Presentation Day

Some were better than others, but I was proud of most of my students and their presentations today. Most of them dressed up for the occasion (despite the pouring rain!), and many of them had clearly practiced.

Of course, there were some let downs. Students who had not been keeping up with their work did not pull magic rabbits out of their hats and miraculously have something ready to present. There were some stand-outs, though: students who did surprisingly well for their first public presentation.

The day was marred, though, by an incident in 3rd period. One of my sweetest, most polite male students, T_____, received a letter from the front office last week saying that they didn't have his address on record. T_____ told me that his family had moved and that he was supposed to be at a different school, but since he only had 8 more months to go, he wanted to stay at CHHS and graduate with his friends. He's been worried about it ever since. Today, he was not in class when it was time for him to present with his group. His 2 group mates began without him, and just as A_____ said, "My friend, T_____ could not be here today, so we are just going to explain his slides to you," T______ walked through the door. We were all happy to see him and everyone called out his name.

"T____!" I said, "You have perfect timing! Your group was just about to read your slides to us."
"Oh," he looked at the class, then back at me. Something was wrong. T_____'s mother poked her head through the door, and I knew what was going on. There's only one reason an ESOL parent comes to school in the middle of the day: withdrawl. I looked at T_____, and he turned to his group mates. "Guys, I can't present. I have to go to a new school."
The class gasped in unison. We all love T_____. He's one of the most jovial people I've ever met. "What? Why?" They all wanted an explanation.
"Class," I tried to explain, "T_____has moved to another district, so he has to go to the school there." I started tearing up (which I couldn't believe).
I crossed the room and gave T______'s mother a hug. "We had to move," she said in a thick Vietnamese accent. "I know." I told her.
T_____ was becoming emotional, which is absolutely not allowed for a young man in front of a crowd (grin), so he walked toward me and the door. I gave him a hug and said goodbye.

Many times, when I say goodbye to a student, it's forever. They don't keep email addresses, they don't write for letters of recommendation, they don't come back to visit. My students live such transient existences that it's difficult for them to stay in touch with anyone. ... I don't think I'll see or hear from T____ again, which makes me sad. That's one of the worst parts of my job.

One of the coolest parts of my job, though, is that I am the only teacher at CHHS who teaches SOPH LA and JR LA for ESOL students. I have these students for 2 years. We are a small unit. We are very like a family. Everyone knows everyone, and we all try to get along. There is comfort in that, and the students rely on that routine and consistency at school. It is hard, though, when there is a big change, and one of our family members is no longer there. You can feel that the classroom has a different dynamic...even when one person is absent.

Anyhow...now that presentations are done, I need to find some way to transition my students over to literature studies. I think I'll do a textbook exploration activity tomorrow to introduce them to the different parts of the text. They need to know how to use a Table of Contents, a Glossary, and an Index. Then, I'll have to introduce Native American Lit for my JR LA class and Gilgamesh (and the epic cycle) to my SOPH LA class.

...I think we're having pizza tonight. That is way too much to get done to cook dinner, too. LOL

I need to use time this weekend to plan ahead for the next 2 weeks. I'm getting bad again about doing my planning the night before, and that just stresses me out.

The main speaker below is one of my Korean students. She was a good sport about us pointing out her pronunciation error, and said that her bf had even pointed it out to her. She said she was just too nervous to concentrate on fixing it for us. :)

Quote of the Day:

Presenter S____: "Good morning. Today we're going to talk about bling. Do you know what bling is?"

Audience Member with a Spanish accent: "Little sparkly things?"

Presenter S____: "No. Bling is when you make someone feel bad about themselves because of how they dress, look, act, or because of who they hang out with. There are many factors that would cause someone to bully someone else. We are going to talk about those factors, how to stop it, and where to go for help is someone is bling you."