first-quarter follies, a glimmer of hope

     Last week was "exciting," but the kind of exciting I'd like to leave behind as first-quarter folly.
First off, I had to physically steer Superstar out of the room a second day in a row on Thursday. He was angrier than the day before, and trying much harder to pull away. I had a student grab his things and help me walk Superstar to class.
     I got back to the room, heart still pounding, when two of my other boys started pushing each other. Two referrals in one day = bleh.
     Friday: I was tired and not feeling well, but happy to see the week end. Some of my girls got into an argument in class during language arts, so I pulled them outside for a quick talk. One of them got really mad and took off running. I had to dash after her and found her on the field. Luckily, she listened when I asked her to come over. I put my arm around her shoulders and walked her back to class.
     To deal with the interpersonal conflicts, and head off any more, I've instituted (with the help of my mentor teacher, Orchid) a weekly meeting for students to air concerns. I can't say how much I appreciate Orchid's assistance in this matter. I know she has a lot of commitments, but she's decided to help me run the weekly meeting.
     Our first meeting was Friday. It's interesting to see how the students respond to the meeting. About half of my students were very engaged, raising their hands and sharing concerns and possible solutions. The other half were bored, slumping in their chairs, silent. When I specifically asked one to talk about a fight he had participated in, he refused to speak. What troubles me is that these students won't even own up to being part of a fight, or calling someone a name, etc. I am willing to work with someone who can say what he or she has done wrong. Everyone makes mistakes; mistakes can be a valuable starting point for learning and growing. But how can I help them learn and grow when they won't even say that they've done wrong? To me, it is so important that students practice self-honesty; I _want_ students to say for themselves what's gone wrong.
Our class is definitely a work in progress. But I figure we can only go up.
Some very small good things:

• We filled up our good-news jar. On the way home I stopped by Costco to get the class brownie bites for an end-of-day treat. I plan to "challenge" the students to fill a much bigger jar.  No matter how rough a day I've had, it puts me in a different mindset to hear what things have worked out that day. I hope it helps the students too, to hear about the positive and not just the negative.
   
• The students, strangely, have been almost jumping out of their chairs with enthusiasm about multiplying fractions. The "duh!" revelation I had today: it's because they want to write with the pretty-colored whiteboard markers to answer questions on the board. Well, whatever works ...
  
• Pilot is feeling much more comfortable in class. I was so pleased when he raised his hand to READ ALOUD from a book during language arts this week. He's also started raising his hand to answer math questions on the board.

Small but significant steps in the right direction ...