What a Drag

Back to school after three days of vacation is a drag. Especially if it's also the last day of the week for me. Blah.
My co was in a Board of Jewish Education meeting in Manhattan, so I had to take both classes for the first part of the day.
Surprisingly enough, they were very well behaved and I got an entire aim in history done with them. I was thrilled.
I was about to start literature, when my co walked in. We agreed to split the classes now for the 45 minutes left until recess. I would take the 7b until recess, and then after recess I would take the 7a for literature for 45 minutes. For the remaining 45 minutes of the day, my co was to put them together for math.
It was a great plan for me because I got 45 minutes free.
I walked into the 7b class, and before I could even say, "Open you books", they bombarded me with questions about my family. They wanted to know who was who when they had come on Purim.
Some girls were shocked to find out that my brother was actually a boy, they just thought he was one of my sisters.
We got off topic in literature as well. H.W. somehow got me telling them how all young married couples end up having more junk than actual food.
It was a fun class, but I was dreading getting way ahead in the 7a class.
I didn't have to worry. I had less time there anyway, and all they wanted to talk about was how they hated being put together with the other class, even during Hebrew.
Interesting discussion, that was.
I used my 45 minutes free to watch a DVD I was planning to show to my public speaking class.
12th grade was so excited when I walked in with a laptop. They were like little kids, scrambling to find a spot on the floor. I sounded like my mother trying to tell them to move back or they'd ruin their eyesight.
I heard that one of my 12th grade "kallahs" had broken their engagement. I couldn't stop thinking about it. She was even sitting in class with everyone else as if life was completely normal. I was so hurt for her.
By getting engaged she had taken a step further than the rest of the girls in her class. That in itself was hard enough. But to then have a broken engagement on top of all that? I don't know how she's managing.
When the last bell finally rang I was so relieved. I've only been back one day, but I've been looking forward to the weekend just as much as any other week.

Purim!

At 12 noon I went over to my parents' house to wait for my students. I was dressed up as a gas station attendant, and my family had even bought this Little Tykes gas pump to sit by our door.
One by one the students began to come.
Or should I say two by threes? No girl wanted to walk in herself. The students all came in with a couple of friends.
C.O., M.L., H.W., and G.S. all walked in together. They each gave me their mishloach manos, we took some pictures, and then they ran out laughing.
M.L. was a chessboard and her brothers were chess pieces. They were adorable!
C.O, had given me a very cute picture frame that said "Super Teacher", with a nice poem in it.
G.S. had given me a small thing in school, and she had just come 'cause she has a crush on me. LOL
H.W. gave me a small bag with apples and apple cookies inside. Nothing special.
The next ones to come were S.F.F. and T.J. They were dressed up very cute, and brought yummy goodies with them.
S.F.F. had a tray of chocolate covered rice crispies smeared with marshmallow fluff. My family loves that stuff. It was gone in a matter of minutes.
Next, S.G.L. walked in, all by herself. My family thought she was adorable. She handed me a stunning mishloach manos made especially for me. It had a "teachers are a class act" mug, and a cake, as well as a cutting board. Her mother had written a nice note about how I was a "cut" above the rest.
A while later R.S. came by. Her parents gave me an envelope with $20.
L.K. and M.P. came together looking very cute. Our picture came out blurry, but it'll have to do. My camera was giving me problems all day. My 17 year old sister was my photographer, and she couldn't figure the camera out. So L.K. and M.P. will be getting blurry pictures.
L.K.'s mishloach manos was stunning! It was a potpourri theme and it smelled up the entire room. LOL. Her parents had given me an $18 check.
M.P. looked adorable. Her costume matched her mishloach manos. She was dressed in green stripes. Everything in her striped basked was green.
My family could not get over the girls. They kept pointing out that my students were all taller than I was. -Sadly, it's all true. :)
C.S. and her sister came together. C.S. wasn't dressed up, but her little sister was a "Molly" doll, form the American Girls Collection.
Her parents wrote such a nice card and they bought me a hand blender for being the "perfect blend" of a teacher.
My parents had to agree that C.S. was the cutest so far.
When C.C.K. came, my siblings disagreed. They said she was the cutest.
She came together with L.O. At that time, my 12 year old brother (who had dressed up as a very convincing girl) was in the middle of changing in to a t-shirt of my sister's. In the middle of the dining room he took off his shirt. I was so embarrassed. My students couldn't stop laughing. I have a feeling that the entire school is going to know about this soon.
L.O.'s package had a really nice poem thanking me for all my hard work.
M.L. in 7b came over very excitedly. This girl would sleep over at my house if I'd let her. She gave me a nice basket that my 5 year old sister wanted to keep, and she was thrilled to be able to take a picture with me.
The next three to come were B.G., A.L., and R.R.
B.G. had given me a very nice heart shaped glass bowl, and chocolates that said, "#1 teacher."
R.R. brought over a home made potato kugel. (My brother claimed it all for himself!)
D.T. and E.F.G came together, and I was not surprised!
D.T.'s parents sent me an $18 check.
E.F.G. was dressed as a cowgirl and looked very cute.
E.S. came herself looking adorable, She brought along a nice thank you note and $25.
She definitely is in the running between C.C.K. and C.S.
C.S.A.'s picture also came out blurry. She ran in pretty quickly. I saw her 12th grader sister waiting outside for her.
Her mother had written a beautiful poem and given me an Artscroll interlinear Tehillim.
B.E.D. was dressed as a Victorian lady. She was so precious. She smiled a huge smile for the camera, and she got put into the running too.
M.R. turned up wearing huge eyelashes. I didn't let her leave until everyone saw her. Her mother, the cutest lady, sent me a nice picture frame.
S.J. and T.K. came together as usual. S.J. was a stewardess, and T.K. was Pippi Longstockings. T.K. even had a little stuffed monkey (Mr. Nillson) pinned to her shoulder.
T.K. had gotten her hair to stand up using a hanger. My sisters couldn't stop examining her head.
S.J.'s family had send their mishloach manos in a tiny suitcase that turned out to be an airplane meal. That was so cute!
It was already 3 pm and my students had stopped coming. I had 6 mishloach manos left over.
The twins, E.T. and Y.T. hadn't come, and neither had C.K., T.K., R.H., F.G., and F.F.
F.F. had given me an $18 gift certificate in school Sunday, so I didn't expect her to come.
R.H. and T.K. I wasn't expecting either.
C.K. lived far, and F.G. was the type not to show.
At 4 pm, I was getting ready to leave, T.K. came over. I think she was shocked to see me still there, but she gave me her bag, and even smiled for the camera.
Her parents also wrote a nice card and sent over a decorative perfume bottle.
I was surprised she came.
At the end of the day I had gotten some nice things, but that wasn't the point. The parents didn't spend a lot of money, but it was nice to see that they appreciated at least a little bit of what I do. It's the thought that counts.
So now I have on more day off before school on Thursday.
I plan on enjoying to the fullest.

