Taking Care of Business

I came to school early today to deal with the issue of L.O. and her writing/attitude. I asked her to finish lunch, and come to see me.
She was a little shy, I think she knew she had been acting wrongly yesterday, and she seemed even a little excited with the extra attention she was getting. I told her honestly, that she was one of the best girls in my class, and that I loved having her as a student, which is why it came as a shock to me that she felt she couldn't write so much.
L.O. blushed and told me she had felt bad too, so she went home and sat on the assignment all night until she had about 2 pages for each part of the letter.
I was really happy, and I told her so. I also mentioned to her that if I ever gave the class an assignment she wasn't comfortable writing about or felt she didn't have what to write about on the topic, she was always welcome to come to me, and together we would come up with another topic that would be easier for to express herself with.
L.O. walked away smiling so hugely, I was so happy I had spoken to her.
My day was not bad until I started teaching history.
I was trying to teach them what society was, and the girls just didn't get it. I must've repeated myself 100 times before 7b figured it out. I gave examples, we compared the British society to the American society, I even spoke in an English accent to make the lesson interesting for them. In the end, They got it.
Except for L.K. She's a good kid, she usually grasps thing quickly, so I was surprised when she was getting so stuck on this topic.
I tried spending some extra time on this, but the class was getting restless, and I couldn't keep wasting their time. I told L.K. to skip a few lines in her notes, and if she'd come over to me after class, I'd be glad to spend more time on her.
I almost cried when her eyes started filling up with tears. I knew exactly what she felt like, I myself, had been there so many times before. I felt so bad when she looked down and didn't raise her hand for the entire lesson. And she didn't end up coming over to me after class.
Then, in 7a, there was another problem, B.E.D. came over to me with her letter to self. She showed me her finished copy, it was not even a full side long.
I was livid. I know this girl has a family situation, and that she needs serious help, but this attitude was not acceptable.
I may seem to come down hard on my girls, but really, I'm a lot more reasonable than some people think. My family has been through many of the situations some of my students are in now, so I expect and demand from then no less than my family was able to do. I lived it, so you can't take advantage of me.
I didn't let B.E.D. know that I was aware of her situation, I just told her that she was a smart girl, (brilliant, actually) she got top marks on all her handed in assignments, and that I expected a lot form her. I said to her, that when a girl like her hands in a paper like that, it means either one of two things. It either means that there is something going on in her life, or that she's just being fresh, and she's trying to test her limits.
I told her to go home and think about what she was going to come and tell me tomorrow. I put the ball in her court, I wasn't going to pry, but she had to come with it on her own. I told her that I believed this was not in her nature, so she had better come up with an explanation. Otherwise, a smart girl who felt she could hand something like this in, would just get an "F." She smirked a little, but really, she had nothing to say.
If she does come it tomorrow and tell me what is going on in her life, I may not think she needs all that special attention, but I will be more considerate. The problem that I as a teacher face with these kids, is when the parents and the school don't let us know about them. There are certain things I don't need to know, and there are some things I don't want to know, but some issues are important enough that I have to know. Parents think that they'll be ruining their kid by telling me the situations she's going through, but that's untrue. Her problems will still be there, and I by spending the amount of time that I do with my students, I will end up seeing them, and I have to take care my other students, while still trying to help a problem child. The least a parent could do is side with the teacher for once, and work with her, not against her.
Which brings me to my next "case;" G.S. The other teacher had been having problems with her, but I so far had seen nothing, until today.
The letter to self is due tomorrow, and many girls are not going to be finished on time. I know that, but I'm easy enough that I have no problem giving extensions to the girls who really need them.
G.S. did not need the extra time, at all. She had most of her letter done, she had maybe another hour's work left on it. But the fuss that she put up in my class... I can't even tell you what a riot she started. She must've raised her hand 100 times to tell me that she couldn't hand it in tomorrow. She even raised her hand during history to complain about the writing. After class, when the girls were lining up at my desk to ask me for individual extensions on the letter, she felt the need to push ahead of everyone to talk to me first. I watched her out of the corner of my eye as the class was packing up and getting dismissed, the way she treated her classmates was shocking. I was not expecting that at all!
When I spoke to my co, she told me that when she had a problem with G.S., she went to the principal first, and the principal told her that there was something wrong with the kid, but she had to ask permission from her mother to be able to tell us.
When my co called the mother, she asked casually if there was anything we, as teachers, should be aware of. Mrs. G.S. Said "no." Now that is a helpful mother. We know she's not telling the truth, because we were already half clued in by our principal, so this mother is basically just leaving two inexperienced young teachesr to deal with her monster of a daughter.
And let me tell you, she is something of a monster. When I came home tonight and began marking some quizzes I gave, I noticed that on her paper, besides for her script slanting in a million different directions, (which shows instability, and moodiness,) her name was about 5 times bigger than anything else written on that page. When I checked this up in my handwriting analysis book, it said that this meant emotional instability, a major ego problem and a need to feel bigger and better than everyone else. It also said that this may be a cover up for how insecure she really may be.
Oh great! If I ever finish my curriculum in this class, it'll be a miracle. I think I'm going to be way too busy straightening out these kids' lives to be able to teach much!