I Don't Recall

I did not work today. The assignments have been fewer this year; all of us are feeling the crunch. I spent the day getting a few things done around the house.

Yesterday morning I already discussed. The following incident happened yesterday afternoon.

It was fifth period in the environmental science class. I walked the room to make sure they were on task. As almost everyone had their books open, paper out, and they appeared to be writing on the paper, I took my seat at the front of the class.

Watching students do work is boring. So, I pulled out my paper and started working on my novel.

I had written about a page when one of the girls walked up. She was curious. She wanted to know what I was writing. Actually, she wanted to know if I was writing about her.

I was a bit perplexed. Why would I be writing about her? She wasn't doing anything out of the ordinary. She had been talking a bit, sure, but other than that she wasn't doing anything note-worthy.

I asked her why I would be writing about her. Was she doing something I should note? Was she paranoid?

She told me that I had gotten her in trouble a while back. She had been suspended. I did not remember this. I asked her what she had done. She, of course, had done nothing wrong. I just had it out for her. Eventually, she gave me enough clues so that I figured out what had happened. (She was one of them.)

(And by the way, the girl who issued the apology was in class as well. She's still doing no work. She spent 20 minutes "in the restroom" and spent the rest of class staring at walls. So much for "on task".)

She spent the rest of the period semi-working. She did nothing that needed to be noted, so I didn't. For a while I tried to "watch" her, like I was angry or something, but I couldn't pull it off.

Sometimes it amazes me that I forget these things. I don't hold on to anger over such incidents. But the students remember. Most of the time, they behave better. And that is the point of it all, anyway.