Josh came home from his first day of school with some not so great news...he got a warning. "But it's ok mom" he said, "because you get 3 warnings before you have to go to the office." Great. I'm glad he knows exactly how bad he can be before he gets in "real" trouble. So I've picked up my routine from last year and have to ask him everyday after school if he got a warning at school that day or not. His first warning was for talking with TJ, the boy that I had warned the teacher about not sitting him next to. Josh didn't feel like this warning was justified though because he was doing his work and was just telling TJ something, they weren't "talking." She had handed out a word search for the class to do that had all the children's names in it. Josh had found TJ"s name multiple times and circled every one of them. So he just HAD to show him.
I can't remember which warnings he got on which days but he's gotten multiple warnings for talking, reading, and for not following directions. The reading one he felt was not warranted though because the teacher had told them that as soon as they got back from their specialty class, that they were to get a book out and read. So when he got back, he did just that and he tried to convince me that he was just doing exactly what the teacher said. After a lot of probing, I figured out that the problem wasn't that he got a book out to read, but that he KEPT reading even after the teacher told them to put the book away...multiple times. Needless to say the first 2 weeks of school were quite stressful for me.
I was able to talk to his teacher, Mrs. W, at back to school night last Thursday for a few minutes and was very pleased with our conversation. She started out by saying "he's a TALKER!" I was actually kind of surprised because none of his other teachers have said that's been a problem. It's normally just a focusing issue, but whatever. She explained her 'warning' system to me and said that she's been kind of strict because she's just laying down the law, so to speak, and letting the kids know what is expected of them. She says that she's seen some improvement in him and that hopefully, he'll continue. She asked what I've found works for him and I just shrugged my shoulders. I still have no idea. She says that she thinks he's a good kid though and that he definitely has potential. We talked about his reading level and she said that if he maintained where he was at from the end of last year, then there's no reason why he shouldn't be able to stay on grade level this year. But, she warned, most kids lose some ground on their reading over the summer so we'd have to wait until she tests him to see where he's at.
Jump forward to today. He's gone 3 days in a row without a warning!! I've been so relieved and just a little skeptical. My doubts were put to rest though when Mrs. W called me after school. She said she was going to email me the results of his reading test but figured it would be easier just to call. She said that his behavior has improved tremendously, that he's like a whole new student. He hasn't been shouting out in class and he's been working really hard at not talking. I was so happy to hear that. Then she said that she did his reading test with him today and that he's maintained his level from the end of last year. She said that was due to all the time I spent working on reading with him this summer. It was so nice to hear her telling me that I had done a good job with him this summer. She said to just have him slow down because he substitutes words like 'the' for 'a' and stuff like that and he guesses on long words. She was pleased with his testing and so am I. I was so grateful that she called and followed up with me like she said she would. I'm crossing my fingers that this is going to be a great year.
On a side note, the first 2 days of school Josh came home with dried blood on his nose. He gets a bloody nose when he doesn't drink enough and evidently he wasn't drinking anything at school. I've since sent a capri sun for lunch everyday and the bloody noses have stopped.
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