Just Kidding Around

Re-entry.  These are the students who aged out of the continuation high school.  They spend four hours in the afternoon/early evening working to finish their remaining credits so they can earn a high school diploma. 

It's a nice change of pace.  The teacher is rarely out--so rarely that it's been more than a year since I last covered this class. 

The main group of students arrived.  They went to get their folders.  One student couldn't find his.  He went to the instructional assistant (IA) for help. 

"The reason you can't find your folder is because I took it.  You've been dropped from the class.  Too many absences." 

The student was shocked.  He couldn't speak.  He looked for words to explain... 

"Gotcha," the IA said.  "I'm kidding." 

Turned out that his folder had been put in backwards, so I saw it from the back.  The student was relieved.  The IA told him that he should have seen his face. 

After two hours, they get a 15 minute break.  If they do not return from the break on time, they don't get to return to class.  When all the students should have been back, we noticed that one student was missing.  He walked back into class five minutes late. 

The student said that he didn't realize that it was time to return.  The other IA told me that he was never late, was always on task, and was never a problem.  What to do? 

The first IA opened it up to a class vote.  Should he be allowed to stay?  They voted to keep him in class, so he stayed. 

This is a great class to cover.  These students (I don't call them kids because they are all over 18) are focused on getting done and graduating (late, but late is better than never).  It makes for an easy day.