My kids were on fire and I had nothing to do with it...

I had an all-day inservice on I.E.P.'s (Individualized Educational Plans) today...

So I prepared an extensive lesson for the substitute, today...

And I don't know what was in the water with those kids, today...

But they were on fire...

I come back to school dying to know how they did, today...two of them got sent out of class one special education teacher tells me...so I'm a little disappointed...

But then I look at their work in class (we keep folders with all their work every day)...

And they are solving equivalent fractions left and right...they're all over it...one student has her answer space covered in equivalent fractions far and above what the question asked her to do...

I scheduled some time for them to play a game they love playing...it's called Pizza Party...and it involves pizza pieces in the form of fractions that the kids use to learn about fractions tangibly...

And it doesn't even look like they touched that game...

They just spent the whole time doing equivalent fractions...and they did me proud...

Tomorrow we talk about what went well...my para-professional, Ms. Simmons, and the sub, Mr. Rainey, were both here...and whatever they did was great...and I'd love to hear what went great from the kids, too...

Do you know how much I want these kids to succeed?...in my math class...in school...in life...

Do you know how frustrated I get with every single unnecessary road block to that success?...including and especially the road blocks they create themselves?...

I want every single kid...no matter how far behind their peers they are, at this moment...

I want them all to succeed...and to love school...

They may or may not succeed equally...

And if some of these kids take on the kind of self-motivation and big dreams that it takes to succeed in school and in life...they could surpass their peers if they wanted to...

But getting them there will take a lot of work on mine and their part...

And choosing to do so on their part...

It's the most frustrating part about being a teacher...for every teacher...that you can't choose for your students...

But the mixed blessing in that is that one or two and hopefully all of those students...will come back to report that they are not only meeting and exceeding your expectations...

But they are kicking your lilly white ass beating those expectations...

And that's when you know that you've succeeded as a teacher...

When your students are kicking your sorry little ass...

I've got work to do to get my students to take on that challenge...

And in the meantime...

I've got a classroom full of 6th grade special education students...

On fire with equivalent fractions...

As Ice Cube would say...freaking niggas every way like M.J...I can't believe today was a good day...

Love,
Ben>