From the Uniform of a Student

Today was the last day in school before Purim and this meant major fun. I was actually excited to go to school today. ...And it' s Sunday!
I dressed up in a uniform, wore a ponytail, and brought my 5 year old sister along to school. I even found a uniform to fit her.
The students went wild. They were so excited with my sister, and of course with how I looked dressed up.
Usually, there's so much going on the day before Purim, that no classes end up learning much. I really didn't mind a day off from teaching, but we had the matter of collating the newspaper to attend to.
I had all the newspaper girls come to the copy room to help collate. It took until recess. We were cramped from working on the floor and black from all the newspaper ink.
The rest of the grade went down to the carnival that the 6th grade was taking care of while we continued working. The girls took my sister down as well. She was having a great time.
We finally got all the papers done, and I sent the girls down to carnival.
When I finally got down to the carnival, the principal made a huge deal over how she didn't recognize me in uniform etc. etc. blah blah. She made my sister feel special by saying how big she looked in her uniform jumper, blah blah.
I was starving, so I grabbed some ice cream without checking to see if it had milk in it.
Of course, it did have milk, and I had to escape from the carnival for a couple of minutes to be sick.
Coming back down, I was pushed into the bird show, where they hired a man to come down and perform with his parrots.
It was nice, but then my co and I were called up to the front to act as perches for the birds. I had 5 birds on my arms and 2 on the sides of my glasses (which soon hopped onto my head).
What a wonderful day!
After the show we had a balloon dance; teachers against students. It was hysterical. My co was a bigger child than any of the kids there. She was skipping away like a preschooler.
Anyway, we got some order later, enough to get everyone into one classroom where I read a poem about the Purim story.
I knew that one class had planned to do some shtick. C.O. had gone over to my mother's house to get some pictures of me as a child and they were going to surprise me with it.
The reason I knew was because my 9 year old sister cannot keep a secret.
But the students didn't tell me anything in school. They just pretended that they hadn't planned anything. I made no mention of it either.
Apparently, my sister went and told C.O. that she told me. C.O. was devastated. I have to have a talk with this sister. I'm pretty upset at her.
I gave the girls my parents' address so that on Purim they could come over and give me mishloach manos.
The principal came into my classroom to praise me for getting the paper done.
She's so slow. It's not like I doubted my abilities to have a paper done in a week. I just didn't want to do it under her pressure.
I had to get home quickly because I had a friend's bridal shower that I had to get to, and because the ice cream I'd had was really killing me.
Nice end to a short day.

