Henry Absent Today.

design fundamentals. Henry will be working on his "element" of "texture" when classes resume. He will be using clay, soup beans , and other found objects, to show a variety of "textured" results.

Henry and I will continue working on completing his clay sculpture.

The early portion of this lesson on Wednesday 12/19 involved some challenges in communication between Henry and another student. I was able to present Henry with some reflections and wisdom regarding his approach and most of the negative thinking he was projecting into the situation. Henry was able to come sit next to me in the main student lobby, and he calmed himself as I played relaxing tones from my Bluetooth speaker. I was able to convince Henry to sit and drink some hot tea with me, so he went into the kitchen and made our cups to drink. During that portion of the lesson, Henry seemed to be completely balanced compared to the hour and thirty minutes prior. When Ms. Judie came to inform Henry that he would be going home early due to the incident at lunch, he immediately broke-down and became visibly upset and disappointed. This was a challenging moment for himself and I, but I sat by his side and encouraged him while holding him accountable to this actions and words during the incident, by reminding him that he could have chosen differently and the outcome would be different in that moment. After a relatively short period of time (approximately 20 minutes) Henry came around upon my request for another game of Chess, and within no time we were engaged in another match of Chess. Henry did end up being picked-up approximately 15 minutes early, however, he seemed quite calm and balanced despite the two prior emotional/behavioral setbacks no less than 2-hours early. Despite the negative nature of his communications and conduct at the very end of lunch and spilling over into our session, Henry made significant progress in my opinion, because he managed to overcome these challenges in communication to bring himself back to a state of calm in a quick and timely fashion. I sense that the connection and trust between him and I is progressing, because he showed signs of listening and heeding my words and advice, albeit at his own pace. Nonetheless, I was proud of Henry's perseverance in overcoming these challenges.

During this lesson, Henry and I played game of Chess, which I often have used to discuss the strategy embedded therein. Henry was excited as he has been anticipating this game since the prior week. It was interesting to see how many students at Batt were interested in the game as a small audience quickly assembled. Henry remained focused, and played with a lot of effort and fortitude in overcoming. Henry decided on an aggressive attack, but made an important mistake when he failed to see his exposed Queen mid-way through the match. At the end of the game, when asked what his most critical mistake was during the match, Henry quickly pointed to this error. I used it as an opportunity to discuss his strategy, as well as my counter defense to his attack. I noted that he must be willing to take steps backward in his attack when he uses his power pieces that have flexibility in their mobility, especially the Queen. Furthermore, I summarized for Henry that our reflection at the end of the Chess match, which is important for the development of any person, is perhaps the most vital aspect of any defeat. Henry performed quite well and seemed to understand the notions I was connecting between leadership and Chess.

Henry joins in a Holiday Party of games, singing, and other activities.

Henry and I will work on a gift for Miss Judy. Henry will write a gratitude card out letting Mrs. Judie know why she is special to him. In addition to the card Henry has chosen to create a special image that he will give to Miss Judie.

Henry was absent.

Henry was out today.

Henry was absent.