Yesterday I had to write two referrals on 2 kids. They were throwing spit wads, smacking each other, swearing at me and just being, specifically, little assholes. I wrote the referrals and out of class they went. There was a third kid at the table and I could never bust him as part of it so I didn't write him up. Also, this kid was not smarmy to me, nor was he disrespectful. He also helped clean up the mess.
So I went to school today and while there I learned that the 2 kids who I tossed were sent to In School Suspension and the other was sent to an out of school suspension program. The third kid sitting at the desk was also given 3 days of In School Suspension. The other boys ratted him out. I thought that was completely unfair that he was in trouble as well because the worst thing he would've done was throw the spit wads.
Honestly I didn't care about the spit wads; what caused the referral in the first place was the culmination of the spit wads, the claims they didn't do anything, the grabbing and hitting at each other, calling me names, calling each other names and then refusing to pick up their mess and calling me a "fat bitch." The third kid didn't do ANY of that stuff so I think it sucks he has to suffer with the other subhuman neanderthals.
Because I've been subbing in the same room, for all intrinsic purposes, for the last week and a half, the kids are starting to know me. Today I had another sub in the room with me- this is a resource room and it's shared between 2 teachers and today they were both out. So this other sub is walking the room and some kid threatens to "punch you in the face" when she tells him to stop playing computer video games and to get busy. She wrote a referral on him and he was removed immediately.
You know what? There were more referrals written in the last 2 days than I wrote the entire time I taught high school back in the Wild West. It's sad that these high school students are so mean and disrespectful. When I complained about how disrespectful my Wild West kids were I had no idea. I had it easy. I was wrong. My Wild West kids were saints by comparison. I miss my Wild West kids.
I could go on and on about what I feel are the differences and am feeling very disgruntled. What really sums it up is:
This makes me never want to teach again.
On a career path to nowhere,
Maggie
4 comments:
Hey Maggie, do you think it's a geographical issue? Upbringings are different in the Wild West..family work ethic, less access to various entertainment opp's, and dual-parenting? Meaning only that farming and ranching is a 'family affair'...respect for the land, the industry and each other more than not, to make it all work?
I found myself thinking/wondering the same things as "W.O.W. factor". Here you would get more of the same I do not know how high school teachers do it.
I graduated in 90 and the "type" of teacher has changed dramatically too but that is I think also part of the issue, teachers who are passionate about what they do don't want to deal with class rooms full of disrespectful smart-arses (hehe)
I think WOW has the right idea. It is geographic. I know our kids here in town are lazy, don't have a work ethic at all. Most of them come from broken homes, and have little respect for each other, teachers or parents. They don't honor other people's space, or posessions.
Even in our county, the kids from rural backgrounds, and we are talking farm kids that help on the family farm, have a better work ethic, are more polite, and have a respect that the town kids are lacking.
Now, that being said, in defense of the town kids, I have to say that it's not all their fault. In meeting with some parents, I have found that they are no better. How can the kids be any different.
Too, I have a lot of good kids, lots of good parents who teach their kids the rights and the wrongs. Kids will be kids, wherever they are, but there is a difference that is noticible.
JE
WOW, et al:
I think you're all correct. I think my Wild West kids had more respect for the teachers, overall. There are times when they, too, were buttheads, but across the board, not so much. I spend most of my days with dicipline as a sub. And I've talked to other teachers because I wondered if it is because I'm a sub but the kids treat them the same way.
These kids have more divorces and have crappy parental role models than my Wild West kids. They also have way to much free time. While my WW kids didn't think school was super important they went anyway and almost always did homework. They also had a great work ethic because, as you said, they were working on the farm from the time they could walk, no exceptions. I think that has a huge influence.
And I also have to say, in defense of the kids and JE students, there are some good ones and I was just really bitching out of frustration. As a sub I've had kids come to me to help explain "Macbeth" and "Romeo and Juliet", I've edited their scholarship letters, and explained theme/ symbolism in "Anthem." And when one kids talked to me, he told friends and it turned into a Breck shampoo commercial with kids hunting me down for help even when I wasn't their sub but they knew I was in the building!
This teaching stuff is hard. I wonder if we didn't have so many state standards, nation wide testing, NCLB legislation and could just teach and had room and flexibility to be creative, would kids be more settled and into learning? I wish I had the answer.
I do know that in this age of video games, tv, iPods, movies, internet, and the like, that we are not so much education our kids, but participating in EDU-tainment and while it seems silly, it's necessary to understand this new era of kid.
But new era, government, geography- bottom line: kids still need to be respectful.
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