Puente

Last night and this morning I repeatedly prayed for peace going into today's conferences, and by the afternoon that prayer had been answered. The first conference was mediocre, as a combatant student went on and on complaining and saying "What I'd like you to explain to my parents is..." Surprisingly, ten minutes after that conference ended the father had sent his son back to apologize "if" he wasn't being nice to me.


The next six hours straight went well. I managed to speak a decent amount of Spanish a twice, and I was told they could understand my accent. Some parents unexpectedly told me their kids have come around to liking math. (Where that came from all of the sudden I have no idea.) There were also a handful of appropriately constructive conversations. 


For the last conference, two teachers offered to meet with a student and his father with me. This student has been argumentative in class and I've kicked him out a couple of times. The other teachers see the same behaviors, but it was most severe in math. Well, it turns out that the few important concerns he has are surrounded by what must be a mountain of personal issues. I ended up informing the vice principal that the boy really needs counseling. After awhile I just stopped and thought, "No reasonable person would act this way in a classroom." It's at that point when I realized he's simply irrational and emotionally unavailable to solving his problems. Maybe I should take a full out psychology class next year. I never really did take a good one in high school or college.


The Spanish word for bridge, puente, also describe a three-day weekend here. It feels well earned after conferences today. I started this afternoon at the Bogota Beer Company.

 

Tonight we're celebrating Guillo's birthday. Sunday it's back to NFL football all day long, with Monday primed to sleep in. Woo-hoo! Here's to the end of Season 6 of the Office, and the beginning of Prison Break!