Missing in Action

You may have noticed that I went MIA for about two months. I really regret disappointing the regular readers here, but I have to tell you...

I was going crazy.

This new Ninth-Grade Intervention Program--which plopped about twenty-three fourteen-year-olds in my class--was really turning my head around. I couldn't get the kids to sit down or shut up long enough to actually learn anything, and I felt like a real failure. What right did I have to offer advice, when I couldn't even get my own act together? Not to mention how exhausted I was by the end of the day. I didn't even want to wash the makeup off my face, much less write about how messed-up my class was.

But things are back under control now. And what turned these kids around? Good old-fashioned rules.

Honestly. And I tried everything else. Seating charts. Meetings with the counselor. Goal-setting activities. Games. Drawing. Student feedback. Nothing worked with these ninth-graders, nothing made them care. So, finally, I showed up one day with a list of twenty-one rules and a second list...of the students who wouldn't be able to take the exit exam under the new regime.

I got a lot of criticism:

"Aw, Miss, this sucks."

"Miss, you're mean now."

"Oh my God, you're hard-core. This class is gonna be lame."

But I also got a few students who whispered encouragement to me during the break:

"Thanks for the rules, Miss."

"I can actually get some work done, now."

"Way to go, Williams."

Really, the rules just lay down basic behavior expectations and introduce a complicated series of hours and points that students must maintain in order to take the exit exam. I'll make it simpler for you, though. You must have attended at least 40 hours and have at least 100 points (based on in-class work) in order to take the test. Otherwise, you stay with me until you're old and wrinkled.

Boy, those kids turned into little angels!

Things are better now. We're actually able to get through the lessons, have some fun, and, sometimes, even learn something. My confidence is back, and so is my energy. This is not to say that the kids aren't trying, because they are. But things are manageable, and sometimes that's the best we can ask for.

Anyway, for those of you still reading, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.