Voter Registration Card by Chris

In Social Studies, we did a voter registration card.

I filled out my name and signature. My signature took forever because I wanted it so perfect. We had to put our school name and address.

On Thursday, we are going to vote.

I told my mom I was voting for McCain. Really I'm voting for Obama. I'm voting for Obama because I feel like it.

Fractions and Percents

Uh-oh, the time has arrived. Christopher is doing fractions and percents. For some reason, I am incapable of doing either. Colleagues at work can tell you, I can never remember how to do a percent -- what do I divide into what or is there something I multiply?

Now, I can tell you if half the pie is shaded and even go so far as to tell you 2/10 is 20 percent. But when you start doing 2 3/5 and what is an equivalent fraction, I simply stop. Yep, don't even try to figure it out. Quite frankly, my brain begins to hurt. I cannot find those neurons that connect to reason out the problem.

I've accepted this math shortcoming in my personal life and my work life. I ignore the need to do a fraction or a percent. Or, I ask my trusty friend Allison to figure it out. In fact, last week, I called Allison to help Christopher figure out what percent equaled 1/12. I knew it was less than 10 percent, but didn't know what to divide and how to move the decimal point . . I don't even know how to ask the question and use the right terms to correctly write about fraction figuring out.

It should be as simple as me reading a book, going online, practicing or getting a workbook, but I'm 40 years old and have managed just fine. So, I'll use the online tools whenever Christopher gets stuck or call up my good friend Allison. I've got all three of her numbers so she can't hide from me.

I wonder what's the percentage of time she'll help!?

Happy by Chris

I was happy to get my WOW turned in.

I was happy I don't have to do cursive in spelling and I finished spelling today and it is not due until Friday.

Art Project Turned In

Christopher wrapped up the WOW piece Sunday afternoon. It is fantastic. It took coaxing on our part to encourage him to stop. He kept wanting to mess with it, to get it perfect, to have it look like the magazine picture. From the background, to the fingernails, to the subtle gathers in the player's basketball shorts, each item was painstakingly reviewed and mulled over by Christopher.

He enjoys art so much except that he wants to create literal, exact interpretations of the pieces he is referencing. I don't think he understands he can interpret a piece. Even when he makes up a drawing without an existing picture to compare to, he is easily frustrated because the picture doesn't look exactly the way it should.

I need to research artists who create their own version of a picture so he can see he is able to do that. I think he believes artists make each image perfect. I need some sort of abstract artist as an example. Or there's a sports artist who would paint these pictures of athletes in action.

I can sense his frustration and his drive to make something perfect. That mindset doesn't allow him to free himself and just draw. Sometimes he'll be so close to completion, but he'll crumple up his work and stop. Stop cold.

He's very talented and can really draw well. I just don't want him to trap himself into this frustration cycle and lose his passion.

I want him to feel the WOW.

Blue Jeans

The cooler weather has finally come and with that warmer clothes are required. Long-sleeved shirts, blue jeans and hoodies all become a part of the clothes calendar.

Thankfully, we had gone through the blue jeans and long-sleeved shirts a few weeks back. During that try on time, we discovered four pairs of jeans, four pairs of athletic pants and one pair of cargo pants no longer fit. That left Christopher with two pairs of jeans and a pair of khaki pants.

So this morning, it was pulling out a pair of jeans to combat the 46 degrees temperature. He wore a short-sleeved shirt, but pulled on the hoodie.

And, because we live in South Texas and the weather changes faster than well, it just changes really fast, this afternoon, he lugged home the hoodie in his back pack. If he had worn a long-sleeved shirt, that too would have been in the back pack.

The two pair of jeans and the shirts that still fit all pass the "look" test with Christopher right now. We'll see if one pair of jeans is too faded or too dark or too baggy or whatever, but for now we'll be rotating two pair of jeans. I'll wait for the "look" fall out to determine what type of jeans will replace the four pair we gave away.

