Hoops

When I walked into the office yesterday during my prep period and saw three of my homeroom students (30% of my class) sitting in the waiting area, I knew it was a full moon. And it was.

Ismael cussed out just three too many teachers;
Pedro was chewing off his nails and spitting them across the room; and
Donavan called me a "liar" about 30 times in a 10 minute period as well as announced it every time he caught site of me as I worked in the back office. I can't even remember why he decided I am a liar.

Today, Pedro's mom came in and met with the social worker, and that seemed to go well, since he had a much better day today. I should have been at that meeting, but I was called into another more "important" meeting where I along with the other co-teachers (that's general ed/special ed teachers who team teach) were read an email that we all received and read ourselves last week.

Donovan's parents met with the social worker, the case manager and me in the afternoon to discuss his increasingly belligerent behavior. They have an already-planned psychiatric appointment for him and are finally open to having him on medication, which his doctor has been strongly recommending for two years now.

All of this is good news and I'd like to expand more, but area officers are coming tomorrow to make sure that we are all teaching, so I have to get my hoops ready to jump through. "I can" statements need to be out and about. "I can" do it.