Etch A Sketch

Fall in First Grade:
New pencils and crayons.
New students coming in with backpacks that are just too big for their cute little bodies - and normally only carry one or two papers home a day, so clearly they are a necessity.
Students learning how to work in the classroom together.
New Challenges.

Ah the new challenges. There is one student in particular (although my class has more trying students than last year) that has blessed me with many quotable moments and some frightening realizaitons. As a first grade teacher, one always hopes that students come in being able to decode, know their letter sounds and should be able to identify all 26 letters. However, this particular child - we shall dub him Lance - does not know his letter sounds, nor can he identify letters by name. He is also stumped by his last name, cannot count the letters in his name, and has yet to finish any assignment put in front of him.

One favorite Lance moment - his mom was late to pick him up and I stood outside to wait with him. Finally, as the last students are walking by, I turned to him and said "Lance, sweetie, let's go call your mom." And while he's looking straight at me, he says "His' name is Lance too?!"

Yep. He is my blank slate in room 106. However, just like an Etch A Sketch, no matter what I explain to him, something jumbles him and he looses that information and we begin again.