I know we the parents make the final decision because the money paying for the jeans belongs to the parents, but I prefer to avoid early morning battles if it simply means buying a pair of jeans he likes. Oh, they have to be from either JCPenney or the Gap, maybe Old Navy. Not quite ready to buy the jeans he likes from Abercrombie.

Personalized Debate

With Red Ribbon week comes loads of conversation around drugs, alcohol and smoking.

Each day carries a theme -- from wearing crazy socks to dressing like twins -- and application to the week is put into place in some of the classes.

In Christopher's debate class, the work this week focused on "why or why not do I do drugs." Won't the teacher be surprised if a kid justifies using drugs. How would they handle that? Fortunately, and obviously, Christopher took the side of not participating in drugs, smoking or drinking alcohol.

He had to write a one-page paper and then illustrate his reasoning. His picture, cleverly drawn (art is paying off) showed a cigarette with a red X and a bottle of Bud Light with a red x. This of course indicates don't do either.

His paper covered how unhealthy drugs, et al, are and what they do to your body. His examples ranged from yellow teeth to pimply skin. He also pointed out the expense to doing drugs.

As he wrote, he commented that he used the words "you" and "your" frequently. I told him that personalizes the debate and helps the listener better identify with your argument. I came close to launching into a comparison of the presidential debates, but stopped, when he said "I need to count these yous and yours." Obviously, my personalization argument didn't add up for him.

Maybe I should have used you and your as I described my reasoning.

Movie Day by Chris

In debate, we watched Willy Wonka. In English, we watched Because of Winn Dixie.

I don't know why we watched these movies. We're doing a paper on Because of Winn Dixie.

I like watching movies because they are fun. It's the best thing in school because you don't have to do any work.

WOW by Chris

I finished my hand and I think I've got to take it home tomorrow because I won't finish it by Monday.

The picture has a hand with a ball. I don't think I should do a background because there is too much. It's one of those Sports Illustrated pictures with all the people in the background, like sports players and coaches from college. It's too much.

If I do the background right now I probably won't finish. But if I do the hand and the ball I'll finish.

This morning, I thought it was good that my dad was going to take me to get me to tutoring on time. Then we went to one of the teachers classrooms and Mrs. House was like all the people here "super."

I had to call mommy with my cell phone at school because I had to stay for tutoring after school. Mrs. House told me to.

Traveling Requires Instructions . . .

and feedback.

No posts yesterday. I traveled to the Valley for work. I should have left behind my log-in credentials so Christopher could have input something for the day. I should have logged in from the hotel and done the same.

I didn't. He didn't. We didn't.

I did learn that when I travel I have to leave behind instructions. I've always been that way. When I went to Paris, I had a day-by-day calendar of Christopher's activities. Gervais has grown to love this idiosyncrasy of mine -- OK, obsession -- but I noticed last night and today, I forgot about the feedback.

I called Christopher last night before he went to bed and then as usual called this a.m. No answer at the house and it was too early for Christopher to be dropped off -- see my earlier post about the courtyard and a.m. drop-off times. I phoned Gervais on his cell and he told me "Oh, I dropped him off early for tutoring in English."

Minor detail left out of last night's conversations. Again, I had left instructions, but did not receive any feedback -- even when I asked the usual question of how school was and did he have homework and what were the big take-aways of the day.

Nope, no mention on tutoring.

Well, I'll be specific next time I travel -- which is next week -- and ask for feedback. Get a few more details, talk through the blog posts, as those seem to be how I get my feedback.

Art project

For a kid that could not be in band and wanted desperately to be in art, Christopher is acting flippant and way too casual about his WOW art project.

He randomly picked something that made him say WOW. Some random basketball player he saw in a magazine. He could have selected anything -- Shaquille O'Neal, Lee High School football, scoring a touchdown in football, the Navy Pier in Chicago -- all these things make him say WOW.

I let him know he is showing disrespect to his teacher by not being interested in this project. This is their final grade for the nine weeks and is to demonstrate all the concepts they've learned. Also, these projects will be in a district-wide competition representing Harris and his teacher.

