Reap what you sow?
Ugh. I’m not a disciplinarian. I’m really not. But today I had to drop the hammer on the kids. There was one class of mine that was being extremely loud and rude. Not rude to me. Hell, they can cuss me out to my face in front of my mother for all I care. But when these kids are talking all the time, it’s rude and disrespectful to everyone who is trying to pay attention and learn (as I type this, I can see the Ghosts of Teacher’s Past all gathered behind me, nodding their approval. Man, I still feel like a betrayer for becoming a teacher). So I told the kids that if they didn’t stop talking, I would assign extra homework. That worked…for about 5 minutes. Soon the roar started again. I kept warning them. I gave them more chances than they deserved to quiet down on their own. But in the end they forced my hand. I can’t make a threat and not have the balls to follow through, after all, so I gave ‘em all extra work for the weekend. The good kids were pretty bummed out, and I apologized to them, but I had to do it. Hopefully this will get the kids to self-police and make sure their louder neighbors keep things to a dull roar.
It was a good and fair punishment, and it might lead to better things down the road. So why do I still feel the need to take a long, scalding-hot shower?
Till next time, this is The Ignorant Westerner taking his first steps on a certain road paved with good intentions, and saying, 再见!