Five victories

Often times I share struggles on this blog, but today I would like to share five victories.

1. 88% of my 10th grade classes passed the NC writing test!

2. In class yesterday, A. was pretty rude to me and frustrated me greatly. I am pretty patient and I love this kid, but he gets pretty whiny when he feel overwhelmed, and sometimes he turns on me. Today he told me that he wanted to talk to me, so I stepped aside with him, unsure of what I would hear. And then he apologized to me for Monday. I was so impressed and touched because no one ever apologizes to how they treat me, or how they talk to me. What a sweetheart. His Mom deserves props.

3. Friday I was really worried about M. because he was really sick, I couldn't tell what was wrong, and he wouldn't let me help him. I called his Mom because I was so worried. I didn't know how this would be received by this student because I don't ever quite know what to expect from him on a daily basis anyways. This was a good decision for me because for the past two days he has told the class how much I must love him because I called his house to make sure he was okay. (:

4. I have a few students that aren't my own, but that are so lovely as to grace me with their presence from time to time. One of these special children is R. who came in the other day after he got his permit to show me it. Today he ran into my classroom after his English class to show me how he passed his writing test with a three. He was so proud, and I was glad he shared the moment with me.

5. I have one student in my 9th grade English class who is a superstar when it comes to my class. I feel so sorry for her because it's her first time in the class and she works really hard - unlike the rest of the class. She has a really hard time with some EOC questions because English isn't her first language and so she tends to miss the questions that have you matching words with possible definitions. I had the idea to give her a list of prefixes, suffixes, and root words. She seemed eager to learn them, and hopefully they will help her. Win.

And now, at the late hour of 8:21, I am going to bed.