Tuesday. Seventh grade science.
I had gotten the assignment at 1 AM. In their Google Classrooms, the teacher informed the kiddos that he'd had a medical emergency. He left them plenty to do.
And some of them did the work.
Others...
Two boys immediately logged onto a game. Fortnite, I think. I told them they had work to do. As I walked up behind them, they showed their screens with the actual work. And no open game tabs.
They set it up with two desktops. (I think that's what it's called.) I do similar. You can flip between one screen with appropriate tabs, and the other screen has something else. (Usually for me it's blogs.) Somehow, they thought they were fooling me. I don't know why.
I told them to close the game and get to work. Of course they didn't.
My philosophy in this circumstance is that it's their grade. If they don't do the work, they don't get the points. I can point out that they're not making good choices, but they're their choices. (I also note who was blatantly not working in my note to the teacher.)
Considering the time of year, things went pretty well. At least they entertained themselves. Better than what they could have been doing.
I'm ready for some time off. It's coming soon.
Their work, their choice. As long as they’re not disruptive
ReplyDeleteThat's 85% of my job.
DeleteThey thought they were clever!
ReplyDeleteMiddle schoolers always do. They're never as slick as they think, though. They're really bad at it, but they don't know this yet.
DeleteThey always think they're fooling the adult in the room. I know my students did, and I'm sure I thought the same when I was the student and doing whatever it was I was doing when I was supposed to be working (writing, probably.) :)
ReplyDeleteMy philosophy was similar to yours when I was in your shoes.
A good way to stay sane, point it out and let it be! I bet you are so ready for your summer break :)
ReplyDeleteNot so ready that I turned down a job for today. But yeah, some time off will be nice.
DeleteHopefully the teacher deals with them when he returns.
ReplyDeleteThere should be a way for the work page to be the only page they can bring up when they're told to do their work.
ReplyDeleteThat kind of management is part of what makes teaching so exhausting!
ReplyDeleteIt does. Especially when the kiddos know what they should be doing and aren't doing it.
DeleteSome time off for sure! Do you take summer break? People ask me that all the time with homeschooling and the answer is: sometimes but not usually. I take my break around the holidays.
ReplyDeleteStudents always find new ways to get around work - some things never change - only the ways in which they do it. P.S. At work I have three monitors - two monitors and a laptop - and I love it.
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm on long terms it's nice to have multiple screens. Useful.
DeleteI'm assuming you're a substitute teacher? This sounds so difficult to deal with! Though, I have to admit … my husband and I have been sucked into Fortnite. They just had a Star Wars season, so everything is Star Wars themed … we can't help ourselves. Good luck with these crazy kiddos!
ReplyDeleteWell, at least they tried. My kids are out of school now so most of their days are filled with video games anyway...
ReplyDeleteSome of them, anyway. Yeah, I'm sure your kids are enjoying all their gaming time :)
DeleteWe all need time off.
ReplyDeleteIt's getting increasingly challenging to be a teacher!
ReplyDeleteIt is.
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