I don't know if it is pre-teen attitude stuff or what, but I can't stand the "I don't know" and "Whatever" language he is using as he describes the project.

We'll be talking about this and digging a bit deeper this weekend.

WOW, I didn't think I'd experience such lack of interest on the outside when I know I on the inside he cares.

WOW by Chris

In art we are working on drawing a picture that makes you say WOW.

I'm drawing Brandon Rush. I'm drawing the ball he's holding with his arm.

I couldn't think of anything else so I picked Brandon Rush. We had to pick from anything and I saw some Sports Illustrated magazines that Mrs. Fox had so I picked him.

Health by Chris

Today we had Health, not PE.

We had to write definitions to words. Words like emotional, physical and stuff like that.

We have another Health test we take on the internet. It was released today. Coach said it was released at 1 p.m.

Almost All 'A's

Christopher has all As except for a pesky 89 in English. He will be turning in a vocabulary project tomorrow that should garner him a 100. Hopefully, that grade and some other in-class work this past week and next will pull him up to an A.

He wants straight As so badly. The two low in-class timed assignment grades are haunting him.

I know he needs to get things done in a timely manner. But should grammar and punctuation be rushed? I can hear my journalism professor Dr. McCorkle yelling at me saying all good writers should so fully know the rules of grammar and punctuation they could complete assignments in record time. I understand that expectation of writers and journalists, but a sixth grader?

And, I guess he'll learn a lesson about focusing on the task at hand. Taking his "eye off the prize" during those timed lessons resulted in low grades.

Seriously, though. Shouldn't tests and quizzes be weighted more? Fully show the level of comprehension of the subject and concept?

I hope, I hope, I hope, he can get an A. I'm e-mailing the teacher tomorrow indicating my level of interest -- which is sincere -- and hoping she can let him to a bit of extra credit to boost the grade to an A. Doesn't the other work in the class show he is an A student and capable?

Acrodunk Show by Chris

Today I got to watch Acrodunk. It was some guys who slam dunked basketballs jumping on trampolines.

My friend said there were only two guys, but there were more.

I thought one ws going to get stuck in the net because he jumped so high.

It was cool.

I kept telling people one guy was my dad because everyone said the guy looked like me. I then said no I'm just kidding. That was funny.

Homework Piling Up

What is it about three-day weekends that lead to four-day weeks that create massive pile-ups in work?

It's a day off, we don't make it up that same week. At work, suddenly five days worth of meetings and calls are packed into four days. And, at middle school, four nights worth of homework piles into three nights.

Our favorite vocabulary project made it's way home Tuesday. Remember, Mondays are good for us because we have nothing on those evenings. So now, with only two of the four exercises done, it means we have to finish another tonight and then do the 20-seven word sentences in cursive tomorrow before and after football practice. Yuck.

But the fun doesn't stop. More homework entered the house tonight. So, we have to get that stuff done (which is due tomorrow) and then work on the Friday vocabulary project.

Anticipating Thursday's addition to the mess!

So the benefit of being off Monday was what again?

Dad Driving

This morning, Gervais took Christopher to school because I had to catch a flight to Dallas for work.

Apparently, everything went according to plan. Christopher got up in time, got dressed in the clothes indicated on the chalkboard closet calendar and did a devotion.

OK, that works. There are mornings where I will need Gervais to take Christopher. That means Gervais won't get to work as early as he usually does, but at least it can be done.

Pizza Cheese Sticks by Chris

I ate at the snack bar today because I didn't know we were having chicken nuggets and pizza cheese sticks in the hot lunch line.

My friend called me over and so I missed pizza cheese sticks.

Instead, I got a chicken sandwich, two milks and chips.

No Homework Weekend

Three magical words in one wonderful phrase. No homework weekend!

No social studies project, no English project, no PE test, nothing, nada. Yippee!

