New plant on the row..

  Lets pretend you are half way through the school year, you finally have your students all on board with the class procedures and everything is running so smoothly...until little Johnny from California shows up at lunch! You have the afternoon to figure out what little Johnny learned in California, what he doesn't know, if he has any hidden quirks, what his family is like, does he hate science or love to blow things up, give him the spelling words, and keep teaching your class so that none of your "old" students miss a beat. Easy enough right?!

  This is similar to the process a garden goes through when a new plant is added to the area. Especially with container plants, it is important to do your homework before placing two plants of a different species into one pot. Lets say you have a plant that thrives in direct sunlight and you decided to add a new plant to that container but it needs to spend more time in the sun. Both plants will not survive in the same conditions. The new plant will be scorched by the sunlight and over powered by the flourishing older plants.

  In a classroom, all students do not thrive under the same conditions. Sally may excel in a silent classroom where as little Johnny may need tons of background noise to help his mind focus. If you leave little Johnny in a completely silent environment, he will eventually, like the shade plant, shut down. That being said, acclimating a new person to an existing community can take time. Each party must find a common ground on which to settle. And as the teacher, our biggest most well practiced trait should be FLEXIBILITY. In education, our world is constantly changing now and forever. Students come and go but our procedures must exist in such a way as to provide all students the opportunity to be successful no matter the situation.