...miss jacks...

Throughout the week, I generally split my time at the school between the grade 1's and the grade 2's. However, I spend a period a week, on Mondays, with the grade 4's doing math, and I swear to god that one 40 minute period usually drains me of all life, because the teacher is an unorganized disaster and the class a tenuously organized mayhem. Hearing today that she had a substitute in, I thought all hell would be breaking loose, as substitutes don't tend to be able to control these guys. When you have no consistent discipline system over the course of the year, it's tough to stay focused. But this substitute today was incredible. I walked in and the kids were writing quietly, name tags on the front of their desks. Coats and bangs were on the hooks and not strewn on the floor. Even the "problem" kids were really trying. I was amazed, and stunned.

Things learned: There are no bad kids. There are bad parents, and worse teachers.

There are also amazing teachers - the grade 1's are so polite and brilliant and well-behaved and enthusiastic, and their teacher is the integral reason for that. She's sweet and bright, and understands each of them as people. She encourages them, and inspires them to go whatever distance they can. The eighth graders have spent a couple weeks working on inventions for a school-wide competition, and today their projects were available upstairs for students to see during recess. All the grade ones voted that they wanted to go, so she okayed it and I took them single file up the stairs to the third floor (the first time for most of the kids). They were incredible; they sat quietly during the presentations, and voted with their little markers on the ballots, and asked great questions. I was so proud. And the principal was there, and smiled at me! AND later in the morning five of my kids, out of 22, had perfect spelling tests. That's almost a fifth of the class! Best day ever.