Just one of those days

 
    I thought for sure that today was going to be one of those days where my kiddos were just...off.  It was pajama day, the second day of a very quiet, lengthy reading assessment...it had all the ingredients for students to be nutty.  I wouldn't say they were nutty, but I felt like my brain was all over the place trying to answer everyone's questions.  There was one student in particular that I was dreading having to deal with today because he's one to do ANYTHING to get out of a work task.
    "I have to go to the bathroom."
    "You had break two minutes ago."
    "I have to go to the science teacher to get a pass for..."
    "That can wait until home base."
    "Errrrrrrr...uuuuuugggghhhh....I don't understaaaaand this...." He flops on the floor.
    "The thing is, Sam, (name has been changed) you actually do understand this, you just have to DO it."

    I was trying to find the number to call for our in-school detention-like room.  I couldn't figure out the number, and my 'buddy' teacher wasn't answering--I believe he had a cross country meet today.  I was racking my brain, trying to figure out what in the world to do; the expectations for this task was the same for everyone.  I wasn't going to let him just putz around and do nothing while everyone else was working away diligently.  I finally just decided to walk him through the assignment like I would with a student with additional needs...and strangely enough...it worked.  He was groaning through the whole assignment, but with prompts for each step, he would follow through.  We were down to the last one, and he asked me, "Isn't this good enough?  Am I done?"
    "C'mon man, this is like a marathon and you're at the finish line, you just have to bust through that tape!"  And there was my moment of the day--he smiled.  (He usually has this pouty, tough guy front, so to get him to genuinely smile was huge for me). And then he did the last piece of the assessment.  It was my win for the day.
    The rest of my day wasn't perfect, there were still several students mentally floating around in the clouds, giving me 5% effort on their final assessment that makes up 80% of their grade.  But I focus on the positive, always.  It was also pajama day; which is always a positive.  I wore my matching owl pajama pants (designed by Jean B. Marie) and owl slippers.
     Tomorrow's Friday.  Life can't get much better.