Today was an interesting one; my kids were really making me laugh when they interacted with volunteers from the Church who came to do the United Day of Caring (i.e. organize activities & games with the kids & eat lunch with us). When one of the volunteers introduced himself as someone who gets to "play" on the computer all day, a software engineer, one of my students blurted out, "I'd like to take your job!" And later, when students' cultures & languages spoken were being discussed, another student said, "Well, I'm not really from Mexico, but that's where my mom got pregnant." (If you've read earlier entries, he's the same one that said he's not really Mormon, but that he goes to church so they give him stuff for free.)
Unfortunately, the afternoon didn't end too well; two of my students got in a fight during the "extra recess" provided by the school counselor, & it escalated to the point that they ended up in the principal's office talking to her about it after-school. Also, one of the students has already gotten in a fight since school started, & he claims it stems from anger management issues. :/ I don't really know how to respond to that. We all have to learn how to manage anger & frustration in our lives though.
Also, I had to talk to the school counselor after-school today, & I'm lucky I snagged him, to refer 2 students to him for counseling. One of them being the young man who is picking fights with other students continually & the other the young man with ADHD & a lot of social behavior issues. With him I decided to pull his desk up to the front of the room, hoping that proximity to me will help keep him in check, & made a small "score card" to put in front of his desk to indicate when he is behaving & on-task (which will ultimately lead to a reward) & when his behavior is unacceptable. It mostly worked like a charm, today!
We'll see what tomorrow brings!