More Musical Fun - The Return of Trouble - SS is a High Level Student?!

The kids have all been begging to do another one since we first did musical journals, and yesterday I finally gave in (or at least they saw it that way... I had it planned out in advance).

This time, I wanted to do something that was completely different than the Josh Groban song we did before, both to give the kids who didn't like it a chance to enjoy the song, and also to just vary the type of music I play for them. Again, I'm teaching them many important things this activity, such as writing, analyzing mood, tone, etc, the ability to write short and long analysis of a given piece of text or multimedia, and many other high-falutin' stuff. Mostly, though, it's fun for me, and gives the kids a no-pressure way to work on their writing skills, which frankly stink.

So this time, I played "Must Have Done Something Right," by Relient K. This is a cutesy song, high energy, in which a guy is thinking about his girlfriend and how happy he is, and how she is way out of his league, but they're both still happy. The kids really enjoyed it, and seemed to identify with it more than the last song, which only makes sense. Some of the comments included silly things, like "I love it because I can understand it because it's in English this time," "I like it because my cousin likes it and it reminds me of her," and "I didn't like it because he repeated himself too many times." (I did remind that particular student of a lovely thing entitled a "chorus," but he didn't seem to get it...)

Of course, the second it was over, they begged for another one. They really have no sense of delayed gratification. Oh, well... by the time they leave me, that'll be much improved!

Now, one of my students I mentioned earlier, Trouble, really is in trouble. He spent 2 days in ISS (in school suspension) for property destruction and other things that were a bit worse. I worry about that boy. We had a parent conference, but mom never showed up, so we're not sure what the support is like at home. He has actually turned in work for me, though, so that's an amazing difference. I think mom wasn't happy with progress report grades, so maybe she has kept an eye on him. Whatever it is, I hope it works, and I hope he returns from ISS in a much more school-oriented state of mind.

And remember our little darling SS? The one I lamented over her wardrobe choices? Well, she still wears things I wouldn't allow my 12-year-old wear, but she's coming to school with a lot more clothing on lately (mostly because I have her 1st thing in the morning, and I check her as she comes in and send her down for dress code violation if it's needful, and they make her wear huge old nasty t-shirts or stuff from the lost and found... effective deterrent for many of the kids.)

We're also working on her attitude, because she can be quite a little spitfire. She's really quick to jump from doing something I'd like her to stop (like talking instead of working) and intense anger. I really like her, and I am worried about her, so I try to work especially hard to develop a relationship and show her how to react without losing her temper. She's doing better, but it is a slow process.

I did find out something today about her, though, that shocked me, and will make her life much more uncomfortable. I thought she was low... I mean, I thought she wasn't reading on grade level, because she is in my class of kids who need remediation. Well, it turns out that she is not only on grade level, she received a 0% on one part of our standardized test. So for her to have still scored on grade level, the her performance on the rest of the test had to be really, really high. She is so busted! I was working with her, coddling her, thinking it was the best she could do... no more! I am going to have a little chat with her, and tell her that, while I love her, she is going to be working much harder for me, since she obviously can do it.

This ought to be a fun conversation!