Burns TP #10

The difficulties experienced on February 3rd continued on February 4th.  One must remember, however, that the session on the third ended around 8:30 PM and today's session began at 4:30, so less than 24 hours had passed.  To expect David to make a radical return to the David of earlier sessions might have been unrealistic.  He was deservedly proud of the 100% he made on a major math test today.  He might have felt entitled to take a bit of a break, especially since his focus on math last night contributed to his performance in school today.

That said, David was one day behind with his reading journal and we (David's mother and I) were determined that this should not become two days behind.  David dispatched his math homework within five minutes.  Then he read two chapters of one book and wrote a summary.  His teacher does not review the spelling, punctuation and grammar of his written work.  This evening proved that I need to do that and cover mistakes with David and his mom for follow up.  He then selected a book that was grade level minus 2 and wrote a summary (of sorts) of that book.  So the minimum requirements were met within an hour.

The second hour was an exaggeration of his attitude and behavior from the night before.  His mother had copied an excellent practice test and matching exercise for typical colloquialisms that would truly expand David's comprehension of expressions that he could hear every day.  Since it came from Mom and not his teacher, David flat refused to do it.  When his mom left me with David to see if I could change his mind, he tried several tactics to get me to back off.  I showed him the "easy" side first and asked him to start there.  He said it was something from Mom and not his teacher.  I reminded him that his mom was my boss

His mom rejoined us and David just left to roam the library.  So we discussed appropriate approaches that David's father could take to complete and expand the exercise.  Mrs. Hong mentioned the loss of TV, XBox, etc. as normal consequences.  I suggested that Dad add a written assignment to the exercise so that calling our bluff about Dad has consequences directly related to the "offense"  - the refusal to complete a very reasonable exercise that his mom brought with her.

So it was was around 7:15 when the session with David finally concluded.  Mom and I are hopeful that next week David will return to his responsiveness during the first several sessions.  I stayed behind to discuss level +1 materials for David that would challenge him and overcome his resistance to hardcover books.  Library staff showed me the most popular series with average to a little above average 4th graders.  I joined the library and checked out one of those books.  Next Tuesday, we will move David to the second floor of the library and present him with this book as the one he must read.  We expect him to read at least one chapter per session and a write a  summary with better spelling, grammar and structure.