Day Forty Four: Make Good Choices

I am not sure what to write about today.  I could write about the fact that one of our students is going to India for three months, and so will miss most of the next term.  I could talk about the fact that there are some groups in my class that do social studies together that are going to end in blood.  I think I will talk about that.  There are two groups of girls in my class that are not working out well together.  They were told to make 'good choices' at the beginning of the year when they picked their partners.  So these groups made 'poor choices' I guess because they are not getting along.  Here is an example:  A and R fight continually and R has to be the queen bee all the time.  She doesn't share, she has all the answers and she screeches at her partner.  The other two, K and D have already been spoken to.  K is bullying D, but it was their choice of partner so I guess they have to live with it.  WHich to me is CRAP!! so one kid gets bullied, but because she picked her partner she has to live with it all year?  What is she going to remember at the end of the year?  How much she hated social studies and was bullied in class? Or that grade two was awesome?  D never smiles and when social studies comes along she gets all melancholy.  This bothers me.  R refuses to take directions and always blames all the problems on A.  It's rediculous.  Do a reboot of the groups after Christmas.  It is unfair to let GRADE 2 students know what is a good choice at the beginning of the year.  They might not know that jsut because someone is your best friend, doesn't mean they are the best partner.  It's so....argh!! This consequence of having this partner all year is too much for these little guys.  I can't say anything because it's not my class.  I asked about it today and the teacher said 'They were told to make good choices.'  So lets pass the buck to seven year olds because it takes too much effort to redo the groups.  I am so upset about this.  Bullying is something I can't tolerate.  I have seen what it does first hand, and the lack of action in this room is disturbing.