Tuesday, September 07, 2004

One day to go...

Last week, there were 27 children on the tentative first grade roster, but our secretary informed me that only 23 had actually registered (they like to wait until the last possible minute, because once you register, you have to start paying tuition). I set up 27 desks, just to be on the safe side. Today I checked my mailbox and found a mere 20 roll-slips in there. Too good to be true. Later, my principal looked around my room and said, "You've got too many desks." She couldn't find the most recent list, but she told me that there are kids on my copy of the list that she knows are not coming. Bottom line: there might be 20, there might be 23, there might be 27. I won't know for sure until the end of this week.

Today's in-service on
Restorative Practices was a little disappointing. I was hoping for some real hands-on, concrete ideas for discipline and management in the classroom. Instead, it was more about conflict resolution... the presenter demonstrated how to hold a conference between an offender and his/her victim, and to facilitate it so that everyone is on equal terms and everyone gets a chance to be heard. He did stress that consistency was important in having an effective discipline system (which I already knew), and he said that Restorative Practice occurs when there is a high level of support combined with a high level of control. In other words, let them know you care, set boundaries, and be consistent. It was all well and good, but it wasn't really what I was expecting.

Tomorrow is the first day of school! Wish me luck!!!

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