As you all know by now, one of the students that has stood out to me the most semester, Kyle, has been a foster child his entire life. In my last post, I mentioned I hadn't seen him around, then edited my post later on saying he was back. I also mentioned he had gotten his grades up to the point where he was passing.
The past couple of classes have been unusually quiet. Last Thursday, I thought maybe he was gone with the rest of the majority of class to the JROTC or the band event, both of which were taking place that day during the period I'm pre-student teaching in. Today, I noticed he was still gone, so I mentioned to Mrs. Paxton that I hadn't seen him in a while.
It turns out that he was going to be moved whether he got his grades up or not. Up until recently, he had been living independently while still under the supervision of the foster care organization he has been a part of for so long. Originally, he was very reluctant and did not want to move in with another "stupid" family (i.e. one that had adults that he believed to be less intelligent than him). However, after meeting the foster father, he informed Mrs. Paxton that he was excited to be moving and that the father was cool and needed him. Plus, he doesn't have to share him with any other foster children.
While it saddens me that he is no longer around, the fact that he is happily living with a parent-figure instead of on his own now makes me happy for him. I hope he continues to keep his grades up at his new high school and that his new family is everything he could ever hope for and more.
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Tuesday, November 1, 2011
Online Reflection #4: Vanishing Fostered Gamer and Other Issues
Well, as you all probably remember, one of the biggest "problem" students I have dealt with this semester has been my fostered gamer, Kyle. Recently, I've noticed something. He's missing. I can't help but wonder what happened to him, especially since I heard him say a couple of weeks ago that if he didn't get his grades up, they were going to move him... again.
My biggest fear is that this has happened. Am I the only one that thinks this is not the way to go about solving his grade issues? Isn't moving him just going to cause him to care even less about school? He had already said at least once, if not several times, that he had given up. How is moving him somewhere new going to make him care again?
Oh my goodness, that is a lot of questions! I'm so sorry. They've been pounding against my skull recently and I just had to let them out somewhere. I have one more! Should I ask Mrs. Ellis or Mrs. Paxton where he is?
Anyway, on to another "problem" student I've been dealing with this semester. We'll call him John. John is very crude and inappropriate, flipping people off during class (including me) both openly and under his Cookie Monster hat. There is nothing to prompt it, he just does it because he thinks it is funny, I suppose. He also is obnoxious and recently had a couple of his friends moved away from him because they could not stay on task sitting together. I have given him warning signs several times and I feel like that is all I can do. It's not like I can send him to the office or otherwise punish him; I'm not his teacher. How can I get him to behave? What will I have to do in the future to get my students to behave if they are like him?
Finally, I would like to re-address the topic of showing videos in class. A couple of class periods ago, we finished reading Into Thin Air (finally). This past class, Mrs. Ellis showed two videos associated with the book and the second one she showed was filmed by one of the teams that climbed Mount Everest with the author of Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer. The students are bored with this topic. I can tell because several of them nearly fell asleep, perhaps even did, during the videos. The entire class period was spent on these videos with the lights off and the students were expected to fill out a worksheet about the second video. All of the lights were off, so how were they supposed to see to write?
Alright, I'll stop asking questions now. I feel better now that I let all of that out. I hope to get great tips from all of my readers and I thank you in advance for offering any advice.
[EDIT: Kyle was back in class today, November 2, and he informed us that he has all A's and C's in his classes with the exception of Mrs. Ellis's class, which he currently has a D in. A week or two ago, he apparently had six F's, so I'm proud of him for getting those up so quickly! I'm also thankful he didn't have to move again.]
My biggest fear is that this has happened. Am I the only one that thinks this is not the way to go about solving his grade issues? Isn't moving him just going to cause him to care even less about school? He had already said at least once, if not several times, that he had given up. How is moving him somewhere new going to make him care again?
Oh my goodness, that is a lot of questions! I'm so sorry. They've been pounding against my skull recently and I just had to let them out somewhere. I have one more! Should I ask Mrs. Ellis or Mrs. Paxton where he is?
Anyway, on to another "problem" student I've been dealing with this semester. We'll call him John. John is very crude and inappropriate, flipping people off during class (including me) both openly and under his Cookie Monster hat. There is nothing to prompt it, he just does it because he thinks it is funny, I suppose. He also is obnoxious and recently had a couple of his friends moved away from him because they could not stay on task sitting together. I have given him warning signs several times and I feel like that is all I can do. It's not like I can send him to the office or otherwise punish him; I'm not his teacher. How can I get him to behave? What will I have to do in the future to get my students to behave if they are like him?
Finally, I would like to re-address the topic of showing videos in class. A couple of class periods ago, we finished reading Into Thin Air (finally). This past class, Mrs. Ellis showed two videos associated with the book and the second one she showed was filmed by one of the teams that climbed Mount Everest with the author of Into Thin Air, Jon Krakauer. The students are bored with this topic. I can tell because several of them nearly fell asleep, perhaps even did, during the videos. The entire class period was spent on these videos with the lights off and the students were expected to fill out a worksheet about the second video. All of the lights were off, so how were they supposed to see to write?
Alright, I'll stop asking questions now. I feel better now that I let all of that out. I hope to get great tips from all of my readers and I thank you in advance for offering any advice.
[EDIT: Kyle was back in class today, November 2, and he informed us that he has all A's and C's in his classes with the exception of Mrs. Ellis's class, which he currently has a D in. A week or two ago, he apparently had six F's, so I'm proud of him for getting those up so quickly! I'm also thankful he didn't have to move again.]
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