But let's face it. Teenagers are not the most mature or cooperative people out there. Some days, I question if they are really people. They could be aliens. Sent here to sabotage our public schools and drive all teachers crazy. Yeah. Definitely aliens.
Classroom management is key to a successful classroom and it is always the hardest thing for a first year teacher to gain control of (so I'm told - and I am inclined to agree).
Some days I feel more like a prison guard, than a teacher. Think about it. The kids are there because the state mandates that they have to be there or because their parents tell them they have to be there. Most of them aren't there because they value education - or at least they don't knowingly value it. They aren't that mature yet. They just think you are trying to torture them. God forbid they actually have to read something or write something or *gasp* THINK.
When my kids are being goobers and misbehaving, I periodically have the urge to Gibbs slap them. That's right. Some days, I just want to be Leroy Jethro Gibbs from NCIS.
A teenager wants to explain and justify to me why their gossip and conversation is more important than taking 2 minutes to listen quietly to directions? GIBBS SLAP
A teenager scoots his desk to the front of the classroom in order to retrieve a pencil instead of getting up out of their chair and actually walking over to retrieve it? GIBBS SLAPA teenager puts another teenager into a headlock while walking into my classroom? GIBBS SLAP
A teenager tells you to "wait just a minute" when you tell him or her that they need to stop talking now? GIBBS SLAP
A teenager complains that they have too much homework after you just gave them FORTY FIVE MINUTES of class time to finish their project and they wasted it!?!?! GIBBS SLAP
Obviously, this will never happen, but some days I really feel like it just might be the right course of action. Some days, I feel like it would be quicker and more effective than in school suspension. The sad reality is that many of them want to go to ISS half the time. I can resort to ISS when I need to and I can write referrals when they act like knuckleheads, but some days I just want to be Gibbs.
So, while it will never happen, the thought puts a little smile on my face whenever I get overly frustrated and helps to keep me sane.
Does it make me a bad person? Maybe. But my patience isn't limitless and I can daydream.
I apologize for my tirade, but it was just one of those weeks and I had a lot of pesky DiNozzos to deal with.
How about...teenager clearly sends a text message during class, and when corrected says, "what?? my mom wanted to know if she had to pick me up today." GIBBS slap teenager. GIBBS slap mom. Heck, I'd even like to GIBBS slap all of today's youth (except the moderate to high-level achievers whom I've heard rumors of....though I've never seen any proof of their existence. this is why I am THOROUGHLY enjoying my year-long maternity leave. I hope that when you return after the baby, you don't get this comment..."you shoulda never had a kid. you just been mean ever since." what's worse than a GIBBS slap?? That's what I wanted to do!!! So, sorry for the rambling, but I completely feel your pain!
ReplyDeleteJ.A.M.M. - Don't apologize for the long post. I enjoy hearing what you have to say from your own experiences teaching.
ReplyDeleteWe're on a 4x4 schedule. My kids for the new semester have no idea what's coming. I'm starting off way stricter than this semester and keeping it that way because I don't want to repeat some of the mistakes I made during my first semester. I'm way too nice and it just doesn't pay to be that way - which is sad, but true. I suppose the "Don't smile until Christmas" rule has a lot of truth to it. Bunch of goobers and their cellularmaphones...
What's worse than a GIBBS SLAP? Hmm. A Ziva kick?