I don't know what it is about 5th period. This school year they've been the weirdest of the bunch.
The group I had last Tuesday had a get-ready-for-finals assignment. Some worked on it. A group near the front spent the period mostly in conversation. And what a conversation it was!
"One year, I got 139 detentions."
Considering that there are 180 days in the school year, that's quite a run. How does one get a detention practically every single day? I don't want to know.
"[One teacher] really liked me, but [another teacher] had my other brother in class. She asked if I was Trevor's brother. I lied and said I wasn't. No one liked Trevor."
Apparently Trevor was a bad, bad kid.
"[One teacher] really hated me. Passing period wasn't even over and she kicked me out of class."
"Most bullies aren't evil enough to give you a black eye the day before picture day."
"In 4th grade, I learned not to hit the teacher."
I wasn't the only one taken aback by that. The others in the group wondered why it took that long. The boy explained that everyone told him not to hit. I guess he hit everyone. It was only in the 4th grade that he got that hitting the teacher was worse.
The girl in the group was astonished that I hadn't been warned about the two boys. I didn't explain that the teacher only left emergency lesson plans that day (must have been a very last minute call out). Because, apparently the two boys were that teacher's terrors. One slept for much of the first semester, and the other explained that he had had practically every seat in the room (the teacher kept moving him, hoping that would help him settle).
I found them entertaining. But then again, I wasn't asking for silence. Since I let them talk, they didn't feel the need to do battle with me, and that made my day all that much easier.
I have a feeling they'll be repeating this class next year.
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
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I'm guessing my younger sister told a lot of teachers that she wasn't related to me. I wasn't a 'bad' kid, but I certainly did try their patience every chance I got.
ReplyDeleteConversations like that break my heart. What kind of home life have these boys had if the one couldn't even figure out he shouldn't hit a teacher until 4th grade? I mean, kids repeat the behaviors they experience growing up. *shudders*
ReplyDeleteI, too, was disturbed by the boy who hit. How very sad that until the age of eight or nine he didn't understand such behavior wasn't acceptable. Consciously choosing to misbehave is different than not knowing any better.
ReplyDeleteVR Barkowski
ha! I remember getting a few detentions - but no where near that number!
ReplyDeleteI had kids this past year that appeared to average a detention a day. For awhile,I had two regular "guests" in the office every day - sent from one class or another - not together (one 7th, one 8th grader. When kids become daily "guests" in the office, I have to wonder what strategies the teacher has tried already. At that point, it needs to be get mom and dad involved big time. And, yes, good luck with that.....
ReplyDeleteGee, the kid who didn't learn not to hit the teacher until fourth grade might repeat the class? I can't imagine why. He sounds like such a conscientious student.
ReplyDelete