The semester end was heading into free fall (two snow days and a two-day band event the week before finals didn't help) but somehow he pulled off mostly Bs. Conferences, tears, emails, phone calls. The counselor temporarily restored my faith when he recommended and got DS16 a class change to a different English teacher. Can it be that simple? He likes class, he's writing, he's turning it in! His small group loved his sonnet, so did the teacher, who had him read it to the class, who also loved it. He even let me read it! For a kid who's been convinced his work isn't good enough, this was a real boost. And it seems to be carrying over into other classes. His attitude seems to,shifting from thinking he can get away with not doing it, to complaining about it while staying up late. At least he's being upfront about it. We are only three weeks in, though, and he has only the one class with a writing component (well, chem does, too, and he even doesn't like the scientific writing...he turned a lab in late because he didn't like his conclusion paragraph.)
We were not going to allow participation in the spring play because of the past issues, until the directors reached out (first with general concern based on observations, then an invitation) After a lot of emails and conversations, in the end, I realized he needs the play for fun, social outlet, and applause, nothing to do with academics. He didn't make it into the plays in the fall and I didn't realize how much that affected him, really knocked his self-confidence down. He's realizing the late nights he'll be putting in to get his homework done. This may come back to haunt us, thinking of the AP chem exam two days after the show.
Next week he registers for junior year. Parents do not participate beyond talking with student at home (grr) His only real choice is in science: physics versus bio (while not required to graduate, colleges seem to want a life science under your belt). He will want AP physics, the counselor will try to talk him into college-prep level. AP sciences are a period-and-a-half, which eats Into a kid's schedule. Math will be AP Calc. He's taking USHistory this summer, which will help him out in the fall. Maybe he will even get a full lunch period.
Like Puffin, I am cautiously optimistic. Make that trepidatiously optimistic.
