Archie and Alvin. The boys I talked about last week. So, this was fifth period.
I had swapped Alvin and another boy, but that other boy was absent (and has gone on independent study, so he won't be back for a while), so at the beginning of class a day after I had made the switch...
"Can I move back to that seat? We'll be good..."
Alvin was practically sitting in Archie's lap. The two would not stop talking. Even after I asked them to. Repeatedly.
"We promise. We won't talk."
Um, right.
I would have made the joke that the two of them act like they're in love, but I wasn't going to humiliate them in front of their peers. And it might be the truth.
Because, seriously, the way they were together... Yeah, I can see a spark. They work as a couple.
But, seventh graders. Things are more open nowadays, and there's less of a stigma, but seventh graders.
Anyway, I did say no. Pretty emphatically. I wasn't even tempted. I didn't feel even a little badly about it.
I'm doing them a favor, really.
Because, seriously, they could not focus on the lesson and sit next to each other. I'm protecting their science grade.
I think you did the right thing. It made me think of work, where we had two men who were co workers - they literally did everything together, too. No one cared, but one of them ended up leaving the company.
ReplyDeleteSometimes that spark just happens.
DeleteProtect away!
ReplyDelete:)
DeleteAt minimum it’s a bromance, still too distracting.
ReplyDeleteExactly.
DeleteGood call not to joke about their closeness. Middle school is hard enough, along with the accompanying puberty, or because of it, without teasing from their classmates.
ReplyDeleteAlthough, with that group... It's a pretty good group, so I don't think it'd go like that. But still, not going to do it.
DeleteThings have changed so much in my lifetime. A substitute teacher once tried to have me suspended. My misbehavior involved leaving the lunch room to retrieve a borrowed book I'd left behind. My geometry teacher gave me a nod and smile when I stepped in briefly. Meanwhile, that wimpy vice principal caved in but at least only subjected me to three after school detentions. Ugh... Good luck to you.
ReplyDeleteI once got a student suspended. Of course, it was because he kicked a basketball and it hit another student in the head. She had to be taken to the hospital by ambulance. We try to be looser about things today, though. Minor infractions don't require suspensions.
DeleteGood for you!
ReplyDeleteThis is Birgit…they can canoodle during recess.
ReplyDeleteAh, recess. They actually need recess, so much so that they've instituted a play area during lunch. (I just got the email yesterday.)
DeleteHa, the distance will make their hearts grow fonder!
ReplyDeleteLast time I had them in class, they found time (as we were changing classes) to chase each other around the room. Yeah, they'll be fine.
Delete