The day started extremely well with Group 1B, and then it all evened out with the next group, 1C. I incorrectly thought not too much could happen as they had a quiz to take – wrong. Most students in this group don’t quite understand the concept of “If you talk while taking a quiz you will receive a ‘0’.” I was writing “0s” on quizzes left and right. I sent a number of students outside and towards the end of the period told them that I was just going to write a letter to the principal telling him what each had done. The letter reads (translated to English from the original in Spanish):Esteemed principal,
- First Ivan was shaking Rodolfo’s desk and they both then were making movements as if they were having sex. Ivan says, “I wasn’t doing anything, I was just moving the desk.”
- Robby can’t wait his turn while using his hand. Also, while outside, he looked in the classroom, causing another distraction.
- Rodolfo is making “mouth farts.”
- José Elios was whistling and hit a classmate.
- Salvador was tripping others as they walked by.
- Rodolfo can’t stop accusing others and he says he didn’t do anything at all that is written here.
Raquel Sair
Now I’m seated in the calm of an Internet café – I tried a new one today. While the service is among the worst I’ve ever had, it’s a very tranquil place in a quiet area. While I sit here, I’m looking at the seating chart for Group 1C, trying to figure out how to distribute the students to avoid as many conflicts as possible. Ivan should sit in the first row so he can’t lean over or push the desk of a student who is in front of him. Jessica has to sit in the front row since she can’t hear well and Salvador likes to sit in the front row since he says he can’t see well, but he should have thought of that before trying to trip every student who walked by him today – so he’s now banished to the second row. Cristian moves to the middle of the front row, from being in the back. He needs help WAITING to be called on, rather than just calling out. With him close to me I’m hoping, or dreaming, that he’ll pick up some of my cues to WAIT. Robby is nice and close to the door, that way besides not having to walk across the classroom when I ask him to sit outside, he can also slip out when he needs a breather – since Ritalin doesn’t seem to be an option, I’m hoping this technique will have some effect. Gerardo remains in the back corner so that no one can watch him dance around or see how he sits with the nape of his neck touching the back support of his seat, as if he’s in a barber shop having his hair washed. The other back corner seems to be working well for Marco Antonio, who also likes to recline in his seat, so it’s all his for now. Sheldon is in the middle of the last row. He surprisingly scored a 9 on his quiz today (that’s extremely good as grades are on a 10 point scale) so I’m hoping his participation will follow suit and maybe he’ll even stop rolling his eyes at me. Carlos is towards the middle of the class as he is constantly participating and behaves very well. It’s easy to tell that he and Lupita will be the ones from this group to find success – they have self-discipline, a strong work ethic and are always respectful and patient. Rodolfo, a former “Star of the Week” has taken a turn for the worse, he’s in front of Lupita. Andrea is quiet and she’ll be fending for herself in between Juan and Salvador. I’m still trying to fit more than half of the class into the positions that will be most beneficial for each. I feel like I’m trying to work a Rubik’s Cube or one of the hand held puzzles with the plastic numbered squares that have one piece missing, with the objective to complete the puzzle in numerical order. Unfortunately, puzzles are not my strong suit – I usually just give up and walk away or hand it over to my cousin Lee to assemble it in record-breaking time. Maybe I can E-mail my class list to Lee (who’s majoring in Mathematics at Northwestern) with a description of each student and he can come up with some mathematical equation to arrange the classroom appropriately . . .
