I had to meet with the principal today to finish what we had begun to discuss yesterday. I arranged for my classes to have computers right before and right after recess so that I would have at least an hour to talk to the principal.
I felt I needed the hour because the principal has a tendency to go off on a tangent and keep talking without really saying much. I made sure to allot myself extra time.
Turns out, I couldn't go in to her right away. She had forgotten that she had a meeting with me, and she was in a meeting with another teacher.
I just hung around the office until she was ready. My girls were being supervised by the computer teacher, so I didn't feel too guilty about it.
While I waited, I taught the secretary how to play solitaire. I was quite shocked that after 18 years she hadn't mastered the game. It's a classic!
My grandfather taught me how to play, and it has come to use many times during boring computer lessons in school. LOL
I only got to meet with her after recess, which, of course meant that we went overtime.
But the meeting itself was not half bad. I think we're learning to talk to each other. I walked out of there actually feeling happy.
The answer to your question is yes, I did lose some marbles.
I walked to class only to find half of them in the hallways making a racket and disturbing the other classes.
Sometimes you think they're so big, and other times you realize they're as little and as dumb as they come.
I gave a little speech to the class about working nicely in groups, they really needed it. C.O. and R.H. and L.O. already came over to complain about their groups. (See, I told you they're little!)
As I was talking, S.G.L. was busy waving to someone peeking into the window of the door. She then did a stupid thing by asking me if she could go out.
I asked her who it was at the door, and she told me it was her older sister's friend. Her older sister is a problem case in the 11th grade, and this "friend" was in the 9th grade. What's beyond me is, why is a 9th grader so interested in a 7th grader.
Obviously, she wasn't a very "cool" kid.
A cool kid doesn't hang out with 7th graders.
I put the girls into groups and I walked out into the hallway. The 9th grader hid from me, but I found her and asked her who she was looking for.
She told me that she wanted S.G.L. I told her that as S.G.L.'s teacher, I couldn't allow her to go out of class, but if she would like, I could have her join mine, since she seemed so interested in the 7th grade. I got her name, and she went away.
I don't like the idea of S.G.L. having an older friend. It's ok if she would have other friends, but she doesn't, instead, she's hanging out with the losers in the other grades. She worships her sister and she's trying very hard to go on the same path.
I specifically do not like this 9th grader, because I did some research, and she IS a wannabe. It would be a different story if she were the Honor Roll student who was reaching out to help S.G.L.
Another thing is, 9th graders and 7th graders have very different focuses in their lives. 9th graders know things that are not meant for 7th graders, and 7th graders have to get there on their own. A 9th grader who isn't that smart (this one didn't seem to be so brilliant) doesn't know where to draw the line.
From 7th grade to 9th grade is a big jump, and if we're not careful about where this is going, S.G.L. might not make it to the other side of that jump in one piece. I'm more than just a little afraid that she's going to fall down somewhere in the middle.