The Courtcase

The girls asked me today if they could put me on trial. I knew they were planning it, and I was prepared. I told them it was ok. They also wanted to put my co on trial, but we said that if they were to do that they would have to combine classes and have the cases together. At first they were upset, but they had to agree.
We went down to lunch a little late and we found utter chaos. There were no teachers there, and the lunch monitor, (happens to be a cousin of mine,) was almost in tears. It was the entire school, but my students were acting terribly.
I felt terrible, but this isn't the first time we've spoken to them about the issue. I'm at the end of my rope here.
I knew that I had to get permission from the principal in order to go through with the courtcase, so I went upstairs to wait for her. When I finally got in to her, I told her that the girls had come up with a great idea for history, and I wanted her permission. I asked her if they could do a courtcase like in the supreme court and believe it or not she agreed to it.
I took it a step further then by telling her that the classes wanted to put my co on trial as well, and because we didn't want to waste class time, we wanted to combine the classes and do both cases at once.
She agreed to that as well. She was even excited about it.
My co and I both taught each class for 45 minutes and recess time the classes were to combine.
Recess time we ran into a little disaster.
The 7a class, the usually good class, went on strike. They refused to join for the case claiming that they had no part in making it up and they didn't want to feel left out.
Now I knew there was "sibling rivalry" between the classes, but I had no idea it was this bad.
I refused to walk into any classroom until the issue was resolved.
The girls were making a racket in the halls and we couldn't find the principal. Turns out she was in the 8th grade class, and we waited for her to come out.
In the meantime I walked into the 7a class, made them all take out their history books, and prepare a paragraph in history. They were fuming, but I was not going to give in.
At last, the principal joined us, but it was to yell at me.
I got to her first.
I told her that I was upset at this, I had no idea that one class had nothing to do with it, and when I asked her for permission I told her whatever I knew.
I had no idea that the 7b class were going to put on costumes for this and rearrange the classroom. I honestly had no idea that they would take it so far.
I think I appeased the principal, because she didn't look so mad, and she actually got both classes into 7b's classroom.
Our courtcase began.
It began rather cute. They accused my co of ringing bugs into the classroom and not taking care of them. She had brought the bugs as a project and the girls had loved them.
As her lawyer I answered by saying that the bugs were part of state curriculum and that when she had brought them in, she had given them as a gift to the students. Part of accepting a gift was taking care of it. It had nothing to do with my client.
I also proved that the classes had enjoyed it and that they had disobeyed rules about touching the bugs enough times to maybe suggest that the bugs' escaping their boxes may have been their faults.
As many witnesses as they brought, they couldn't outdo my mouth.
The classes/jury voted in favor of my client.
The second charge they brought against my co was the charge of her liking one class more than the other.
I was upset, because this was borderline fresh, but I agreed to defend my co. I had one girl tell me specifically what was making her think that my co treated her class differently, but she wasn't very clear.
I answered the class by telling them that this question did not deserve an answer because a teacher is allowed to act any way she pleases and a student may not question. But, I did give in to them to the point of telling them about the man who kept going to the doctor complaining that drinking coffee made his eye hurt. Usually, that shouldn't happen, and the doctor figured out that the man had left his spoon in his cup by mistake.
The girls got the message. I then refused to let the girls say another word on the subject. It was not a subject they had any right to question.
G.S. the judge, was cute when she banged her gavel, announcing the court decision. The first thing she said was that girls their age should not be drinking coffee. And whatever they were going to drink, should be with a straw.
I was put on the stand next, and they questioned me about certain things I had promised to bring in Purim time. I had two of them with me. ( I had not forgotten either!) I passed around perfume and I played a tape for them.
I still owe them my little sister and a picture of some sort, but those will come on Sunday.
My little sister had her masquerade today, she wouldn't have missed that for the world.
Before the trials began, I made sure to put the girls on trial.
I was so upset with them for the way they had acted lunchtime that I made them pick representatives to defend the class.
I think they missed the point. They thought they deserved to have the privilege of not eating lunch in the lunchroom.
I asked them if they thought this was the way to go about asking for the privilege, by showing how immature and irresponsible they could be in the dining room.
They had no answer.
I promised to go and talk to the principal about it, but only if they could prove to me that they deserved the privilege.
And then I added that the principal was the "Supreme Law of the Land." They had to promise to do whatever she said, even if they didn't like her verdict. There would be absolutely perfect behavior, and no appeals.
I hope this works.
The high school computer teacher, (also the 5th grade English teacher,) had gotten a high school uniform to wear to class today.
I didn't think about it, so I ran to get an elementary school uniform to wear to my class.
It looked adorable. I put my wig into a ponytail, and most of my makeup was gone by this time of the day. I looked like an 8th grader.
The 12th grade had a good laugh, and then we finished listening to a speech we started last week.
After class they invited me to their school shabbos. I hope to be able to come, but I'll see.
And now.....Thank goodness for the weekend!

