"No one can make you feel inferior without your permission"

When I read this quote I immediately thought about my repeaters, particularly 3 of my guys.  Today, I had them to do a vocabulary puzzle then write 15 sentences with the words.  They wouldn't even try.  They kept saying, "I can't do this," or "This is too hard," or "I'm dumb. I can't do stuff like this."  It frustrated me a little because I knew they could do it if they just tried.  Then I remembered that it wasn't necessarily their fault that they thought that way about themselves.  Somewhere along the way someone told those 3 boys that they were stupid or dumb or that they couldn't do simple things.  They've been labeled SPED (special education) and they lean on that ruling as a crutch.  Well, that won't fly in Room 300.  I don't believe in the use of crutches unless your leg is broken.  Every time I see them I'm going to tell them that they are smart and that they can do it.  I started on the 1st day of school.  They don't fully believe me yet but by the end of the year, they'll believe they can do anything!  There will be no failing on my watch!

Due to the abundance of kids at the school we've been having to do some balancing of classes.  Some of my classes were small while others were huge.  Now everything is almost even.  Because of this I had the pleasure of seeing Mr. "I'm a thug" again.  Guess what he announced to the class when he came in... You guessed it! "I'm a thug." Poor kid probably can't even spell thug. 

My 3rd and 4th period classes are my best classes so far.  Eventually they'll all be my best classes.  My 3rd and 4th period classes will be the 2 that will be neck and neck for the pizza party at the end of the semester.  They work hard and they have fun doing it.  6th period is getting there.  I had to tweak some seats today and that seemed to help.  My 5th and 7th periods are my 2 largest classes with 31 kids.  I'm going to have to lay on my face and pray for those classes because getting on my knees praying ain't working! LOL.  They'll be fine sooner or later... Preferably sooner.

One of my former students saw me in the hallway today.  She was excited to see me.
Kid: "Oh my gosh Miss Griffin! I been looking for you since school started!"
Me: "Well, did you come by my room?"
Kid: "Uuuhhh no... Why would I do that?"
Me:  "Because that's where I'll always be. Duh!"
Kid: "Oh."

I want to thank my preschool classmate for that information on Asperger's.  I really appreciate it!  Also thanks to Linda for donating to my classroom.  You're awesome!  If you want to donate/adopt my classroom go to www.adoptaclassroom.org and search for Kristin Griffin.  Anything you do/give will be greatly appreciated by Room 300!:)