return of Dimples

     Several years ago, I went to a seminar on teaching students who come from poverty. The speaker was an experienced teacher who shared many stories from her classroom. One principle she shared was that she never sent students out of the room because it gave them the message that a) they were not an unconditional member of the classroom and that b) it didn't solve problems that arose between classroom members, whether it be student-student or teacher-student. She said that sending a kid to the principal's was like giving them a treat -- they got to be out of the room, see a different part of the school, and build a relationship with someone who is not the teacher.
     I like this principle in theory. In practice it's not quite workable for me. Sometimes I think a certain student needs a break from me and I need a break from him or her! Also, 5 minutes in another room might help a student refocus.
     That being said, I see that the part about relationship-building is true. I mentioned in an earlier post that a student from last year was sent back to my classroom. That student was Dimples. Even on the last day of school, I was still struggling to understand Dimples.  While I had students from last year who dropped by regularly in the first days of school, Dimples was not one of them. However, after he was sent back to me, he has started dropping by every day after school. I know he hasn't been doing homework, so I make sure to ask what's on his homework list. Now I don't even need to ask -- he just starts reciting what's for homework.  I'm trying to think of ways to help him be more successful in sixth grade. It's interesting to me that while I wanted to leave last year behind me in so many ways, the relationship with last year's students grows and evolves.