It Wasn't Me

I often write about misbehaving students. My days are not so much filled with these kids as they are punctuated by them. Not all of them make the blog, though. Many days I find more interesting stories.

Aaron was difficult. He would not stop talking. And when he spoke, his voice was so loud that it started the rest of the class as well. The lesson plan specified that the class was to work quietly, so Aaron was not helping me out at all.

I checked to see what work he had done. Of course, he wasn't doing much of anything.

This is the sort of thing that goes in the note to the teacher. And it normally wouldn't make the blog. But then Aaron kicked it up a notch.

It was the end of the period, and the class had packed up and lined up at the door. Aaron was at the front of the line. So, of course he turned off the lights. Why every class must flip those switches I do not know, but it happens every day. Then the bell rang. And no one was moving.

Aaron had decided that it would be funny to hold the door shut so that no one could leave the room. In moments, the rest of the class voiced their displeasure. I called Aaron over to me so that we could have a little chat.

Aaron then released the door, and the whole class exited, including Aaron. I was glad he was gone, although his leaving without talking to me meant that had had disobeyed me again. This all went in the note to the teacher.

That was two weeks ago. I didn't consider this incident all that interesting, so I wrote about something else here.

On Thursday I covered this class again. The teacher called to leave lesson plans, and once we got talking, he knew that I was the last sub he had. He told me that Aaron had been punished for his misbehavior. At this point, I did not recall Aaron. It wasn't until I saw the student that I remembered what had happened.

Aaron came right up to me and explained that it wasn't him who had done all the things I said he had. Funny, the whole class called his name when they couldn't get out the door. He explained that he hadn't heard me tell him to come talk to me. At that point it didn't matter, though. Aaron was not going to spend the day in class. He was going elsewhere, and he was not pleased.

The class had a video this time. Aaron had to do bookwork.

With Aaron gone, I was home free, right? No, of course not. There was this one girl who would not stop talking, and when I stared her down, she stared right back at me, acting like she was doing nothing whatsoever wrong.

Sigh.

The joys of subbing.