turbulance

Last week was filled with the same kind of ups and downs as I have been accustomed to. Although tensions have been a little high for the students as the grade period ends this week and many students are acting out as a result of the anxiety about their poor grades. I have been struggling to help those students who are way behind to catch up. I have noticed that if I give them all the activities and homeworks that they can make up, then many times they become so overwhelmed that they do none of it. However, they get upset at me if I do not give them all their work. I was hoping for some advice about this issue.

Some variables have been added in the last couple of weeks that have led to an improvement in classroom culture. A couple of very bright new students have been at worse improving my days by having some students who are really engaged in learning and at best, at times are inspiring their classmates to succeed. Today, however has been tough as one friend of some of my classmates was shot and killed during the weekend and the students were very upset at even the idea of doing anything but grieving (which seems reasonable although I am not entirely sure how to handle the situation). I had them respond to a journal question for a while and then asked them to share it with someone although they ended up just chatting.