Today was a magical first day of school. Students were excellent (well-behaved), mostly because they are still terrified of me. Good.
Anyway, I will reveal my tell-tale heart right now in saying why the day was excellent.
I made a kid cry.
And it made me die of happiness inside.
Here’s what happened. I had a sign posted on the outside of my door the entire day that simply said “Backpacks Outside, Bring Pen/Pencil Inside”. A student came inside without a pen or pencil, but just a ruler. Two rulers in fact. And he was playing with them.
Upset at him clearly, I said “Did you read the sign outside? I said to bring a Pencil. Is this a pencil?! Can you read?” I then proceeded to take the two rulers and throw them outside. He started tearing up, and I noticed he wasn’t working, so I said to him “Why aren’t you working? Do I need to call home?”
Later, I realized he didn’t have a pencil, so I gave him one. And then, it broke. So I gave him another one. He wrote the letter, and it was a damn marvelous one.
Kids were on task. It’s only day 1 though, so the real fun will began when the honeymoon period fades away. I emailed all the bad kids from last year’s parents to tell them they were good today, so hopefully that helps.
