I cannot remember if my fourth grade teacher explained the star system the day of or a few days after the misfits and good kids table arrangements. However, I do remember that she explained to us that to get into the "good group", we would have to earn a certain amount of stars. To earn the stars, you would have to have good behavior or good grades. You could keep progress with how many stars you earned very easily....the star board was located right behind the teacher's desk.
The star board wasn't updated very often. Most kids that were misfits (like myself) stayed in the misfit groups for weeks at a time. Likewise, the groups were updated every few weeks or so. In late December (or early January), I came up with the name "Misfits and Good Kids". It came out of randomness, and it really stuck. I even had a last in my room at one point of which students were misfits and which students were good kids.
My dream was to create a book series called "Misfits and Good Kids" and let everyone know about the misfits and good kids tables, with some events tweaked and other events made up so that the books would become bestseller and top notch. In April 2009, that dream came true. I began the Misfits and Good Kids series with a novel published on Lulu.com (a self publishing website) called "Misfits and Good Kids: The Split".
-Epiphany Thomas.
Sunday, November 28, 2010
....And We Were Divided. [Misfits and Good Kids 1 Era]
This is the part where I talk about the events that inspired my book series, Misfits and Good Kids. This blog discusses the first day of the actual misfits and good kids tables, and this is where everything started. The reason this is marked "Misfits and Good Kids 1 Era" is because my teacher once started the misfits and good kids tables, converted back to regular tables, and then started the misfits and good kids tables back up again for the rest of the year.
I remember walking into my fourth grade classroom one December morning, and something felt awry. I had been absent the day before, and I had worked on some sort of project. I came to school that morning and I was seated by some of the other smartest people in the class (the whole class was a gifted classroom, yet some were smarter than others). I knew that something had to have been going on. I believe my fourth grade teacher asked me if I did my homework or some missing assignment,and because I was absent the day before I said no.
I was then immediately moved to a new table after I said no. I had no idea why I was moved, or what was happening. I just knew that something was up. Right next to me was another boy that was moved from the table where I was, and I said to him "Welcome to our group!". I had previously had a crush on him in third grade, and I felt the need to introduce him. I had some sort of pride, and I was only nine.
I introduced other people. Eventually, the table that had all of the smartest kids had all but 2 kids put into other groups. The two remaining- my then best friend and a female-the smartest in the class,a real goodie-two shoes- who I will call Marie. The teacher would give the 2 kids candy for being in the good group, while the rest of us watched in anger, jealousy, and disbelief.
The rest of us would end up getting disciplinary referrals. These referrals weren't used for handing out detentions and suspensions like they usually were. These referrals were being handed out to list the missing assignments you had. Likewise, if you got 3 missing assignments at this school, you were handed a lunch detention. Lunch detentions were served in the in-school suspension room.
I was at 1 one the three misfit tables because I didn't do the project correctly, and that counted as two missing assignments. I had to watch myself, because if I didn't do another assignment, I would get a lunch detention. The class was outraged, and no one liked the tables. Everyone that at first that they were going to be handed a lunch detention along with the referral that stated their missing assignments.
The outrage was displayed in our class at lunch that day.* The kids were angry that my best friend- that I'll call Stacy- was in the good group. They complained that Stacy had missing assignments and for that reason, she shouldn't be in the good group. I went home that day, and I remember writing in my assignment journal- "Get disciplinary referral signed!!". Most of the time, I was a really good kid and I had never gotten a disciplinary referral before.
The only detentions I had recieved were in third grade and those were for being tardy to school, or for having a missing assignment in third grade. I left school that day, knowing that from that day foward, school wouldn't be the same.
-Epiphany Thomas.
* "The outrage was displayed in our class at lunch that day." =At this school, they originally didn't have cafeterias. We usually ate in our classrooms. The school recently got parts of it rebuilt, and they added a cafeteria as a part of the reconstruction.
I remember walking into my fourth grade classroom one December morning, and something felt awry. I had been absent the day before, and I had worked on some sort of project. I came to school that morning and I was seated by some of the other smartest people in the class (the whole class was a gifted classroom, yet some were smarter than others). I knew that something had to have been going on. I believe my fourth grade teacher asked me if I did my homework or some missing assignment,and because I was absent the day before I said no.
I was then immediately moved to a new table after I said no. I had no idea why I was moved, or what was happening. I just knew that something was up. Right next to me was another boy that was moved from the table where I was, and I said to him "Welcome to our group!". I had previously had a crush on him in third grade, and I felt the need to introduce him. I had some sort of pride, and I was only nine.
I introduced other people. Eventually, the table that had all of the smartest kids had all but 2 kids put into other groups. The two remaining- my then best friend and a female-the smartest in the class,a real goodie-two shoes- who I will call Marie. The teacher would give the 2 kids candy for being in the good group, while the rest of us watched in anger, jealousy, and disbelief.
The rest of us would end up getting disciplinary referrals. These referrals weren't used for handing out detentions and suspensions like they usually were. These referrals were being handed out to list the missing assignments you had. Likewise, if you got 3 missing assignments at this school, you were handed a lunch detention. Lunch detentions were served in the in-school suspension room.
I was at 1 one the three misfit tables because I didn't do the project correctly, and that counted as two missing assignments. I had to watch myself, because if I didn't do another assignment, I would get a lunch detention. The class was outraged, and no one liked the tables. Everyone that at first that they were going to be handed a lunch detention along with the referral that stated their missing assignments.
The outrage was displayed in our class at lunch that day.* The kids were angry that my best friend- that I'll call Stacy- was in the good group. They complained that Stacy had missing assignments and for that reason, she shouldn't be in the good group. I went home that day, and I remember writing in my assignment journal- "Get disciplinary referral signed!!". Most of the time, I was a really good kid and I had never gotten a disciplinary referral before.
The only detentions I had recieved were in third grade and those were for being tardy to school, or for having a missing assignment in third grade. I left school that day, knowing that from that day foward, school wouldn't be the same.
-Epiphany Thomas.
* "The outrage was displayed in our class at lunch that day." =At this school, they originally didn't have cafeterias. We usually ate in our classrooms. The school recently got parts of it rebuilt, and they added a cafeteria as a part of the reconstruction.
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