and things happen

The parent called today, and for some reason the office buzzed me to talk to her, in the middle of class, on an already slightly chaotic day. There are days when I reflect on what has happened and I'm convinced that I'm a bad teacher and should not be doing what I'm doing. There are times when the bad things seem overwhelming and good is hard to track down. The general atmosphere in my room is not a good one. There is not the kind of hustle that I need in my classroom and as a result the kids are moving slow, long transitions, and more opportunities to talk with their neighbors. With a couple of kids I talked to today they were able to tell me that what they were doing was wrong and that they were making bad choices, but They still don't have that thought before they act. It's rough, there seems to be no consequence that stops them, and when I try to praise/reward them those that don't get it just get upset and the mood falls apart even more.

1. One good thing. For writing we did a sequence of events for a story we read on Tuesday. Nearly all of the students were able to tell me what happened at the beginning, the middle, and the end of the story. We'll see how that carries over into the test tomorrow on sequence.
2. McNeal came to my room this morning in a funk and, with a bit of prompting, I was able to get him to tell me what was making him upset. I'm trying to work on proper expression with him and he has started to internalize the messages and the proper actions. he still needs prompting and coaxing, but he knows what he should do, and that's a first step in anger management. He came up with some things that he could do to help his mood, but nothing can really help not getting good sleep. He tried so hard though.
3. Xander greeted me at the door with a very strong, "Helloooooo there." I just doubled over laughing at my door. He had never done anything like that first thing in the morning.

A new leaf needs to turn over in my room. I feel like I'm back to my first year with everything seeming to be out of control in my room.