End Of MP1.

Last Friday ended the 1st marking period of Year 2; it is CRAZY how fast time is passing. As a whole, it is impossible to express how or why this year is SO much better than my first. I can count on one hand the number of times that I have cried (which I couldn’t say about some weeks last year), and while there is still a ton to work on in my classroom, students are learning and no one (to my knowledge) has written a persuasive letter to the principal asking to be removed from my class (yea… that happened last year.)

This week was good but a crazy one. Finishing up the marking period always means a lot of completing late/missing work for the kids and a lot of reflecting on my part. So, while S was envisioning and writing about “her life as a Native American”, I was wondering how I could make sure kids were quiet in the hallway so other classes could continue even during transition periods, why the period after lunch always ends up being 25 minutes, how I can keep kids from going to the bathroom multiple times every day, and what to do about the extra 37.5 minutes I was given to help out my kids in the morning…

The Election Day PD is on Tuesday and there will be some changes come Wednesday. I’ll let you know : )

The other big part of the week was Halloween which included a fundraiser for the little girl in the DR that my homeroom sponsors, a “party” on Friday, AND gang initiation.

The fundraiser went really well, we sold “Halloween Candy Grams” (little notes that students could send around to a friend) for $1, and we surpassed our monthly goal of $35, and I was really proud of the kids.

BUT I was NOT proud of a lot of their behavior during the party on Friday… I had made treats for the kids and played music… however, this did not compare to the dance party in the other homeroom, and my kids felt terribly shafted by life and had the need to express their disappointment OVER and OVER again…. In the future, I will be more purposeful about making things “fair” and establishing realistic expectations.

Regardless, very few kids actually even experienced either party because of the “gang initiations” starting on the 21st and ending on the 31st. There were rumors that 140 girls were going to get “slashed” (when a gang initiate puts a long cut down someone’s cheeks) as part of the ritual. I’m not 100% sure if it is true, but everyone was extra careful at the end of the month, and about 50% of my kids stayed home on Friday out of fear of getting jumped after school…

SO, as always life in the Big Apple to be an adventure, but everyone is hanging in there and there is very little reason to complain.

I hope everyone had a successful and enjoyable Halloween; talk to you soon.

Lots of love,
Ms. Newton