Working on: Making rubric for brochure grading, grading 2 sets of papers, perhaps planning ahead for lesson plans.
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Roman wants me to sing the "banjo" song now. That would be "Oh, Susannah." I'm not sure why he likes it so much, but he does seem to have a new affinity for bluegrass and folk. I also introduced him to the "letter show" tonight. It's not often we're watching tv at 7pm but things were odd tonight. So I tripped across "Wheel of Fortune" and thought he might like it. Boy, we have the next Pat Sajak on our hands! He said everything Pat did. He'd wait for the letter, and repeat it. Something like this:

Pat: You've got $500.
Contestant: Is there a P?
Roman: P!
Pat: There are 3 Ps.
Roman: THREE Ps! Mama, say P.

Then of course, he'd have to clap with everyone as they spun the wheel again. Everytime it cut to commercial Roman would say "more letters! more letters!" What a great way to teach him the alphabet. Oh, that wonderful invention called TV. :)

I read an article yesterday that said the "Millenial" children (from the 90s on up) are the ones most cushioned through life. The writer pointed out that somehow, baby-boomer parents got the idea that making no mistakes was the way to have a perfect childhood and therefore, be a perfect adult. Oh, how wrong. And I'm paying the consequences by having to teach them. The whole entitlement and questioning of the adult amazes me. Here's an example from second hour today:

I handed back work they did researching on the computer with a sub. If they made a concerted effort based on ability, I gave them full credit. Well, I have a girl who is EI (emotionally impaired) and is in the contained classroom. Her dev. level is really low (still elementary - this is an 8th grade class). So the fact she attempted 3 questions in navigating 2 different websites got her full credit. Another student near her saw that she received credit and made the comment loudly as I walked by, "boy, must be nice to get credit for doing only 3 questions." I got down really close to his face and informed him that other people's grades were none of his business, but if he had a concern he could talk with me later. He didn't, of course - just trying to make a point.

I have a lot of this type of thing going on this year - little comments just subversive enough, but hard to explain to a parent. I've had to come up with creative phrases such as "overly eager to participate," "impassioned comments that could offend," "feels the need to be competitive with others." Read: talks too much, is rude, and badgers other kids about their grades. Too bad I can't just come out and say it.