Open Notes Test

I was running around school having to get things done, when I bumped into the secretary. She stopped me and asked me what I was doing next year.
I asked her in regard to what.
She answered, "Well, next year there will only be one seventh grade class, so you'll only be teaching for an hour and a half a day. Why don't you begin calling other schools to see if you can find another job?"
I laughed and asked her if she was trying to fire me.
"No, I'm only asking you because I want your good."
Uh huh.
I told her that I hadn't begun thinking of next year, and I wasn't going to worry about it yet.
Everyone knows that the secretary is the principal's spy, but to make it so obvious?
My co said that she does this every year so that they can get a feel for what the teachers are thinking.
I asked why the principal didn't ask the teachers, why'd she send the secretary.
My co told me that I could answer that for myself. I knew what she meant. If the principal would've asked me I would've lied. (O.k, I lied to the secretary too, but I would've trusted her 100x faster than the principal.)
If the principal in this school knows what the feeling is about her to the extent that she had to send the secretary to spy for her, why am I working for such a jerk?
Actually, the question is, why is she still the principal?
I met with the principal for a couple of minutes about the newspaper. I had given her all the typed articles, and she read them over. The only thing she censored was one of my poems because it said something about blood boiling. Whatever.
She approved the paper, and then she asked me what I learned from all this. I gave her the answer she wanted...That a newspaper can be done in one week.
Yeah, one week of killing myself.
I also handed her S.G.L.'s report card. The principal had driven me nuts about the comment I planned to write, so I told her, "Here, write your own comment." She was more than happy to show me how to do what I couldn't do.
My open notes test worked very well. Most of the girls were finished within 45 minutes. I marked the tests on the spot, and the girls all did fantastically. Even the special girls. They all took the regular test and still impressed me.
The 7b class was a disaster. The girls all had questions and they drove me nuts. The 7a class had absolutely no problems but when I walked out of 7b I had a splitting headache.
T.K. drove me insane. She had a ton of questions, finished last, and scored a 79%. All she wanted to know was if she could retake the test. I absolutely refused.
She said that she would have her mother call the school.
If I wouldn't be a teacher I'd have a nice word to put in here.
Let her mother call. I couldn't care less. I will not let her retake an open notes test. Let her get a tutor.
Report cards were given out today and a ton of girls had questions for me about certain marks they'd gotten. This, mind you, was after the principal had come in to give a speech about not opening the report cards in school.
I was upset, and refused to answer any questions. If they had a problem let their mothers call me. But coming over to me in school, showing that they had blatantly disregarded what the principal had said? I was not going to stand for that.
O.k., I must admit that I am being more than a little hypocritical about listening to authority here, but I will say this in my defense: I have never disrespected authority and been so proud of it as to show my teacher to her face that I didn't care. Or even the principal. As much as I hate her, I'm still respectful to her, and I will never do something to spiteful to her face. What I do behind her back is my business, but to her face is absolutely wrong.
It hurt to see that my students are this way.
Of course, I had to type tonight as well. Newspaper has to get to print by tomorrow, and even that's late. We still need time to collate. I guess the collating will be done on Sunday morning, but I wonder if it will be enough time.
Tonight I'm taking some personal time off to speak to my husband. He misses me. And also, it's his birthday.
No job, no matter how important or time consuming, is going to keep me working on my husband's birthday.
See you tomorrow.

Bill of Rights

When I walked into class today, there was a paper waiting on my desk. G.S. and some other students had put together a "Student's Bill of Rights." They wanted me to read it out loud to the class.
It was adorable, but more than a little chutzpahdig. I didn't make any comments though. It mentioned something about their teachers going to Florida over vacation and they made fun of how all their teachers went beserk if they caught a student with gum.
Some of it was stupid, like claiming they had a right to talk and write notes in class. (The First Amendment- freedom of speech and press.)
I read it anyway, and I laughed with them, and then at then end it said; "If teachers try to take away our natural rights, this will institute the beginning of 'shtick.'"
Can't wait to see what they come up with. I think my impeachment is supposed to take place on Thursday.
I had about half my class out for newspaper today. The reporters and the graphics groups were busy gathering articles and designing a cover.
Mostly I think they were wasting class, but what can I do? We have to get this paper out.
With every new article the girls handed in I added another 10 minutes to my night. It seems I'll be typing until 2 am.
After class some teachers stayed in the teacher's room and tried on some elementary uniforms. Surprisingly, most of us fit into them. I didn't think I'd have a problem fitting at all.
I actually found a uniform jumper that fit perfectly except for being a tad short. I took it home with me so that I could adjust it.
The teachers are all planning to wear uniforms to school Sunday. It's such an over used teacher 'shtick' but we still do it anyway.
I got home and began typing. I'm still typing. Newspaper is taking forever.
E.F.G. emailed me the editorial for the paper. If it ever gets out that I have an email address, or even worse, that I gave it to a student, I'll be dead. But at this point, I've got a foot out the door.
If you want me to get a paper out, fine. But don't pry into how I got it done.
I didn't talk to my husband since Sunday. By the time I finish school work he's fast asleep. LOL. This is so pathetic.
I wonder what would happen if I would leave a "Teacher's Bill of Rights" on the principal's desk.
Oh wait, I do know. I'd be fired.

