Bob added a coda to his previous song:
A couple of things to add here at the end of my third week:
1. I’ve never used Circling with Balls until this year quite like you teach, but I did it by the book. With classes of 32-35, 6 times a day. Today, I realized how much better I know my newbies (about 70 that are new to me–freshmen, Latin 1). I notice them. Everyone of them, and today, I noticed K. was not himself. So, I pulled him aside after class to inquire. Mom and dad just split up and he was up all night helping mom move into her new place. He will now live in two houses every week. Without doing balls for two weeks (parts of each class) I honestly don’t think I’d have noticed him today. There are just too many bodies in the room without something to bring me into their world like the balls do. I was able to talk with him a bit and alert his other teachers to give him a soft place to land today.
2. A former student came by to see me today. He had 2 years of Latin with me. He is bi-polar and at that time it was raging. He dropped out of school his senior year and “spent a couple of years really messing up.” He’s studying at the university now, and signed up for a Latin course. This is what he said to me, almost verbatim: “I am amazed at how much I know! I mean, I was not the best student in your room by any stretch,and I just cannot believe how much I know–how easy this Latin course at the University is. I am a little disappointed that the professor doesn’t speak any Latin like we did, though.”
What an endorsement of what we do. He really was a most difficult student, and he really didn’t engage my class very well, but he knew he was safe in my room, and quite honestly, just being in the room because the way he learned. Nice way to end this week.
Bob