Another Fun Day

So, on Friday I feel like I was completely inspired. As I sat at my desk trying to correct some essays and the students were writing new ones. The student who sits right in front of my desk decides that I am the question answerer. If he wants to know something, I am the teacher I should know and so he asks, and asks, and asks, to the point I am not getting anything finished, and he isn't getting anything finished. So, I decide to give him a notebook, he can write any question he has in this notebook and I will answer it. I promise, it might not be that day but it will get answered. So, I hand it to him, and one of my other students wants one, to the point that every single student gets this magical notebook. I am thinking to myself, this will be great. Now, any comment they have that will distract from the class will now go in the notebook. And honestly, I am loving it. I spent most of the day on Friday answering questions. Today, I took a different approach, I am only going to answer at the end of the day, and give them back. I got some good information, and some good things are happening. I am starting to build some relationships back up. I hope. And we'll see.
Fast forward to today. The student who inspired the idea, kept bugging the girl he sits by. During Study Hall, I sent her group to the restroom. He felt that it was the perfect time to lounge out on her seat. I told him to put his feet down and to turn and face forward. He put his feet down, but refused to face forward. I counted to five then I told him to go outside and to comeback in when he knew what to do. I did one thing in this whole thing that was bad, I went out into the hall and engaged him for a minute. I just told him, I would love to have him back when he was ready, if he wanted to stay in the hall for the rest of study hall I was fine with it. Then I went back into the classroom. He came up and asked if he could talk to me, and I flat out told him no. I have spent numerous amount of minutes in the hall with this kid talking to him about the same things. I don't want to spend my class time working with this, again. So, he went to the principal who told him to go back and to do what I told him to do. He came back to me and tried to engage me while I was finishing up somethings for the end of the day. I just looked at him and said, "I gave you that notebook for a reason. This is the perfect time to use it I would like you to write what you want to say. This way I can process what you are trying to tell me and you can process what I am trying to tell you."
"I don't know why I have to write when I can just tell you."
"Because, I am not going to talk to you when you are in this condition." (At this point he was starting to cry with frustration)
"Well, I want to talk about this now."
"Nope, I want you to write it out for me."
One other student pipes in, "She's right, I had a concern and I wrote it down for her and we are working it out. She can understand my point of view and I can understand hers."
"That is what I want you to do. Just write it."
"Why won't you talk to me?"
"Just write it."
You can see where the rest of the conversation went. He left the classroom just like every other day with his head down and mad at me. And I am beginning not to care. He won't let go of the bad feelings he has for me and I don't want to fight it anymore. So, I am not going to. I was talking to the kindergarten teacher I am friends with and we started talking about this program "Love and Logic." I am taking a class for it right now and I feel that I haven't been able to use it in my class very effectively. Until my friend said something about if I would have talked to him he would have won. And she is right. My refusal to talk to him and to allow him the time made it so I was still in control. Like I said my biggest problem was that I engaged him during the time he was in the hall.
I really do like this kid. He is a good kid. But, he isn't treating me with the respect I as his teacher deserve. And I am kind of disappointed in it all.
I'll let you know if he writes to me and tells me what he wants to say. But, I don't think he is going to. But, whatever he writes I am sure I can refute every point one-by-one.