Not a Real Opponent

My co came over early this morning so that we could do our report cards together. We got them done, but we came really late to school.
My entire day was a rushed mess from there on.
History took longer than I had anticipated. I had no idea that bonds would be so hard for my students to learn about. They just didn't understand the idea of an I.O.U.
So I was only able to teach half my lesson today.
Writing was another disaster because their drafts are due next Sunday, and some girls decided today to scratch their projects and begin new ones.
Usually I would just let them do whatever they wanted, but here these girls wanted to catch up to the class by doing part of it at home. The principal yelled at me 100 times to make sure the girls didn't take this home. It seems she got a lot of flack from parents about schoolwork being done at home.
The problem is, she just blames it all on me.
I also was busy with newspaper the entire day. I am so pressured to get this thing to print. The girls started today, and the writings have to be in by tomorrow. I'm only directing the thing, and I'm ready to explode.
I spent hours making up my history test yesterday, and it still isn't in the copy room. If that thing doesn't get approved....
I heard from my co that B.E.D. made a reference to her brother's trachea out loud in front of the entire class today. This girl is really getting somewhere! We're excited!
R.R. is driving me up the wall. She had this great idea for her picture book, and now she dumped it and wants me to think of a new idea for her to write about. She wanted to write something along the lines of the American girls collection, but she wanted to write about an Israeli girl living in the time of the Yom Kippur War.
I thought it was an excellent idea. She however, backed out because she didn't know how to write it, and she didn't want to hand in anything that was less than perfect. I hate when she does this. She is way too wishy-washy for my nerves.
There is only so much complimenting and encouragement I can give. She is pushing the limit.
My co had a miserable day because C.O. went and wrote this whole melodramatic letter to the principal about her. She claimed that y co made her life miserable, and that she needed the principal's help in getting the teacher to treat her better. This fed the principal's ego big time, and she spent a lot of time telling my co off of it.
What a life.
I told my co that I didn't even have to energy to plan revenge. I wouldn't be satisfied with it anyway. Because in a way, I feel sorry for the principal.
She's lacking people skills, and she's so thick, she's not a worthy adversary.
I realized that today.
If she were really bright, fighting with her would be fun, because I enjoy a challenge, even when I don't win. She's not like that. She's thick headed and one sided. She's not interested in me and anything I do will just bounce off her. She's not an opponent worthy of my time and energy.
I'm such a hypocrite. LOL. You wish I'm going to get off this blog and not think about her. But it's nice to say anyway.

Newspaper and Other Annoyances

A family emergency kept me up until 4 am last night, and I honestly did not expect to be going to school today. Of course, being the type of person I am, I went anyway.
I scheduled a history review on chapter eight for Wednesday, instead of giving them a test in two weeks. The first available day for me to give a test is in two weeks, (if you can believe how bogged down these kids are,) and so as not to kill them, I figured a quiz would be easier.
They all voted for this instead of a test.
Finishing history, we went on to the picture books. I am coming to hate them more day by day, but I am a nothing in the grand scheme of this retarded school, so I don't really have that much of a say.
And ironically, I just taught the girls about the first amendment that entitles us all to free speech.
In 7a I had much more to time to dwell on the "funner" side of things, and it was a nice lesson.
There was a newspaper meeting scheduled after school, and we tried to get started even without the principal.
Could you believe she wants us to get our first issue out by the end of this week? And could you believe that I'm heading this thing? I know, I talk a lot, huh?
We started the meeting by choosing a name for the paper. We agreed on "The E.T."
Et in Hebrew means pen. In English we made it stand for the "Elementary Times." The symbol of our newspaper is a pen.
I gave the girls an opportunity to suggest more titles, but they all fell in love with this. We had already voted on it and sworn it in by the time the principal joined us. She usually doesn't like including anything Hebrew in our English stuff, but she was too late to object to our decision. She even seemed to like it a bit.
One for me.
We spent an hour getting the jobs divvied up between all the girls and setting a draft deadline for Tuesday so that we could begin typing that night. Surprisingly, the girls were ok with it all.
Even I'm a bit excited over this newspaper. If we get this thing to print on time, I will make sure these kids get a pizza party.
After the meeting, I went to the principal to ask her about a special surprise I had planned for my students, and I was surprised when she agreed, no problem.
My little sister is excited too. She'll be coming to school with me next Sunday.
I also spoke to her about the quiz I had prepared for Wednesday, and she insisted that it be open notes.
I didn't mind at all, quite the contrary, but then she started planning this huge affair out of it. She thinks her BIG plans are fun. But they're far from it. I hated to break it to her, but open notes is as far as I am planning to go. I told her so, and she seemed a bit disgruntled. I told her that the test wouldn't be that easy either...especially not if it was going to be open book.
She closed her office door and had a chat with me about how she couldn't keep defending me anymore.
She claimed that at P.T.A. she had a bunch of mothers complaining about me and that if I wasn't going to begin listening to her, she wouldn't keep defending me to them.
Funny thing, I had gotten very different regards.
She gave me a 500 page looseleaf so that I could look through it for ideas to use on my test.
Yeah right.
It's sitting high on a shelf with a lot of other junk she gave me that I probably will return without ever having used.
She began telling me that I disobeyed her too many times and that if I didn't shape up she'd refuse to work with me or defend me any more. (As if she did in the first place, but whatever.) She basically showed me the door. To her office and to my job.
As I got ready to leave, I told her about S.G.L. She had a little problem thinking of an idea for a picture book so I gave her the idea of writing the Purim story as a picture book for kids.
S.G.L. was thrilled. I'm so happy. I just hope it works out nicely for her. I gave her resources to use that I hoped would help her.
The principal gave me her first real smile that day.
I think I need to explain here that she does smile at me a lot. But I usually don't get to see genuine ones. I'm usually on the receiving end of her 'condescending' smile, or her 'I can't wait ruin your day' smile. A real one is nice to get, although by this time, I really don't care.
When I got home I called my husband and he gave me an interesting idea.
I had decided over the past week that no matter whether I was offered another teaching position or not, I was not going to go back to this school under any circumstances.
My husband figured that I had nothing to lose by calling one or two parents to get the story right.
After all, I am teaching their daughters and I do want the best for them. I'm getting mixed messages, and I would like the mothers to get together and decide what is it they really want. What's really going on here?
At the same time as I would be talking to the mothers, they would get the implied idea that the principal was somehow botching things up for me.
That's all I need.
I'm not doing this for me. I just want the message to get out about the principal. If I go out, I'm going to go out with a bang.
Well, first I have to gather my nerves from where they're huddling in the corner.
I spent all afternoon making up a magnificent test that should be a lot of fun for the girls. I hope it gets approved.
I can tell you one thing, if she doesn't approve this, something will bang.
I did the report cards, and from a teacher's point of view I can tell you they're not worth anything. We teacher's make up marks left and right.
Ok. Well maybe not the marks, (although some of them we do,) but definitely the comments. I was taking a look at the discrepancies there were between our first term comments and now, and I just have to laugh.
And now that I have finished all I had to do for tonight, I think I'll go into the closet and scream.
Nighty night!

