Today, I made a student cry. And, it was the sweetest, most wonderful student I have. And I don't regret it.
Student's were warned that there were breakable, spillable materials on the desks for today's lab, and that if anything was knocked off the desk, students would be taken out of the lab. So, student R, who has often stayed after class to ask questions about unrelated science, and who does experiments on the weekends for fun, knocked an egg off the desk. I sent her to the back of the room with a textbook, where she sat for the whole class instead of doing the experiment. She got a 0 for participation today. She cried.
I hope she remembers this when we are working with glass and boiling water later in the year, or when she is doing something infinitely more exciting and dangerous later in life (she wants to be a marine zoologist, so maybe riding in a fancy underwater exploration vehicle like Alvin). I also make sure to call her mom, who will help her do the lab on her own after school today.
The rest of the week was good moments, though:
Yesterday, a recently-disciplined student waved me over to ask: "Miss, do you have eyes on the back of your head."
I am the greatest.
I also managed a perfect lunch detention today; no dollars were lost. There was no talking, no noises, and a room full of kids with nothing to do, reading quietly. Victory!
My workouts this week have been...completely nonexistent. After a great weekend, Monday was full of family obligations, Tuesday included a 3/4-mile run, but that's all I had time for, and Wednesday was Back to School Night until way too late (and moveover, three parents commented that I looked tired). So, it's Thursday, and I've done nothing this week. Fortunately, Thursday is my leave-early day (implemented last October to counteract teacher complaints that the work is unsustainable - while not a solution, it definitely helps morale to know that I have an afternoon available for making doctor's appointments or going to the post office). I plan on getting at least two workouts in today.
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