Friday was a bit on the crazy side. I went into the school expecting that. It was International Day and the day before spring break.
Normally International Day would have been last week, but the weather forecast said rain, so they postponed it. This meant that we weren't on a minimum day schedule, so the normal day schedule had to be tweaked. Everything was normal for my group until 4th period (well, except for the fire drill, but that's another story).
The school was divided into two groups. The first group was outside for 3rd and 4th periods. Then they had to be in class for 5th and 6th. The second group reversed this. My group was in class 3rd and 4th, and then they got to be outside 5th and 6th.
Our fourth period was scheduled to be 20 minutes longer. The teacher had left them an assignment, but most of them weren't bothering with it. (It isn't due until they get back from spring break anyway.) Half the class was out working the booths, so those in class got into groups with their friends and talked.
If I had a full class and it hadn't been International Day, I would have been upset. As it was, I was happy that they were seated and mellow. They weren't even talking all that loudly. I considered this a win and let them be.
Then the bell rang. This wasn't their bell. I informed the class that they still had 20 minutes left of class, and they didn't question me on it. (There are two lunch periods, so they're used to having bells that they're supposed to ignore.) Then the door opened, and I heard that others had not gotten the same memo. Some of the teachers of the second group had dismissed their students.
The girl who opened the door wanted to come in. This was her 5th period class. I told her to go back to her 4th period.
After she left, some joker in the back commented: "Way to be strict!"
I think he was joking. He had to be joking. I was so not being strict.
There were two more bells they had to ignore before they got dismissed. I was so glad I didn't have to do this with middle schoolers. Middle schoolers would never have cooperated with me like that.
Saturday, April 16, 2011
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Way to be strict - ha! Anytime students can't do what they want, they see it is as strict.
ReplyDeleteThe last day before break is a weird day to sub. My 3rd period gym glass was really quiet. Mostly due to the fact I let 3 of them fall asleep on gym equipment.