October 30, 2024. The Los Angeles Dodgers win the World Series. The next day was Halloween. And I had a middle school assignment.
Let's just say I was anticipating the worst.
And... It turned out that I had two periods of advanced math of eighth graders. Which was helpful.
(Eighth graders, so a bit crazy. And Halloween, so hopped up on sugar. And the whole World Series thing, which meant many not in Halloween costumes were in Dodger gear. But advanced, so better behaved than the usual eighth grade class.)
And then the last group of the day walked in...
This was a co-taught, grade level class. Of twelve students.
The co-teacher took over (as usually happens; when one of the teachers is out, the other, who knows the class and the routine, takes lead). She attempted to explain the work. They weren't having it.
They were working on combining like terms. This can be tricky, but it's so important (as it pops up in math classes after this), so we want to make sure the students understand. Unfortunately, when kiddos are in play mode, it's hard to tell if they understand the concepts being taught.
I had students on their phones. I had one boy whistling. When I asked him to stop, he denied he was doing it. (It was him. I saw him.) Two students wouldn't stop talking (about something unrelated to the assignment).
Only one boy in the class seemed to understand the assignment. It was too easy for him.
Mrs. F (the co-teacher) told me that this boy was supposed to be in the advanced math class, but unfortunately the previous year he hadn't done his classwork, so he got a D in his math class. One can't get a D in the class and get put into the harder class the next year.
Mrs. F shrugged. It was his own fault, really.
I was quite happy when class was over.
Mrs. F told me the class was usually like that. She and Mrs. G (the teacher I was subbing for) are having the worst time with the group. I could see why.
Halloween could have gone worse, I suppose. Next year it'll fall on a Friday.
And here on Long Island some students were in mourning that day because the Yankees lost, but the combination of Halloween and a 3 day weekend (we have a large Hindu population, the schools closed for Diwali November 1) made for an interesting day, I am sure.
ReplyDeleteOh my. Yeah, I wouldn't have wanted to be in New York, either.
DeleteIt’s good news, I guess, when things go better than expected. I’m a little surprised that in advanced classes like that, but what do I know as a non-teacher?
ReplyDeleteThe last group wasn't advanced. I've had some interesting advanced classes, but behavior like that doesn't generally happen there.
DeleteI will assume there was no summer school for the boy who got the D? Or, he didn't care/parents didn't care.
ReplyDeleteNo summer school for middle school. It's a budget thing. They do social promotion, so a kiddo could fail all of 7th grade and be in 8th grade the next year. (This is why we have the continuation high school. They can be a junior with the credits of a freshman.)
DeleteUghhh...I'd hate to teach.
ReplyDelete