A short update after a long while

It is finally starting to feel like spring around here though I am trying not to get my hopes up yet that we are done with the frigid weather.  There hasn't been much to update on a weekly basis any more due to the breaks and behavior issues that still occur in my class.  I am beginning to think that there is a point when I have to just survive. I dislike this idea very much although with these kids, that's what they do. They do the bare minimum to survive.  I did, however, get to give them a taste of their own money today. It was great fun.  Yesterday, the behavior go so bad that I finally just told them that if they were going to waste my time and see the work as unimportant, then I had better things to do with my time.  There were a lot of quickly turning heads at this point in my day. I then called the other teacher to come over and let my kids explain to her why I was done teaching for the day. They all, not suprisingly, were able to identify exactly why I was done teaching for the day.  Each of them owed me and the other teacher an aplogy letter by 8:20 this morning or else the concequences would be sentences to copy.  So...................today, I handed over the reigns (constructively) to the students and told them it was their turn to teach.  I assigned all students a subject to teach and let them have at it! Suprisingly, everything got taught by lunch time.  I was a bit suprised.  What this tells me is that yes, they know the routine and actually do know what to do. They just choose not to do it.  After lunch, I had them write a reflection about what it was liek to be the teacher and what did the students need to do better to make it easier.  The number one thing that was said that the students needed to do better or was the hardest.......????? Drum roll please................interrupting students. Case closed.
Here are some lovely samples of student art. We did a lesson on positive and negative space. 

Here they are on display at the school in town.