Interesting Stuff

I gotta get to bed, so this is going to be short, but with any luck, I'll come back and edit it after the state visit on Wednesday.

I prepared extensively for a geometry lesson, with multiple handouts and lots of thought put into how to step the kids through a multi-step process that was going to be important for them to be able to get through.

First period is a disaster. (It starts with a kid who won't surrender her phone, forcing me to call security to escort her to the administrator's office). Virtually no one is paying attention, and the ones who are, are grousing about not understanding, my going too fast, etc. I can't get anyone in the room to focus on the work and get through the step-by-step process.

Second period... same process, same preamble regarding the work, etc. It goes incredibly well, the group all gets it, and we whip through several examples and extra problems with time to spare.

Third period was in between, but generally positive.

Why? The 1st period class has a personality, driven by a few students but contributed to by many. And that personality is not good for their education or my sanity. More than half the students are flunking, and one reason I prepared the lesson I did today was to give them a chance for an easy, good grade based on attempting the classwork. All it actually did was further separate the ones who are flunking (none of whom even attempted to complete the work) from the ones who are not (virtually all of whom completed the work).