An end-of-day visit from the sheriff...

Oy. It was NOT easy coming back to school this morning, especially after such a wonderful Thanksgiving break! I didn't even plan out today's lessons until an hour before school started... whoops.

Anyway, I got yet *another* new student today, who seems to have some pretty bad learning disabilities. My class total is now up to 28, and I'm sure I'll hit 30 at some point. Joy. I still had 4 out today, though, so it was manageable. It'll be rough when the whole class shows up.

So let's fast-forward to the end of the day. There was a student (we'll call him "Carl") who would NOT do his work all afternoon. It was annoying, but there wasn't all that much I could do about it, aside from giving him consequences (detentions, call home, etc.). Bleh. Anyway, it got to the point where Carl was not only *not* doing his work, but was being defiant and disruptive as well. Eventually, after the whole class and I had had enough, I told Carl to go across the hall to the library to do his work. He refused and just sat there. I told him he was only making things more difficult for himself, but he still didn't budge. At the end of the day, the class was ready to go to recess. I told Carl and another student to go to the classroom next door, because that's where I send students who have not earned the day's recess. Again, Carl refused.

At this point, we were all out in the hallway. I stood in Carl's way, redirecting him toward the other classroom. He still refused. It got to the point where I blocked him by putting my hands out in front of me and standing in his way. Eventually, I was physically holding him back from going outside. He pushed against me several times, one time bumping me against the wall. There were several teachers and numerous students who saw the whole thing. Ultimately, I let him go and he took off running outside. I was so furious that I actually burst into tears right in front of my whole class. I haven't been that angry in... I can't remember how long.

All the teachers who witnessed the incident told me I had to call the police. Our principal was gone (oy), so I had to try and handle it myself. I went to the office once all the kids had gotten on their buses, and I told the secretary what had happened. She immediately radioed the buses to get Carl off his. During this time, I called the Sheriff's department to have an officer sent over. Carl came into the office, and I was still shaky from adrenaline.

The officer showed up minutes later, and I explained what had happened. The officer was verbally harsh with Carl, who was himself visibly shaking. Carl was commanded to call his parents to pick him up. He called his mother, who showed up about 20 minutes later. She was not happy, especially when she saw a deputy there because of her son. The father was then called, and the principal, and the superintendant. Soon, there were 6 adults in the principal's office for Carl. The father was PISSED (and was very scary at a muscular 6'3") because he had to leave work to come and deal with Carl. All of a sudden, I was asked if I was going to press charges. Oy. Press charges?? I didn't want to be in that position at all. I said that I was not comfortable making that decision, so it was left up to the principal and the parents. In the interim, Carl was handcuffed and put roughly in the back of the sheriff's car.

The verdict? That Carl will serve in-school suspension (for an as-of-yet-to-be-determined amount of time) and will join... the basketball team. The superintendant demanded this, saying that Carl needs productive ways to get out his agression, and that he needs to be part of a team. Interesting. I had to go outside with the deputy to get Carl and inform him that I would not be pressing charges and thus, he did not have to go to juvenile. Oy. This kid is 11 years old...

Anyway, an interesting end to a long day. I'd like to go home and relax, but I still have the rest of the week to plan out. How long until Winter Break, again???