Moving Day - Update

Last month, I blogged about T, one of my buddies who was moving to 6:1+1 classroom from a general education room. At the time, T was very upset and distraught about not only leaving his friends and classroom, but going to "that class."

The first week was tough for T. He assumed that the new placement was only until he brought his grades up or turned his behavior around. No amount of explaining and rationalizing stopped him from setting arbitrary dates for his return to a general education classroom. T also dealt with a lot of teasing from the students in his old classroom. Not wanting to let go of his thought he was returning to his old class, he sat with his old classmates at breakfast and lunch, and would wander the halls to talk to them during their transitions. They bullied him for being "dumb" and all the rest.

After a little adjustment period, I'm happy to report that T is doing fantastically in his new placement! He has been coming down daily to show us good daily report cards. He has made good friends with another student in the class, is sitting with the group in breakfast and lunch, and is showing genuine interest and care for the rest of the boys in the class. T is also doing much better academically. T is completing class and homework, is complying with directives in the room, and has actually increased his reading fluency by 26 words per minute in the past two weeks. That's huge! The classroom won Homeroom of the Month for this March, and I have a feeling T might be getting the Student of the Month honor.

Gotta love it when an initially tough situation turns out great! I can't wait to see how the rest of the year goes for T and his classmates. I must say I'm biased, they're probably my favorite class in the building. Favoritism? Hush.