follow in his brother's footsteps. He said from their he wants to go on to jail so that he doesn't have to work for a living. Was he saying it just for my reaction? Possible. But I doubt it. Go figure...

I also have Zach who is a diabetic and I am learning A LOT about Diabetes. He is in the MR room during the year, but due to overcrowding I have taken him. I REALLY like him. He can't even write his name, so this has been an interesting challenge for me, but I am enjoying it. Granted, I'm glad he's only mine for the Summer, because I like the high functioning kids more, but I wouldn't trade this experience for the world. He makes me laugh, and want to cry all at the same time. He is a really special kid, who honestly makes me pause each day and thank God for the abilities he's given me. That doesn't mean that I think I am better than Zach. It just means that I'm thankful I can read and write and function normally. I have a feeling that at the end of the Summer, I will truly miss Zach a lot.

Finally, Lea simply frustrates me. Lea is a nice kid, I will give ya that, but she wants to do as little as possible and still get by. I was teaching them calculator skills the other day, and Lea says, "I like calculators, it's just another way to be lazy."

That caught me. I know I hate laziness. I mean, I REALLY hate it when people are lazy and won't do their job. But, here is a kid, who is about 11 years old and is already seeing laziness as a good thing. I am attempting to break that cycle, but it will take more than 20 days to do that. She's already overweight by quite a bit. Not that that matters to me, but I sat there and looked at her and wondered if that was true of the rest of her family. Laziness at the age of 11. Geez....

Well, I guess that's my ramblings for tonight.

Have a good day/evening!

Later!