Why did I lose it?

I really just got so impatient and irritated today and I wonder why.  I showed a student how to copy pages for an assignment for herself and one other student.  I asked her to make two copies of five pages.  When she hadn't returned after a long time, I sent our volunteer down after her.  The volunteer was told she needed five copies of the whole chapter.  No wonder it was taking a long time.  Then the pages were all out of order.  I guess I got frustrated with wasting time and my failure to make sure my directions were understood. 

And this was after, once again, several didn't seem to understand there was a difference between 8% and 80% and that 5/10 was different than 10/5.  Sometimes I have to remember that many of these students dropped out of school for a reason.  They got pregnant, they were suspended, they got into fights--but for some, school was not a place of success and learning or they might have endured.

So here is a positive about today.  L, who is the lowest scoring student in the class, related a one on one lesson on discounts and percents to a time recently when she bought a microwave.  It was truly as if she suddenly had an insight and the whole idea made sense!  The microwave's price was $60 and the salesperson offered her a 10% discount.  She was asked if she knew what that was--and at the time she didn't.  Now she does and she was quite pleased about it.  So was I!  I told her we would make up a problem about it for everyone.