I will encourage him to read this weekend. He has two new books that he's interested in so there should be at least a few minutes spent reading this weekend.

The bonus -- it's a three-day weekend. Three words for three days -- no homework weekend!

Kaleidoscope by Chris

In art we worked on our kaleidoscope. You color patterns in a circle.

It's cool.

Notebook Paper and Pencils

Christopher has gone through two 100-page packs of notebook paper and about 10 mechanical pencils. They are disposable, but still 10?

He now will go the old fashioned, sharpen your own, no. 2 pencil route. Those are about 20 for $1. The disposable mechanical pencils are around 5 for $3.

And, the three-ring, three-inch binder is on its last leg. That binder is packed. Each subject has a tab. Two of the tabbed areas have spiral notebooks. The social studies tabbed area also has a workbook. Plus, he keeps notebook paper and his zippered pencil case in the binder. The plastic pockets are tearing and the outside edges of the binder are beginning to bend and give.

Round two of school supplies is upon us and we haven't even finished the first nine weeks.

Deodorant by Chris

I had to bring new deodorant to PE. I dropped my other one out of my locker and someone else picked it up.

My hands got real sweaty because of the deodorant and I tried three times to open my locker.

Finally, I got it open.

A Few Low Grades

Checked Parent Portal today and discovered Christopher had some unusually low grades -- two in English and one in reading.

I e-mailed the teachers and received similar responses. Both indicated he seems to get off task easily rather than focus.

Here we go again. We've made it six weeks with no behavior problems and they seem to be creeping back.

The instruction tonight was for him to keep his behind in his seat and focus on his work. I also told him he is to keep his mouth shut.

At home, the punishment will be no cell phone and no sports. I told him bad conduct grades keeps him out of honor society and sports at school.

I think he got the message.

All I Could Think About by Chris

All I could think about today was going to the pep rally at Lee. I can hardly wait to see the football players.

I also finished my vocabulary so I could go to the pep rally.

I have a social studies test tomorrow on a map of the continents.

Math Test and Vocabulary by Chris

We had a math test. Our teacher said if we finished the test early we could sit at our desks and do whatever we wanted as long as we didn't talk.

I did some of my vocabulary project. I only have to do sentences now.

A Debate

(Tuesday night post on Wednesday a.m. due to practice and crazy evening!)

Driving to practice, Christopher talked about debate class. At last! Interest in debate!

We got on the subject after discussing insurance for your car and health.

He picked two topics in class to write about and take a position. I was pleased with his choices:
1. Should you have to go to school on Saturdays? He stated no. He justified his argument by pointing out kids need to be kids and there are other activities families are involved in on the weekend that they should be allowed to participate in.

2. Should you be allowed to play sports if you have bad grades? He stated no. He wrote if you aren't disciplined enough about your grades, you aren't showing you care. He did tell me he wrote if the student is trying to improve, he would as a coach talk to the teachers to determine if the student should get a chance to play.

I think he's getting it.

Busy day, Busy week

It's weeks such as this that wear us down. We are able to get everywhere on time, with the right clothes on and the right equipment -- even with cash in my pocket, but we don't feel really there. It seems we are always thinking of the next place to be or the next few things we need to take care of.

Last night, Christopher's football team had their make-up game. This make-up game resulted from the Hurricane Ike cancellation weekend. The game was at 6 p.m. at the Mays YMCA. For those who don't know, I could have written 5 p.m. on the Nile. The field where we played is on the other side of the earth from where I work. While we live a bit closer, it is still a traffic-filled journey.

Carpooling coordination began as soon as we found out the time and place of the game. Fortunately, Christopher's friend's dad could take them. I could leave work at my regular time, mind you, I had to change at work into my Colts clothes -- as I wrote above, we can get where we need to be in the right clothes.

We lost the game. While I watched and cheered, I wondered what we were going to do for dinner, how was Christopher going to get his homework finished, was the laundry going to be done for practice Tuesday and what time were we all getting to bed. The coaches would have said my head was not in the game.

