HAIRSHIRT

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Kids Are Alright (Except for the Psychotic Ones)

I had an okay day at work today. I need to make this clear. My job, while far from what I'd be doing if a genie popped out of my beer bottle and granted me three wishes, is not the worst job I've ever had. (That honor would go to my first teaching gig, about which I've taken great pains to forget as much as I can.)

I write all this because I know that my family will read what I'm about to describe and be upset. So I'll just say up front: it's all good.

Anyway, most of the kids I teach are your average, everyday middle-schoolers. This means that they're unfocused, surly and heavily into social drama of the "so-and-so said such-and-such about me/my friend/the color blue and so I must now yell at them in the middle of your class" variety. You wouldn't necessarily want them over to your house for brunch, but they're not bad.

Mixed in with them, there are a group of students in every class I have that go that little bit further toward what you'd have to, I guess, label outright hooliganism. The kids that do absolutely no work, freely curse each other out at full volume and more than occasionally get up out of their seats and run around the room throwing paper balls at each other. They're a hassle, but you deal with them as best you can and sometimes they even settle down long enough to turn in an incredibly half-assed assignment.

There are others, though, that just plain antagonize you. This isn't just misbehavior. It's not merely copping an attitude when you tell them to sit down. These kids have made it their mission to push you as far as they can.

I've got a handful of these little dears right now and I'm not sure exactly what the fuck to do with them.

I've got the kid who, during the conference with his father in November, actually stuck his tongue out at me, mocked me as I spoke and flipped me off when his father wasn't looking. That was particularly frustrating, because every time his dad would look over, all he'd see was his son hovering between boredom and respect. This kid continues to be a pain in class, doing absolutely zero work and doing his damnedest to disrupt what other students are working on.

Then there's the little gem who, over the last couple of weeks, has decided that he needs to derail my lessons every day. He gets up besides me and does a mocking Snoopy to my Lucy. He follows me around the room and repeatedly tells kids to whom I'm talking not to listen to me. He erases writing assignments I've put on the board. Yesterday, he took to making fun of my age (a point about which I'm utterly not sensitive). So he made lame joke after lame joke: "Hey Dusty! Aren't you supposed to retire?" "Hey Dusty! You want a cane?" I believe "dusty" is meant to connote an advanced state of decay. The problem isn't what the kid says to me, but that his disruption of my lessons is fucking irritating.

I'm dealing, as well, with a student who's not even one of my friggin' students anymore. This is a kid who I taught in a special ed class last year. He either graduated to high school or got kicked out of our school. It's possible he dropped out, but I don't know and, to be frank, I don't really give a dried-out rat turd. He's not my student anymore. But he and a friend of his pass me many afternoons as I walk to the train and he's made it his business to yell at me, "Hey! Mr. Wack-Off!"

Now, of all these kids, this one's the most puzzling. He doesn't have me anymore. Why in the name of No Child Left Behind would this kid give enough of a shit to yell at me? He should be completely and utterly indifferent. I just don't get why he bothers. Did I really have that big of an impact on the kid that he's got to take the time to do this?

In the end, I suppose I should take all this as a sign that I'm really reaching these kids. Reaching them enough to make them completely fucking hate me. Hurray!

posted by Joe # 4:56 PM

Comments:

I know I have a tendency to reply when one isn't needed, but I have to agree with your take on the whole matter.

Dunno what to say about the first kid, but I recommend putting that second one on the spot as often as possible.

# posted by

the beige one : 2:51 PM

Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Kids Are Alright (Except for the Psychotic Ones)

Links

Archives

		Tuesday, January 30, 2007 The Kids Are Alright (Except for the Psychotic Ones) I had an okay day at work today. I need to make this clear. My job, while far from what I'd be doing if a genie popped out of my beer bottle and granted me three wishes, is not the worst job I've ever had. (That honor would go to my first teaching gig, about which I've taken great pains to forget as much as I can.) I write all this because I know that my family will read what I'm about to describe and be upset. So I'll just say up front: it's all good. Anyway, most of the kids I teach are your average, everyday middle-schoolers. This means that they're unfocused, surly and heavily into social drama of the "so-and-so said such-and-such about me/my friend/the color blue and so I must now yell at them in the middle of your class" variety. You wouldn't necessarily want them over to your house for brunch, but they're not bad. Mixed in with them, there are a group of students in every class I have that go that little bit further toward what you'd have to, I guess, label outright hooliganism. The kids that do absolutely no work, freely curse each other out at full volume and more than occasionally get up out of their seats and run around the room throwing paper balls at each other. They're a hassle, but you deal with them as best you can and sometimes they even settle down long enough to turn in an incredibly half-assed assignment. There are others, though, that just plain antagonize you. This isn't just misbehavior. It's not merely copping an attitude when you tell them to sit down. These kids have made it their mission to push you as far as they can. I've got a handful of these little dears right now and I'm not sure exactly what the fuck to do with them. I've got the kid who, during the conference with his father in November, actually stuck his tongue out at me, mocked me as I spoke and flipped me off when his father wasn't looking. That was particularly frustrating, because every time his dad would look over, all he'd see was his son hovering between boredom and respect. This kid continues to be a pain in class, doing absolutely zero work and doing his damnedest to disrupt what other students are working on. Then there's the little gem who, over the last couple of weeks, has decided that he needs to derail my lessons every day. He gets up besides me and does a mocking Snoopy to my Lucy. He follows me around the room and repeatedly tells kids to whom I'm talking not to listen to me. He erases writing assignments I've put on the board. Yesterday, he took to making fun of my age (a point about which I'm utterly not sensitive). So he made lame joke after lame joke: "Hey Dusty! Aren't you supposed to retire?" "Hey Dusty! You want a cane?" I believe "dusty" is meant to connote an advanced state of decay. The problem isn't what the kid says to me, but that his disruption of my lessons is fucking irritating. I'm dealing, as well, with a student who's not even one of my friggin' students anymore. This is a kid who I taught in a special ed class last year. He either graduated to high school or got kicked out of our school. It's possible he dropped out, but I don't know and, to be frank, I don't really give a dried-out rat turd. He's not my student anymore. But he and a friend of his pass me many afternoons as I walk to the train and he's made it his business to yell at me, "Hey! Mr. Wack-Off!" Now, of all these kids, this one's the most puzzling. He doesn't have me anymore. Why in the name of No Child Left Behind would this kid give enough of a shit to yell at me? He should be completely and utterly indifferent. I just don't get why he bothers. Did I really have that big of an impact on the kid that he's got to take the time to do this? In the end, I suppose I should take all this as a sign that I'm really reaching these kids. Reaching them enough to make them completely fucking hate me. Hurray! posted by Joe # 4:56 PM Comments: I know I have a tendency to reply when one isn't needed, but I have to agree with your take on the whole matter. Dunno what to say about the first kid, but I recommend putting that second one on the spot as often as possible. # posted by the beige one : 2:51 PM Post a Comment << Home		Links The Conversation Special Productions Izzle Pfaff Freida Bee Sometimes I Just Talk Alisa and the Stuff Alisa Does Tuna Girl Defective Yeti The Incurable Insomniac The Savvy, The Extreme and The Idealist Caballito del Diablo The Ambivalence of Open Spaces Bug-Eyed Blog Whiskeymarie Version 53 Things I've Noticed (S)wine: ShortLeanCuts Out of Tune Missives from the Beige Sister of Hairshirt Apostrophe Abuse Jonestown Tobacco Brunette The Public Intellectual That's Why Archives July 2004 August 2004 September 2004 October 2004 November 2004 December 2004 January 2005 February 2005 March 2005 April 2005 May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 March 2011 April 2011