For now, though, the high and low points so far. The low point was this afternoon, when my forensics class got out of hand. I have a student who has self-control issues (though he is medicated for an ED condition, he doesn't have an IEP), and in my last class of the day I had no control over him. His behavorial problems are an issue with other teachers as well, so at least I know it's not just me.
The high might sound kind of weird. Today I gave a math assessment, which went over better than I thought it would, in that most students complied and took it (our population is a willfull bunch, so compliance is always a good sign). I was very open about the fact that I was grading it on effort and not on accuracy, and repeatedly told them, "try all of them, do as well as you can. but it's no stress." One pair of particularly macho students blanched when I introduced the assessment. They exchanged nervous glances, so I went over to explain again why I wanted them to complete it, and why they should also not freak out about it. One of the guys, a large, tattooed hispanic guy, looked up at me with the eyes of a frightened child. I bent down to him so that I could hear him whisper, "Miss... I'm really bad at math." I whispered back, that's ok. I want to know that so that I can help. Just try your best, and you'll be okay. "But Miss..." he whispered again, staring down at the test, "I've always cheated on my math tests." Well, I said, that's the past. Show me what you can do right now, and we'll go from there. I asked him if that would work for him, and he nodded and got to work. He didn't do so well on it, but he tried most of the questions.
After school other teachers have been coming by to check on me; their support has made this all bearable, really. I told this story to an English teacher who dropped by, and he replied, "Wow, a breakthrough on the second day... good job."
