monsters.
So here's what happened today at work.
Today I gave my General Music students their first test. I thought it was going to be really really easy considering we've been going over the same stuff for almost two weeks, and I gave them 10 minutes to use their notes, and we played a review game yesterday where the winning team got extra points on their tests. Needless to say, I wanted these kids to do very well on this test. During 3rd period, i have a class full of monsters, they talk CONSTANTLY, curse in English as well as in Spanish. one child walked in today with his pants around his ankles and his t-shirt over his head. Well of course, all the "bad kids" forgot their notebooks and so decided to try to send bits of their own notes to each other across the room in the form of paper airplanes. After snatching a few mid-air, i separated them into a few corners of the room. In this class of about...23 there are 8 or 9 bad students, that's a lot. Well, after that, i resorted to threats, saying, "If you boys don't settle down i'll start taking points off of your tests." I should have known this was the que they were waiting for. "So miss, i don't care, imma turn it in right now, i want a zero!" so Ruben wrote his name on his paper, got up and turned it into me blank. And the other 7 or 8 followed in suit. I was heartbroken and devistated. These kids don't care at all. During the course of the 50 minute period, i had to take 3 kids outside in order to talk to them one-on-one. "Why are you being like this?" i'd ask. "Uh...i dunno." "Do you think it's funny or cool or something? Because it's not." "....-shoulder shrug-..." I'd even try to talk sensibly to them, asking about their other classes, what they liked and disliked about the class...etc. during the one-on-one conferences, there would be screaming and loud booming noises coming from the room, followed by a few bangs on my piano, i'd stick my head back in to find giggling faces staring back at me, and then " It was him, miss! i told him to stop" the fingerpointing.
So when everyone had turned in their tests, one of the problem children walked over to my piano, on which i have my 6 stacks of music neatly arranged, and pushed them all off of the piano. 6 stacks of at least 25 music booklets! like a little 2 year old, he pushed them all onto the floor, looked at me and started laughing. the other kids start in right away, "oooooh! miiiiiiiss! look what he did!" my temper is boiling and i scream, "ALL OF YOU BOYS PICK IT UP, NOW!" They all laugh and start picking it up, trying to sort it out...of course the bell rings in mid-collection and they all scatter and i'm left in a terrible mood and with a mess on the floor.
these are the type of monsters i deal with every day.
the thing that sucks is that i hardly ever get mad. i am definately not a yeller and i'm especially not a screamer. but i think i'm managing to lose my voice, and i've only been working for 2 weeks. Lord, help me.
Today I gave my General Music students their first test. I thought it was going to be really really easy considering we've been going over the same stuff for almost two weeks, and I gave them 10 minutes to use their notes, and we played a review game yesterday where the winning team got extra points on their tests. Needless to say, I wanted these kids to do very well on this test. During 3rd period, i have a class full of monsters, they talk CONSTANTLY, curse in English as well as in Spanish. one child walked in today with his pants around his ankles and his t-shirt over his head. Well of course, all the "bad kids" forgot their notebooks and so decided to try to send bits of their own notes to each other across the room in the form of paper airplanes. After snatching a few mid-air, i separated them into a few corners of the room. In this class of about...23 there are 8 or 9 bad students, that's a lot. Well, after that, i resorted to threats, saying, "If you boys don't settle down i'll start taking points off of your tests." I should have known this was the que they were waiting for. "So miss, i don't care, imma turn it in right now, i want a zero!" so Ruben wrote his name on his paper, got up and turned it into me blank. And the other 7 or 8 followed in suit. I was heartbroken and devistated. These kids don't care at all. During the course of the 50 minute period, i had to take 3 kids outside in order to talk to them one-on-one. "Why are you being like this?" i'd ask. "Uh...i dunno." "Do you think it's funny or cool or something? Because it's not." "....-shoulder shrug-..." I'd even try to talk sensibly to them, asking about their other classes, what they liked and disliked about the class...etc. during the one-on-one conferences, there would be screaming and loud booming noises coming from the room, followed by a few bangs on my piano, i'd stick my head back in to find giggling faces staring back at me, and then " It was him, miss! i told him to stop" the fingerpointing.
So when everyone had turned in their tests, one of the problem children walked over to my piano, on which i have my 6 stacks of music neatly arranged, and pushed them all off of the piano. 6 stacks of at least 25 music booklets! like a little 2 year old, he pushed them all onto the floor, looked at me and started laughing. the other kids start in right away, "oooooh! miiiiiiiss! look what he did!" my temper is boiling and i scream, "ALL OF YOU BOYS PICK IT UP, NOW!" They all laugh and start picking it up, trying to sort it out...of course the bell rings in mid-collection and they all scatter and i'm left in a terrible mood and with a mess on the floor.
these are the type of monsters i deal with every day.
the thing that sucks is that i hardly ever get mad. i am definately not a yeller and i'm especially not a screamer. but i think i'm managing to lose my voice, and i've only been working for 2 weeks. Lord, help me.