October Observation II

 As usual, I walked into Mr. Roberson’s class with about twenty minutes left of first period. That day was dedicated to makeup work. The students were working at their tables, some more quietly than others. I’m sure you can recognize a theme at this point, students are often doing busy work while I’m there. This period was just fine; the bell rang and they moved on while others moved in. Second period: my favorite, not Mr. Roberson’s. Some of my favorite students walked in: the troublemakers, the rowdy ones. Roberson told them what they had to spend their day doing. He listed which students were missing what assignments. There were several that hadn’t turned in more than one worksheet. All of their assignments can be found on Schoology, their “Canvas.” After the announcement is when things got a little crazy. Several students, who were probably avoiding their boring worksheets, continued to get up out of their seats to ask to leave to either use the bathroom or go to their locker. One student in particular was very adamant about going to get something that she left in another teacher’s classroom. Every five minutes she would pop up to ask Mr. Roberson if the teacher was in the room, or if she could go see if she was. After calling twice, Roberson had to tell her to take a deep breath and wait because it didn’t appear as if the teacher was in the room. This student usually plays the roll of class clown, sitting on the floor when asked to sit in her seat with her other classmates, seat-jumping when she gets bored so she can talk to her friends across the room. Often, she comes in very loudly. Again, she is most likely so much smarter than she is perceived. She simply needs something to interest her. She needs something to keep her hands busy, not just keep her time occupied.