How much longer til Christmas?

I love my students. They're the sweetest kids I know...next to mine, of course. Only these find me scarier. They're quicker to mind and don't throw screaming hissyfits when I say 'no'. Just their moms do. {sigh}

I gave a Science test this week. Their first. It went well. There were several who aced it and several who had the opposite result and everything in between. A couple of the moms are obsessed with their daughters' grades. Anything lower than straight A's sends them into shock. One mother was unhappy with her daughter's score on the test. She came to my room after school (not allowed) to talk to me. I like her, I love her daughter, and I knew she'd just go nuts if I told her she had to wait all weekend and make an appointment so I chatted with her and showed her the test. She said it was too hard. I told her it wasn't. She said that her daugher knew all the answers and that she wanted me to give it to her again. I told her 'no'. She wanted me to change her grade. I told her 'no'. She told me her girl was like my daughter. (In fact, all those girls are.) I told her that I'd expect my daughter to take the grade she earned. I wouldn't ask for it to be changed.

She was not happy. Neither was I. I would love to give the girls all the chances they need to succeed. But you know what? I do! She had the same chance, the same amount of time to prepare for the test as all the others. Several of them got A's. Several of them got B's. Several of them got C's. You get the drift.

Last year one of my moms was unhappy that her daughter had a C for math 2nd trimester. She wanted me to change it. She was just a little girl, she said. I told her that she needed to learn that when you slack off you don't get the rewards. When would she prefer she learn it? After she's in college or in the work force or in 2nd grade where it's safe to learn the lesson? She wasn't happy, I held my ground, and 3rd trimester she was back where she belonged. If I'd let her mom have her way, she'd never had had any reason to shape up.

Kuwaitis love their kids. Unfortunately for many, loving their kids means keeping them from any kind of personal responsibility. They don't even carry their own bags into the school or out. We make them carry them inside, but coming and going they have a maid who carries it for them. I'm talking big kids here...upper elementary! Sometimes the parents themselves are carrying 3-4 bookbags and lunch boxes while their kids run around and head to the car with nary a thought in their little heads. These book bags have wheels, people!

My girls argue over who gets to be first in line. They cut in front of others and look shocked when I tell them to go to the end. Everyone thinks s/he has to be first, in everything. But I just keep making them go to the end of the line. I make it a good place to be. The one who holds the door open for the class gets to bring up the rear. It's a privilege. I don't think they're too convinced yet, but they'll get the hang of it eventually.

Before you think I have a class full of brats, don't think it for a minute. Yes, many of them are spoiled by their parents. But they're smart as whips and love to read. Just like last year, I have girls who yell "Yeah!" when I tell them to take everything off their desks but their pencils, it's time for the test. Can you believe it?! They cheer when it's time for a test! I have to print up copies of extra practice for them in Math because they regularly finish about halfway through the period. I don't think anyone has lower than a B. Yeah!

I've got 2-3 girls that read circles around everyone else...even me, I think. We're talking high 80 to 90 something words per minute. This is their 2nd language! They're reading like mad. I still have some who read at a pretty low speed, but they're reading. They love to read and devour my books. I can't wait for my book order to come in so I have some new material.

I'm going to miss them in December but I'm so looking forward to this break. I'm going to bring back my set of Little House books. The library has the first book but not the rest. I read the first book to them and they loved it. But we have to stop there until I can get my hands on mine. I'm going to grab my old Nancy Drew books and hunt up some at a used book store. They'll enjoy those too, I think.

Oh, I can't wait!