Will This Week Never End?!

The first big news of today is that I now have two twelfth grade students who are engaged. The one who got engaged today is M.R.'s sister. The entire school is very excited.
Second big issue of the day.
During literature we read about a man who had lost his wife and gotten remarried. Now seventh graders have a tendency to come up with the weirdest questions, and with R.H. in the class, you are guaranteed to get more than the average share.
She wanted to know if the new wife had been married before.
I told her that I had honestly no idea.
So she continued to ask me why someone who hadn't been married before would want to marry a person who was so to speak, "damaged."
I had the entire class shut their books as I spoke about this issue.
The truth is, it's only an issue in the community where I live. If a man was divorced, or if a girl was sick as a child, they are considered in effect, "damaged." They are classified into their own category, and usually, a "regular" person would never consider marrying in.
Now I consider it a very flawed system, and every time I have the chance I try to speak up against it.
I don't only think it flawed because I happened to have had cancer as a child. I think it's flawed because people's insides are so much more important that what people perceive their "outsides" to be.
Personally, I did not feel I had to compromise when it came to my marriage to my husband. What we had gone through in our lives made us and continues to make us stronger and more special. I feel that I have a soul mate in my husband that I could never have achieved with someone who hasn't experienced the hard side of life.
No one believes that I am only 18 years old. I look act and sound much older than my years. Being sick did that to me.
But that's really too personal for this blog.
I tried to explain to the class, that this unfortunately is the system we live by today. The students in their naive idealism kept saying it was unfair.
I told them that their lives and marriages would probably be ruled by the same social system, but it was up to them to start making the difference.
Of course, it didn't mean that they all had to go out and marry divorcees, but I got them to understand that they had to look at a person a hundred times before they judged their insides.
The messaged was deep, and I hope I don't get into trouble for it, but I am sure that some girls will keep this lesson in mind for the future.
It was actually a teacher of mine who influenced me to think this way. -Before I got sick.
You never know.
The newspaper girls came over to me to ask me when they were supposed to have a newspaper meeting as they were told they had to get an issue in print before Purim.
Purim is 10 days away. They're dreaming.
I went to talk to the principal about scheduling a newspaper meeting for Sunday, and we got into a little conversation, (ok, that's the nice way of putting it) about my job as a mentor for the paper.
I guess I made enough faces for my message to get across. I have no time, nerves, or patience to be on this paper.
She asked me to head it just for this month and then we'll see about going further.
I didn't agree, but I didn't say anything else either, so she took it as a yes. I'll have to give this issue some serious thought.
She spent some time criticizing everything I did for the past 99 years of my life, and then I escaped to class.
I had brought in a really out of style "biz" skirt to illustrate the Elastic Clause to the 7a class. It was a great lesson.
12th grade was on a high because of their "kallah," but I got them settled as we listened to a great speech.
It's not quite finished yet, so I have another couple of speech classes left.
I'm really excited that the weekend is finally here, but I have some matters to attend to first.
The secretary had dumped the task of attendance on my head. I'm behind in my attendance book, so she made me take home the school's records so that I can fill it in.
Their long claws clutch at me even during the weekend.....
My co called me all upset.
She had finally taken my advice to just make the girls make up their own work when they were too rowdy for her to finish her lesson.
She felt bad doing it because the girls took it very hard.
I felt bad too, but I really think the 7b class needed that discipline. They're upset now, but they'll hopefully get the message.
And now let's post and say hello the the weekend!

Red Shoes and Yankee Doodle

The eighth graders have this running joke with me about colorful shoes. I had once commented while they were dressing up to do a skit about a girl's really colorful shoes. I asked her if I could have them for Purim.
The next day the girl handed me a shopping bag with them in it. I told them that those wouldn't really match my Purim costume. I really needed red ones.
Today they brought me red clogs.
They are so funny.
Immature, but funny.
The principal had a meeting today about her precious picture books, but I pretended I didn't notice it and walked out of the teacher's room to go into class. I can't afford to waste any more class time.
She was furious.
7a tried to do some Purim shtick today, but I didn't go for it. They were specifically told that they weren't allowed to do anything until the last day of school before Purim. I really was not expectiong it of them, and I told them that.
They were pretty ashamed.
In class today I taught the girls my song about the Bill of Rights. It was to the tune of Yankee Doodle, and we all felt like we were back in preschool. Lots of fun.
We went on to our picture books later. The girls are really miserable. They all had questions and problems about it, and I was at a loss. I'm confused myself!
C.O. was upset because she hadn't yet started writing. She didn't even have an idea. We spent a while after school thinking of ideas. I think we found one that's perfect for her.
S.G.L. gave me a note telling me that she also didn't have an idea for a picture book. She had a title, but nothing to write. I'll have to go over that with her.
I stayed in school talking to me co until 5. We were both venting about the principal. We are at the end of our ropes.

