350 Words

I was bored this morning and I sat in the teacher's room writing numbers. I spelled out the numbers from one to three hundred and fifty.
I did it because I wanted to introduce a new writing to the girls today, and I didn't want any of them to think they can get away with writing two paragraphs. Or even three pages done in a big handwriting.
Most girls compare the amount of space on the page their writings take up instead of how much they've actually written. I wasn't going to stand for reading a dumb two paragraph summary when I was looking for perfection.
I introduced the writing; a summary of the biographies they'd read, and I held up the paper with 350 words. I showed them what 350 words on wide ruled paper, done in a small handwriting looked like.
I then passed around the paper and when the girls read what was written on the paper, they all had a good laugh.
Four girls in 7a were doing their biographies on the same book, and they kept looking at each other's notes. T.K. seemed to be having a huge problem writing her essay, so I asked her if she would like to take C.C.K.'s notes and make copies for herself and the other girls.
She just shrugged and said, "No."
C.S. went out and made the copies. T.K. ended up using them. But she made it very clear that she wasn't going to do anything I wanted her to do.
New problem? No problem. Just add it to my growing list.
We had to vote on moving the literature test that was scheduled for Thursday because another teacher was giving them a murder test on Monday and she wanted them to have that extra night to study. Between you and me, these girls will never study in advance, but anyway...
I gave them the choice of having it either Wednesday, or next Tuesday. I really wanted them to take it Wednesday, so I made my offer better. I told them that if they'd do the test Wednesday, I'd cancel their spelling test. Wednesday won unanimously. Well except for T.K., but she's another story.
I called T.K.'s mother after school and I had a pretty long conversation with her. She was pretty shocked at her daughter's behavior. She said that her daughter was very stressed, and I understood that, but I said that her behavior was unacceptable. She agreed, and she asked me how we could work this all out.
I told her that the only way to work it out was by T.K. coming over and talking to me. I couldn't help her if she didn't tell me what was wrong.
Her mother agreed and said she would talk to her. She said that she had left messages for all the teachers to call her because she noticed that her daughter had been behaving strangely, and she wanted to see what was going on in school. T.K. wasn't telling her anything, and she was doing her detective work.
I hope something works out.