12.8.05

Horrid

The first day was not what I was expecting at all. The computer system was being switched this summer and like most software companies, they promised a lot of things and only gave them half of it. This caused tons of problems with schedules and stuff like that so the whole morning was spent in homeroom.

I have a homeroom class of about 20 kids. At first, they were okay. Then, because I let them sit where ever they liked, they started getting a little talkative. It would have all been okay if it hadn’t been for the terrible duo.

I have a pair of repeaters who are extremely proud of being in the sixth grade again. They love having the attention on them, so they started getting up and talking really loud and just disrupting everyone. It was only a matter of time before they had the class up in arms. Since they wouldn’t stop misbehaving, I separated them because it was a deal I’d made with them. This of course, made both of them really upset so they continued to misbehave, so at lunch, they weren’t able to sit together, and this was part of the deal too. My other classes showed up later and they were pretty good. To my dismay, homeroom came back for another 25 minutes at the end of the day. I ended up giving one kid detention which he didn’t show up to this morning.

By the end of the day, I was so fed up. I did what I wasn’t supposed to do; I let them get to me. It’s not that I didn’t know how to handle them, but I just can’t picture the rest of the year with them. I almost wanted to go downstairs and resign.

This morning, I didn’t want to go back. I had knots in my stomach all the way to school. I didn’t even enjoy my morning tunes. First period went well, I kept them busy and I am pretty content with the work they were doing. Then there was homeroom. It was utter chaos because there are so many things we have to pick up from them, so I had them fixing their paperwork before turning it in to me. Then they called for lunch. When they came back to class, one of the terrible duo kids was gone. Apparently, he did something to upset the principals so he got sent to ISC, which is that class where they keep them isolated and working all day long. I think that’s what he was looking for all along.

The other kid kept bugging the class, but now I had more time to go make him work. I kept going over to him and pushing him to work and giving him little pep talks about wanting him to get to 7th grade.

My 7th and 8th periods were okay. I have a couple of kids who could potentially be problematic but I’m separating them on Monday. They’ve been warned. In the meantime, I’m going to get some sleep. The thing about being a new teacher is that you sort of have to make up your own questions to the books, especially if you don’t want to bore them with the questions at the end of the story. I hope next week goes much better.

7 comments:

Unknown said...

oh, but its only week one. and what about just pulling the trouble makers aside and having a heart to heart away from their peers where they do not have to keep a front going. i thought there was a mentor that could help you with this. i hope things improve.

Anonymous said...

Well it sorta seems like the bad ones are going to weed themselves out. I don't know if that's actually true, but hopefully so. And like CC said, I hope things improve. Look for the good kids to give you strength and hope. Those are the ones that are gonna look up to you as a role model even if they don't express it.

Vanessa said...

I'm new to your blog (and blogs in general), but I really like reading it and was even inspired to start my own blog--Ness and Filomena. Anyway, last year was my first year of teaching history at a community college. At first, it was so hard to be authorative in front of 40 faces. My advice: Don't let the students intimidate you, you are the adult in the situation. You know more than they do! Being in front of the classroom gets easier, it really does. Stay strong and good luck.

Anonymous said...

I am certain that this will be the worst you'll have to endure. You're a great, strong woman who unlike many teachers, really wanted to teach. Your love for teaching will get you through, and like Efraín said, you'll become a role model for many of your students. Keep your head high and don't let those rascals intimidate you, it happened one day, but you learned your lesson.

Anonymous said...

Hey gabi, thanks for using the acento. I'm so lazy when it comes to that.

Georgina Baeza said...

Thanks guys for all your advice and ánimo (accent?). There's been another incident in the case of one of the terrible duo. I'll write about it when I get more time. Right now, I've got to get back to lesson planning.

P.S. Welcome to the bloggero/a world Vanessa. I look forward to reading your blog.

under the red sky said...

When I was student teaching in 6th grade I had several problem kiddies. The best thing is to try to isolate them, keep them busy, and have their parents cell phone number ready at all times. That seemed to be a great deterrent. Another thing that scared the kids was having to have their mom or dad having to sit in with them during the school day. My master teacher did this on more than one occasion with kiddies that couldn't control themselves.
Hope everything is going well for you now. Also, coming from a sub that has dealt with a lot of crap take it all in stride. Don't take it personal aight!