Stomach Breathing?

My voice is gone, my neck is stiff, it hurts to breathe, much more to move, but who's complaining? I was so busy this morning, I didn't have time to worry about how bad I was feeling.
I was a little concerned about how I would control a class without a voice, but it didn't turn out too badly.
7b was annoying, as they have been lately, but we got what we needed to done. In 7a, not on;y did we get done, we had a good time as well.
I had told them a long funny story about how I once lost my glasses because M.R. was wearing her glasses after "losing" them for a year.
Today, they were expecting no less than a smashing hit of a tale. It also happened to be that today is rosh chodesh Adar. This is the month that everyone gets hyper and excited, and students, (and teachers alike,) are known to have pulled some wildly funny pranks.
Well, I didn't start with a tale, but I did comment on the girls' voices, which were also going. We began talking about professionals who breath from their abdomens so as not to strain their vocal cords.
Some of the girls were confused as to what I meant, so I had all the girls place one hand on their chest and one hand on their abdomen, and we breathed together.
Most girls felt they were breathing from their chests. We practiced a couple of times until most of the girls got their stomachs to move instead.
The class was in stitches. S.J. was especially hyper about the whole thing.
So then we got back to history, and I tried to review. I was interrupted about 10 times, but it was fun. S.G.L. actually raised her hand to answer a question I had prepared for her. She made a little bit of a joke out of it, by reading straight off her paper, but I was happy that she made the effort.
I promised the girls that if we finished history on time I'd give them a preview of the history song I was planning to teach them tomorrow.
I had stayed up until 2 am last night to make it up, and I had already given it in to be approved by the principal, but I didn't have copies to hand out to them yet.
I sang the song for them, I sounded horrid because of my voice, (or lack of it,) but the girls had a good time.
We moved onto the picture books and I showed them a picture book my sister had done in third grade. In the other class I had skipped a few pictures because I was in them, but in this class, they got to see them.
It was no big deal really, there were a few pictures of my wedding there, and the girls actually were very mature about it. I was impressed.
While the girls began writing, I noticed that a couple of them were dragging out silly details and putting the main idea of the story on the last page.
This is where my tall tale came in.
I told them a great but stupid story that illustrated what they were doing.
My brother had told me this story last week, and I thought it would be perfect.
It was about this boy who was running to school and on the way some palm trees began talking to him. They said something that sounded like "Whoooosh-eeeeee." Basically, he comes late to school, and when he tells his teacher what the trees told him she slaps him and kicks him out of class. When the principal asked him why he was out of class and he repeated the story and said the word "Whoooosh-eeeeee", he gets another slap and gets suspended.
His parents hit him when he says the word too, and they ground him as well.
After a week he goes back to school and meets some friends on the way. They were curious to know why he was suspended and he said that he was afraid to tell them because they'd beat him up. But they convinced him and he said it, and of course, they hit him.
Running away from his friends, he found himself near the palm trees again. All of a sudden, the palm trees began speaking to him.
Startled, the boy ran away from the trees, across a busy street, and his was hit by a car and was killed.
Now what is the moral of the story?
***Always look both ways before crossing the street. Because the boy didn't look, he was killed.
My class got the picture.
And as for Whooooosh-eeee? When I asked my brother what it meant, he just told me,"I have no idea, but it sure kept you interested!"
I chased him around the table for an hour.
I called F.F.'s mother and B.E.D.'s mother tonight. They both didn't make it to P.T.A. and requested I call them.
I had long conversations with each of them, and they both brought up things about the principal. It's not only me who dislikes her.
I found out two things at then end of the say that mad emy life considerably worse. The first is that the principal wanted to talk to me. I found that out from my co who saw it written on her to-do list. The second is that Project Y.E.S. is cancelled. My principal seems to think that our school doesn't need this program.
Right, because she's perfect. She can handle everything.
One problem.....we can't handle it all! (We don't think she can handle it either, but whatever.)
I'll deal with this issue later.
I got home from school at 7 pm. I was invited to the high school Adar Chagiga, and I went. I came in costume, and the girls got a kick out of it, but I was slightly embarrassed. I stayed for a while, watched them play a game, heard a speech, spoke to some teachers and left.
I'm glad that's over with.
I have a load of things to do now, and I have a feeling I'm not going to make it to bed before 2 at least. Welcome to my life.

A Meeting With S.G.L.

