Today, I stayed after and got the majority of my remaining things out of Room 200 and into Room 215, which is not to say that they're at all organized once they arrive there. Two of my students stayed after (read: were persuaded by the promise of service learning hours) to help me set up my desktop computer. We were going to attempt to set up some student computers, as well, but weren't able to find the necessary parts in the "computer graveyard" to make that happen. Ah, well.

One of these students is an absolute favorite of mine, though he is ... shall we say ... a challenge. During the course of our afternoon's labors, our special education inclusion teacher stopped by and said, "You know, Miz __, your class is the only one John* is doing well in." (Meanwhile, C.J.* was with John at my desk, busily plugging away.) Firstly, and I wasn't going to get into this with Mrs. __, but John is NOT doing well in my class, unless by "well" you mean persistently avoiding work and being on constant walkabout in the room. And secondly, what business do we have discussing such things openly in front of C.J., who, by the way, is an IEP student? Had we been discussing C.J., I'm sure our special education teacher would have felt some qualms, but as it stands, I got very annoyed on John's behalf.

Now John was one of my problems earlier today, and in fact he and I had a little chat about what we could do to help him get his work done. Coach class? Private tutoring with someone else? Seat separation? More work? Less work? Any way you look at it, I've got to have a conference with his parents, and soon. Frankly, I just don't know what to do with him. He's an artistic genius, and fabulous at getting technical things to work. His mind is sharp, too. (He picked up a giant historical fiction novel once that I had left out on my desk - a book that I was reading in my spare time - and asked if he could have it for his independent reading.) I know that he's really into history because he seemed very interested when I mentioned the possibility of his helping me to lead a National History Day project group. When it comes to my coursework, (or anyone else's, for that matter) I'm baffled. I truly don't know how to get him to do his work. HELP, O muse of teacher inspiration. Or, barring that, HELP, O muse of "momma's gonna open up a can of whoop-a** if John doesn't do his work."

I hate to go there, but go there I shall.