Gifts

The last day of school before break! It has been a ridiculously busy three weeks since Thanksgiving break. Our district has now been officially taken over by the state of Mississippi and a conservator has been named. After break, I expect to see a few changes in place. Actually, in preparation, there has been a stronger emphasis on completed paperwork. Accountability for teachers has increased beyond what it already was. Nowadays, a teacher is held responsible for the learning of the students. If the student does not achieve at anticipated levels, the teacher will have to produce documentation of classroom interventions, attempts at home involvement, and remediation and retesting. If he or she can't prove that he or she has done that, then it is assumed that he or she has created an atmosphere or failure.

The grading program that my district uses is called Edusoft, and it doesn't work. I submitted the answer sheets for my semester math exam and when I got them back, I noticed some glaring errors in the grading. It scored some students correctly and some completely incorrectly. I grabbed all of my tests and brought them home to hand grade. Edusoft says that my smartest little boy (I wish he would participate in class!) got a 36%. I figured he had a bad day and I made him retake the test today, come to find out that he really deserved a 97% on his original test (and the retest as well). He answered the questions correctly on the original test, the software just scored him incorrectly.

I gave each of my students playdoh, a candycane, a pencil, and a chance to pick from the prize bag today. Someone dropped off a huge bear in my classroom for my poorest little girl, E--. When we got our letter from Santa on Thursday, part of it talked about how some children were not as lucky as we are, and they didn't have food to eat or a home to live in. E-- raised her hand and announced that some people at her house don't have food to eat, either. I just want to take her home and keep her. She is bright, but her fammily circumstances and home life impede her concentration in school, so she is way behind. on off days, she cries without provocation and she acts as though she doesn't hear anything anyone says. On days when she is on, she is involved and adorable. I have set her as one of the students my foster grandmother is supposed to focus on, because that little girl needs and deserves more attention. Sometimes I send her with the special ed teacher, too, even if she doesn't really need it, because it gives her more small-group time. Because of the added attention, she has been doing so much better.

Some students are not that poorly off. One little girl asked today, after I had handed out the gift bags to every child, "Mi' Hay', are you going to give me a present?" I was taken aback. Then I remembered that my kids are 6 or 7 and their world is very self-centered. They are not grateful or humble. And why should they be? I want them to be proud of themselves and I don't give them things or praise for my own benefit. I explained to D-- that the red bag I had just given her was a present from me. "Oh," she said. Maybe I should have wrapped them with bows and names. Oh, well.