Just an ordinary day...

There wasn't anything special about today. We did have a bit of a schedule change, but that was the most excitement there was. The kids were their usual selves and things went along well. I had a few kids out with illness, which made for a quiet day...if you can figure out who one of those kids might have been, you will understand why it was a quiet day.

Today was kind of a good day for one of my students to not ever mentally check into my classroom, because I had some extra time for him since another student was absent. I'm not saying that I ignore him usually, but I don't always have time to refocus him every 2 seconds. Elliot is a very difficult student to keep focused ON ANYTHING! He was not able to work during math because he chose not to. I LOVE to help students who want help, but Elliot is not one of those students. He will occasionally admit he needs help, but it is impossible to help this child when he's not willing to be helped. I have purposely placed Elliot at a group with very helpful students. They are very on top of things and on task about 98% of the time. I thought this would be a good place to encourage good choices. Man was I wrong! He HATES HATES HATES his group. He has moved away from them and only works with them when it's not a choice.

Today we started writing with our usual writing warm-up in our Writers' Notebook and then gathered on the carpet for today's mini lesson. Today's lesson in a nutshell was, "What are you working on as a writer?" I talked to the kids about what that meant and their goals for today's writing and sent them on their way to write. Elliot comes up to me as I'm making sure everyone is getting their spirals out to write, "What am I supposed to do?"
Me: "Look around. What do you see?"
E: "Working."
Me: "What do you think they are working on?"
E: "I don't know."
Me: "What time of day is it? What do we always do at this time?"
E: "I don't know."
Me: "I think this would be a good time for you to go ask Alicia what you are supposed to do."
E: "Not her."
Me: "She is a very good friend who could help you be on task right now."

He walked over to Alicia's desk and stood there for a few minutes, appearing to muster up some courage. He finally asked, "Alicia, what am I supposed to be doing right now?" And she told him. It looked like one of the most painful things of his life and I got pleasure out of watching it...I know that's terrible. I don't mind the students who ask what they are supposed to do if it happens every once in a while or if they were concentrating and still don't know, but it really bothers me when he doesn't know what to do ALL DAY! I am not a person to say that a parent needs to put their child on medicine, but if I've ever seen a candidate for ADHD medicine, this is one. Good thing I still have 25 weeks to figure out how to get him to focus for more than 2 seconds in a row.