Slowly, but surely I'm winning over this class. I have a ton who'll do exactly what they're asked to do with little fuss. I have a few who won't do right if the Lord God told them to. (I have a set up for those students. When my weekly update comes out showing what each child is missing and that I don't accept backdated work. I'm sure we'll see a change.) But for the handful that can be "strongly persuaded" I've started calling parents on the spot.
I get the class on automatic, take the offending student out into the hall and call him/her mom/dad/guardian immediately. I saw it really change one little boy today. I'm going to just keep calling and if I have to increase the daily calls until something breaks. Since we're all stuck in class together I figure the offending attitude/behavior is going to have to change. It's a pain to have to do so and to document what the kid is doing, but I have to wrangle these folk in. The only way they're going to reach the high standards the school/system has for them is for me to really crank it up a notch. After this works I'll start requiring parents to come visit me and volunteer in class.
As a side note. Parents, please play a role in your child's learning. Don't assume they're doing fine because you ask them. Check and double check with their teachers. Set up a meeting with the teacher. If it's possible volunteer in their school. Especially if you have other children in the building. What a surprise to see mom/dad stroll in one child's room because they were in the other child's classroom to volunteer. We have some HARD working teachers in our building and they do their best to make the most of every situation. It's refreshing to see/hear/know that the parents are working with us to make that happen.
Had a fantastic lesson today. Going to see if it was a fluke tomorrow. Friday we have our first assessment. I'm certainly learning the APS way and getting the system down. Hopefully by April I'll have them figured out.
