a wonderful surprise

some of the schools in the chula vista school district use a color system for behavior. the kids usually start the day on green. if they are not behaving in class, they move down to yellow and then to red if the bad behavior persists. if they are doing a great job listening and follow instructions, they will move up from green to blue and then purple. malia has been on every color. she likes to talk, that's the problem. so each day is a guessing game for us on what color she was on. on days when she has been on purple, she tells me she worked really hard to be good and not talk to her friends. i tell her to try to be consistent. and some weeks she actually doesn't go below green.

anyways, 2 fridays ago she came home with a red slip. it's bad enough to be on red, so to come home with a red slip is really, really bad. we had to sign it and she returns it to her teacher. then last friday, she came home with a purple slip. so she must have been extremely good to get a purple slip.

yesterday, she came home with an envelope. roel didn't smile or say anything when he handed it to me, so i was scared to even open it. turns out it was an invitation to the next assembly on monday because malia made the honor roll. just like when i found out she got student of the month, there i was again asking roel, "are you sure?" it was a shocker, but i'm proud of her! all i ask her to do is behave in class, try her best at her homework the first time, and ask for help when she needs it. i've never mentioned the honor roll to her. so for her to be on the honor roll this quarter is such a wonderful surprise.