. . . I must be stupid. Just when I thought I was a seasoned teacher and didn't let high school antics get past me, my overconfidence got the best of me. I made a less-than-rookie mistake today. I probably shouldn't admit my defeat and post it here, but I will.I was (and still am) pretty excited to teach my ESL U.S. History class this year. I am looking forward to studying up on history as well as teaching the diverse population of Murray High School. Unfortunately, it takes a while to get the ESL kids identified and placed into my class. Right now my enrollment is a whopping 8 (compared to the 36 in my Algebra 2 class, which is exactly 3 more students than desks in my classroom, but I digress).
Let's cut to the chase and make a long story short. Four of the 8 students came to class today. We chatted for a while and then I decided to ask if they knew any of the other students on the role. They said they did and had seen at least 2 of them earlier today. I did what I NEVER do (because I'm just not that kind of teacher). I said, "Why don't you take both lunches today. See if you can find the other students and bring them back." So, they left. First lunch ended. They didn't come back . . . for almost 20 minutes!!! Ug! How stupid could I be? They had all gone to Carl's Jr. One of the students treated the other 3 to burgers. They had a great time! Whatever.
So, we cleared up the fact that being that late to class was not acceptable, we only took 10 minutes of 2nd lunch (we would have not gone to 2nd lunch at all, but I had to go to the bathroom and needed my Coke). Then, class actually went really well. The kids are great and I learned a lot! They apologized for being so late and even asked what we were going to do next class. We'll see how it goes. Live and learn.. . . and here's a cute picture of Molly!
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