We got a new student today. Before he arrived, we were "warned" about him; he's a discipline problem, he's coming from a tricky school, he's got all these discipline reports on his file, etc. etc. etc.
He did just fine in our class today. He was a bit overwhelmed, as to be expected on his second day in a brand new school, but he handled class well. He was attentive, didn't talk out while my CT was talking, and actually wanted to finish an assignment that we had just given him today, when some of his classmates didn't strive to finish it even after having over a week to finish it.
He's an excellent example, so far, of how teachers can skew their perceptions of a new student with reports from a previous school, often for the worse. We'll never know about what happened at that other school, and what that student was going through at the time, so there's no sense in letting that affect how our students come in to our class. Everybody should be given the chance to start fresh, and we as teachers need to give that opportunity (least dangerous assumption anyone? It's totally applicable outside special ed... :D ) to our students.
So, that's that. We've also been trying to plan for the rest of the semester, and I need to step up my game planning for Romeo and Juliet. I also need to make sure I leave time for pen pal letters in there, for 4th period at least. Not sure what to do about 3rd period pen pals because they're writing to deployed Marines who may not be able to write them back. Any suggestions for that would be welcome. :)
That's it for now. See you tomorrow!
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