Tea and Sweatpants...

I have a student who is mentally retarded and who has really been through a TON. He is a refuge from Bosnia and has faced many challenges here in the states. Needless to say, he is full of energy and is often looking for other things to do besides schoolwork. Here was his latest...

...early in the morning...
"E is spraying candy in people's mouths"
This was said while another student was roaming the room and knocking chairs over so naturally I ignored it while I dealt with the other problem.

...sometime after lunch...
Me: "Why aren't you doing your work?"
T: "I'm just soooo tired, E sprayed medicine in my mouth that makes you sleepy. Watch, other kids will start falling asleep too!"
At this point I was beginning to wonder what E had! I asked him about it and he denied having anything.

...finally, at the end of the day...
E was walking to the buses and had some small white bottle in his hand, and I was struck with the reminder of the previous incidents from the day...
Me: "is that what you have been spraying in peoples mouths all day?????"
He pulled away, "it's nothing"
As I looked at it I realized it was spray hand sanitizer that he found on the ground and had refilled with water!

This kid who has been underestimated by all, managed to convince 3 classmates that it was candy and 2 others that it was sleep medicine, and keep it hidden from me all day!
Brilliance.
The unfortunate thing is that he easily could have gotten them all sick.
But alls well that ends well:)

As most of you know, we are preparing for the Kansas State Assessments. Thanks to No Child Left Behind, these are VERY important tests. For the last 5 months we have been taking formative tests to target our instruction. After each practice test I talk to my students about the strategies they use. Some of the ones listed below have been told to me, other have been caught by observation. Let me remind you that many of my students have more street smarts than book smarts.

Here is what you need to know about the test. It allows calulators on some of the questions but not on others. It also lets you see the correct and wrong answers for the qustions you missed after it scores you. When they take the real deal they won't be able to use these following strategies for a number of reasons. I also have talked to them a hundred times about not cheating.

Top Ten Testing Strategies
By Mrs. M's class...
1. Guess
2. Just pick my favorite answer.
3. When my teacher stands behind me I try to feel what her brain is thinking about what I'm choosing.
4. I get up to go to the bathroom and check as many computers as I can while I walk by.
5. I make myself fall asleep so that my teacher thinks I'm too tired to take it today.
6. Write some posters from class on my hand and use it on the test.
7. I finish the whole test really fast then write down the correct answers when it lets me check. Then I take the test again and make sure I agree with the answers. I also take my time so it looks like I did a really good job.
8. Sometimes I just check with the person next to me to see if I'm getting it right.
9. If I get stuck on a math question I can write it down, then go back to a question with a calculator, and use the calculator to answer the question. Then I go back and find the right answer.
10. Wait for the person next to me to finish and check their answers so I know if I'm getting them right!

This happened just when we returned from Christmas Vacation. All of my students were very squirmy, naturally, because they were dying to share about their time apart. So, I started our day with some journaling. I had one child, "sadness" who just got up out of his seat and starting roaming the room and ho-humming as Eeyore does. I got him to settle down for a bit and to talk to me...
Me: "what's going on?"
Him: "I don't want to write in my stupid journal"
Me: " do you want to tell me why?"
Him: "NO"
Me: "did something bad happen to you?"
Him: "NO"
Me: I just sat there with him for a minute...knowing that this 9 year old would probably tell me soon
Him: "My daddy killed him"
Me: "what are you talking about?"
Him: "My dad killed a man on Christmas Eve and now he is in jail"
Me: "are you alright?"
Him: "yeah"
Me: "well, it's alright to be upset about it ....

And the conversation continued with me faking as if I am a counselor. I don't have a freaking clue what to do or say to these kids... I did find out later, from the secretary, that his father did shoot a man at a bar on Christmas Eve night. His dad is now on trial for murder.