Issues of the Day

Friday. BEST. 

(I finally found out what the acronym stands for. Behavioral and Emotional Support Teacher. It was driving me crazy not knowing, and now I do. Phew.) 

Small class, but it has to be as the students need extra support. Academically they're at grade level, but emotionally, not so much. 

We were warned early on that it might not be a good day for Gavin. The previous night he had switched foster homes, so we weren't sure if it was going to be a good day or a bad day for him. 

Gavin started off okay, but by the second period, he and his friend were disappearing from class (not bothering to ask permission or even inform anyone of where they were going) and returning only to go out again. (Eventually we learned they were going in search of snacks.) 

It all came to a head when Gavin took something from the instructional aide (a ski mask) and wouldn't return it. This was when Gavin was sent to the principal's office and he did not return. 

And then there was Dennis. 

As it was Friday, it was make up work day. Dennis had one assignment to make up, and then he pulled out his PlayStation. 

Mr. T had told me that if they were finished, they could play games or watch a movie. It was kind of a reward for getting through the week. No worries, then. 

Dennis logged into his account only to find he had been suspended. For a year. 

I threw out some ideas as to what the suspension could have been for as the notification did not specify. Dennis had to do some searching to figure it out.

He had been suspended for pornography. Which was confusing to him as he had not done anything that would qualify as pornography. He complained that he was fourteen, there was nothing he could have done to warrant that. 

Now, there have been days and students and situations where I'd say that the kiddo clearly did something that was a problem. For Dennis? Nope. I believe him when he says that he did nothing wrong. 

He tried to find a way to appeal the decision, but he couldn't get in contact with a human. As he went through that, he figured out what must have happened. He had reported a fellow player for bullying him. He figured that that player had falsely reported him as retaliation. 

That tracks. 

Dennis did not get his account restored. Instead, we started a movie and another student requested a board game that Dennis joined. (Monopoly.) And that was the day. 

Not too terrible of a day. And I had two instructional assistants who were able to keep things on track. 

Beware the Cobra Chickens on Campus

"Oh, the ducks are back..."

It was Wednesday, my first day out of that middle school art class, and I had caught a BEST class (which is an acronym, but I don't know what it stands for). Basically, it's a small, self-contained class for students who have issues. Special ed, but for emotional rather than developmental problems. 

The instructional assistant's remark got me to turn around and see the "ducks". Only these were not ducks. No, these were cobra chickens... 

This is a t-shirt. (And I found another, too.)

...otherwise known as Canadian geese. 

A couple weeks back, while driving to campus, I had noticed a flock of these beasts on the practice soccer field. I have no idea when they showed up and decided to make the school their home, but apparently it now is. Sigh. 

The geese were eating grass. There were at least a dozen of them, all full grown. We kind of watched them in between the work the kiddos were to do. (They were doing a review of The Crucible which they were to have a test on, and then they were learning about herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores.) 

I did explain to the IA that they were geese not ducks, but she insisted on continuing to call them ducks. Oh well. I'm now calling them cobra chickens anyway, so... 

It used to be that we'd have seagulls all over the place. At the end of lunch, you'd always have to be careful to not get pooped on as the seagulls took off. (Kiddos leave trash with food. The seagulls knew where to get fed.) But, as of late, we don't have as many seagulls (although I'm not out in the lunch area at lunchtime, so I might just not see them). After the Covid shutdowns, the seagulls kind of drifted off. 

But now, Canadian geese. Yikes. 

At one point, one of the maintenance guys came driving through on his cart, and then security came by on her golf cart, and they ended up chasing the cobra chickens. I enjoyed that display way too much.