It's been a week
This week I am more or less a zombie. Into the Woods has kept me at the school until ten every night. So, 7 hours of rehearsal on top of the 7 hours I've already been at school. Today I reached the giddy stage of tired. That stage in which you appear to be energetic, but really your head is pounding with a headache centered right between the eyes and you feel the need to prop your eyelids with toothpicks.
To add to the fun, on Tuesday two of my students got *this close* to an all-out fight in my classroom. Following pure instinct, I started to move in between them, all the while thinking "Oh, yeah, Missy - unless you've developed superpowers in the last 3 seconds, what the hell are you going to do about this?" Two of my students broke them apart gently, and my co-teacher called for an administrator. The kid who started the fight ran out into the hall and punched the lockers so hard there has been talk of broken knuckles. This kid is a nutjob. I just want him out of my classroom. He's a smart kid and I've tried working with him, but the words "anger management" are not in his vocabulary. Apparently, home life is hell and my heart goes out to the kid for that, but holy shit when you're 17/18 years old you should have SOME idea of how to conduct yourself in a social setting.
Anyway, when it was all calmed down a few tears came to my eyes (frustration, anxiety, adrenaline, the whole bit came crashing down), and the other students and I just kind of had a nervous laugh over the whole situation. I walked them up to the media center as scheduled. On the way there, the administrator came out of the nurse's office and asked if I was okay. Of course, I lost it. It's always when someone asks you if you're alright that the sobs you thought you'd brought under control come out with a fury. I went to Kathy's office, had some tea and a chat, and then went back to my kids in the media center.
And I'll be damned if they weren't working harder than they've ever worked in the entire time I've known them. They were so eager to please. It was like working with little kids. Two of them made me a card about what a great teacher I am. It was really sweet.
As for the kid who started the shit, I really want him out of my class. I think I said that already. I told the administrator that my classroom is no longer productive, that it's all about this kid trying to gain control. The other kids are being neglected and my job has been reduced to that of a babysitter...no, warden.....no, zookeeper. It's ridiculous.
I want to go teach at a school where people actually value education. Is it too much to ask for parents to instill in their children a respect for the educational process? Is it too much to ask for parents to do the job that has been handed down to them? Or is that too idealistic of me? Am I searching for an educational El Dorado?
Dude. What the fuck.
To add to the fun, on Tuesday two of my students got *this close* to an all-out fight in my classroom. Following pure instinct, I started to move in between them, all the while thinking "Oh, yeah, Missy - unless you've developed superpowers in the last 3 seconds, what the hell are you going to do about this?" Two of my students broke them apart gently, and my co-teacher called for an administrator. The kid who started the fight ran out into the hall and punched the lockers so hard there has been talk of broken knuckles. This kid is a nutjob. I just want him out of my classroom. He's a smart kid and I've tried working with him, but the words "anger management" are not in his vocabulary. Apparently, home life is hell and my heart goes out to the kid for that, but holy shit when you're 17/18 years old you should have SOME idea of how to conduct yourself in a social setting.
Anyway, when it was all calmed down a few tears came to my eyes (frustration, anxiety, adrenaline, the whole bit came crashing down), and the other students and I just kind of had a nervous laugh over the whole situation. I walked them up to the media center as scheduled. On the way there, the administrator came out of the nurse's office and asked if I was okay. Of course, I lost it. It's always when someone asks you if you're alright that the sobs you thought you'd brought under control come out with a fury. I went to Kathy's office, had some tea and a chat, and then went back to my kids in the media center.
And I'll be damned if they weren't working harder than they've ever worked in the entire time I've known them. They were so eager to please. It was like working with little kids. Two of them made me a card about what a great teacher I am. It was really sweet.
As for the kid who started the shit, I really want him out of my class. I think I said that already. I told the administrator that my classroom is no longer productive, that it's all about this kid trying to gain control. The other kids are being neglected and my job has been reduced to that of a babysitter...no, warden.....no, zookeeper. It's ridiculous.
I want to go teach at a school where people actually value education. Is it too much to ask for parents to instill in their children a respect for the educational process? Is it too much to ask for parents to do the job that has been handed down to them? Or is that too idealistic of me? Am I searching for an educational El Dorado?
Dude. What the fuck.