Smackdown!

After yet another failed trip to the library, and two days of a zoo-like atmosphere in class, I went to our department head for help. Her advice: call every parent, kick'em out when they don't listen, keep working on it. So that's what I did, I spend a few hours on the phone with parents, set up places to send them when they didn't behave, and gave them a fair warning as they walked in. Six kick outs later, my class was like the sea of tranquility for the first time all year. It was lovely!

Today, many of the students with attitude problems attempted to skip class, but I emailed each of their teachers for the following block and wrote them each up for skipping as I got responses.

I love my job, I love my job, I love my job!

Mischief and Mayhem

Right now, I'm awaiting my dreaded fifth period class. This class is quite adept at drawing energy from the chaos of lunch and pouring into the classroom setting. Thus each day is like feeding time at the zoo, except the animals are only interested in food fights.

Yesterday was unofficial pottymouth day. Rather than volunteering answers, students were shouting obscenities in a popcorn-like fashion. I pulled three students out into the hallway for conference, and while that was happening another student started having a shouting match with my cooperating teacher. Two kids walked away, another in the office, I walk in the door and the whole class is in tears laughing at the arg. I come in, settle the kids down and have to have another conference after class. Then I called 4 sets of parents, and couldn't reach a single one (disconnect lines, doesn't work here anymore, not home, etc.). It was a terrible, terrible day.

I've given up on drinking coffee. I can't drink enough, so I've taken to eating straight up choco-covered coffee beans.

i love my job, i love my job, i love my job...