Vacation...

So I've been off from school since October 27. I have 2 months off -- I don't go back until January 2. Before you hate me too much, though, keep in mind that every day I've been organizing files, planning my second semester, prepping materials, and

oh yeah...teaching 5th grade intercession.

I have a class of 25 "far below basic" kids. The kids who are supposedly the bottom of the charts, held back by behavior issues, language issues, and just plain "don't get it" issues.

The last 9 or so days have been reminiscent of my first student teaching experiences. Something about those big kids -- it's hard for me to gain their respect, to get over their attitudes. Imagine that you're in fifth grade, you've just started your vacation, and then you're forced to go back to school every day for over a month.

Yeah. They're not very happy to see me every day.

There's one girl in particular who's been REALLY riding on my last nerve. She's impudent, rude, and...for lack of a better word, down right b*tchy. Today I talked to one of my colleagues and found out that she's had a long history of abuse, neglect, and a whole laundry-list of family problems.

I'm suddenly feeling renewed - I guess it's Gods way of reminding me why I'm teaching in the first place. It's not to teach them fractions or to get them to understand how to right an interesting lead. It's because, somewhere along the way, they got left behind. And it's up to me to show them that there's still someone there who wants to help.

I hope I can remember this on Monday.