We picked up a raspa for Christopher at the field after the game and headed home. Before we left, his friend's dad said he wasn't going to take said friend to practice tomorrow. Add that to my list, I now need to leave early from work to go home, come back across town and take him to practice.

My mind is already running this morning about the evening ahead and Wednesday (pep rally), Thursday (practice and varsity game) and Friday (basketball practice).

It's a busy day, busy week.

Extra Activities and Clubs

Harris has clubs galore. Christopher has opted not to participate in any.

No Student Council. No Science Club. No Reading Club. No Spirt Club.

And, he doesn't want to participate in Academic UIL.

He seems to be happy just being.

I wanted him in Student Council, but couldn't force it. I did not anticipate he would join the Science, Reading or Spirit clubs.

But something at school should create interest.

Maybe there will be an Art contest or a Debate tournament.

Something beyond the eight subjects a day.

This is hard for me because I wanted to be in everything. I was even in Beta Club. I have no idea what we really did, I think it was a service organization, but I was in it.

Something. He should participate in something.

Friday by Chris

Friday is good. It is the last day of the week. We have our game the next day.

We got homework today from Mrs. Ruiz. It is due Tuesday.

I played football in the courtyard this morning because I got there early.

PE First

I went to my locker first and then I went to PE.

I had PE first today because it was early dismissal again.

Some kid has two times. PE is his elective and he gets to go twice. Some girl told me that. I wish I was in that.

I didn't have health today. My test is up today with 14 questions. Tomorrow I am going to bring my notes home.

Now it's Writing

So the two things I love, enjoy, relish, am passionate about Christopher can do, but doesn't want to.

Reading. And, now writing.

He has a paper due tomorrow in English that is a first-hand account of a personal story. He chose his first football game of this season. Wow, seems exciting and covering a favorite topic of his. Yet, the excitement of telling the story translating into writing the story quickly fades as the pencil nears the paper.

Suddenly, the rules take over. It has to be three to five pages. It has to be double-spaced. We only have three days to write.

With the rules comes a dampening of joy. It's no longer fun.

Seriously, he can spin the best stories. His accounts happenings are exact and interesting. He chooses descriptive words and indicates emotion.

What is a journalist to do? He's heard the stories of words are powerful and carefully describe what happens so that others want to hear more of your tale. He knows I'm a writer and formerly served as a reporter. Not impressed. He wants to get it done. Get it over. And, writing is not about getting it over. It's starting and refining and re-creating. I can see his eyes rolling right now.

I'm thinking if he records himself and then listens to his dictation, he may hear the energy in his voice and then he could put that on paper.

Nonetheless, he has 2 1/2 pages completed which gets him an 80. Half a page more would earn him a 90. Four pages borders on a 100. He's content with the 80 -- I told him, we're a family who isn't satisfied by the bare minimum so he is finishing out the half of a page tonight.

How can I create enthusiasm? After football practice . . .yeah, good luck.

Second day of Early Dismissal by Chris

It was boring today. I didn't have PE.

It was fun because we didn't have sixth period. It was fun that we didn't have that.

Tutoring

Christopher had math tutoring this morning. We had to get there by 7:45 a.m.

He got a bit nervous as we drove up because we arrived right at 7:45 a.m. But they didn't open the school until that time so he felt a bit better.

As a result of tutoring, the bad grade went to a 75. Much better. Not great or even good, but much better.

I'm a big fan of tutoring. It's free and each teacher offers it. You can attend each tutoring session which is once or twice a week per subject. Some are before school, some after.

I tell Christopher, it can only help him. Plus, attending one-on-one or small group tutoring helps him get to know his teachers better. They see his willingness to learn and desire to succeed. Just like his clothes, teachers notice those subtle things.

By no means do I want to force him into tutoring, I want him to feel comfortable with it. Tutoring is not always the result of a low quiz score. We explain it helps him understand concepts he may be confused by or if he has questions on work. His teachers are there to help him.

To tutor him.