It takes more effort...

Quote of the Day- from Nathan
"It takes a lot more effort to excel than just get by"

Duh!
I made a comment about Nathan's ability to figure things out quickly and he pointed out that he was really smart- just not particularly successful in school.
Why?
See above

Short snippets today.

Usher was involved in a brawl last week and is facing a long suspension
E-mail from the principal
So need your input on the hearing. He most likely won't show up. If we show up and he doesn't, he will get 30 days. If we don't show, he will
be reinstated. Any thoughts?

My response:
I read Push (the book by Sapphire, about the abused teenager- it was made into the movie Precious)this weekend. Made me wonder who and what am I missing as a teacher. Usher is number one on the "am I failing to notice a life going down the drain list?"

Final decision email from the principal:
That’s how we all feel. We didn’t go to the hearing.


I'm a fucking snitch
Evan told me so.
I had to cover 9th grade math. Evan didn't show up. I called the office and reported him "cutting".
Evan showed up and called me a fucking snitch.
So I opened the door and told him to get out.
And there was the principal, right outside the door.
Long discussions. Lots of talk about respect. Final decision-Evan would not get suspended if he would come to me for extra help. Evan did for one day and has been missing in action ever since.
Evan is number two on my "am I failing to notice a life going down the drain list."

I have two strong candidates for number three and four also, but too depressing to write about tonight maybe during the break.

Last snippet (less depressing)
After a day of serious whining and holiday cookie eating I made it to the second half of the basketball game- which we won by a lot.

"Did I work with any of the players?" my husband wanted to know?
Every one of them.
With a twenty point lead and less than five minutes to go, the eleventh grade math teacher, changed her usual game cheering strategy from assisting the players and the refs with helpful advice, to yelling- at the coach to substitute in the players who had warmed the bench the entire time.

So finally he did. Nathan got the final basket. Sometimes even a little effort pays off.