I had arranged with the principal to meet with her and S.G.L. on Monday after school. I had completely forgotten about the whole thing by the time I came to school today, but it appears that the principal must've forgotten too. She didn't show up to school.
The principal, it seems, had important meetings to attend in Manhattan, and it seems she forgot to tell me about them.
In any case, I was reminded about the meeting by my co, (who tutors S.G.L. by the way,) and I made up my mind to meet with her anyway.
I spoke to S.G.L. and I told her that the principal wasn't there, but S.G.L. still wanted to meet with me.
We arranged to meet after school in an empty classroom.
I spoke with her for an hour.
She didn't really volunteer too much information, but I learned that if I kept quiet, she felt forced to say something.
I'm not used to staying quiet that long, but I managed, and she spoke.
Basically, she thinks I hate her.
She says that I treat her differently, but "she can tell" that I don't like her.
I asked her what she did that would make me dislike her, and she said it was because she didn't do things well.
I tried to explain to her that she was pretty much mistaken, because I happened to like her very much. I have a friend's wedding tonight and it starts early. I told her that I was missing part of my friend's wedding to sit and talk to her. I asked her, "Do you think I would do that for a student I didn't care about?"
Of course, she had no answer.
I told her that just because I don't approve of all the things she did, it didn't mean I don't accept her for whom she is.
"Will a mother hate a child for flushing her makeup down the toilet? She might be angry with him, but never hate him."
S.G.L. said that a mother was different.
I told her that I could keep telling her how I didn't dislike her for the next two years, but I couldn't force her to change her mind. If she wanted to believe that I hated her, nothing was going to stop her. I was sad that she felt this way, but I told her that it was her decision.
And then I brought up the topic of her skipping my class.
I asked her, "And let's say a teacher did hate you, what's so bad about sitting through her class? If she's not treating you differently, why would you cut her class?"
And S.G.L. answered, "Because it's not comfortable to sit in a class knowing that the teacher hates you."
And I answered, "S.G.L, it's not possible for someone to be liked by the entire world. I know I have students that don't like me as a teacher, or maybe they don't like me because of the way I look. Does that stop me from going into class? No matter what, I go into class to teach, whether the students all like me or not.
"Your job in the classroom is to learn. Whether you feel the teacher likes you or not. Cutting class is not an option. And don't blame it on the way you think teachers feel about you, especially, when most of the time, you're only guessing. It is impossible for you to really know what other people are thinking, and trying to analyze every little move they make is insanity."
She didn't comment, and we went on to discuss other issues.
The issue with me embarrassing her by giving her an easy test in a way that everyone noticed was brought up. Of course, it was another incident of the principal twisting reality.
I don't call it lying because it's not possible for a principal to lie. They just stretch the truth.
She stretched the truth in this case. S.G.L. was upset because the special tests I gave her had a different font on it, and she claimed the other girls noticed.
I was so annoyed.
The font is the easiest thing for me to change! Instead of taking it to the principal and making a big deal, she could've just told me. But no, life can never go that easy.
Another thing we arranged was for me to prepare some questions for her to answer in class. Before class every day I aim to give her a paper with two or three questions and their answers, so that she can participate in class.
I don't remember everything we spoke about in one hour, but at the end, she still said that she felt I hated her.
I told her that she was entitled to her feelings, but that didn't stop us from accomplishing some of the things we set out to do.
Hey you can't please everyone all the time.....especially when they're not looking to be pleased.
I know when the principal finds out that we had this meeting without her she'll be hitting the roof, but you know what? She'll hit the roof no matter what I do.
At this point, bang your head against the wall as many times as you want, I can only deal with you up to a certain point.

P.T.A. Rescheduled

P.T.A. was rescheduled to tonight, but we teachers weren't asked about it, and we made a huge fuss when we found out. So it was pushed back to this morning.
I went early to set up the biography projects on a table for the mothers to look at, and the principal came in in the middle.
She went through their books and took credit for all the nice work they did. I wanted to kill her.
Not very many mothers came, but I was glad to see the ones who did.
C.S.A's mother came of course, she was in school anyway because she's high school principal, and had her own P.T.A. We spoke a long time about C.S.A. being very pressured. I told her to look into some methods for anxiety for her to start using. The way she's going is not healthy. The mother agreed with me 100%.
L.K.'s mother was very nice, she just discussed how hard the workload was on her daughter.
H.W.'s mother was upset that her child didn't seem to care less about anything, and we tired to figure out a way to get her more motivated.
C.S.'s mother was as adorable as ever. She kept praising the teachers and telling us what a great job we were doing. Tell it to the principal.
T.K. has an attitude problem. She dropped out of her part in the performance last night, and both I and her mother were upset about that. We spoke about her attitude for a while, but she is doing better. We also brushed over her on and off friendship with R.H. We both decided it's not a good friendship, but it has to play out on its own.
M.L.'s (7b) mother came just to hear good things. That's all I had to say about her daughter. She's the type of girl who'll try hard no matter how many obstacles in her way. I can't get over the child, Her mother was so happy.
R.S.'s mother is the class mother of the class. She's very nice and easy to talk to. We spoke about how well she was doing, and then a little bit about her being so absent minded. I promised I would speak to her about her biography project because she had been absent that week, and I had no idea what she had done for the group.
I told F.G's mother how mature her daughter became, and how much she changed. Her mother was so glad to hear that.
The twin's mother came, and she's always tricky. I have to make sure to separate the girls because they're not the same person at all. They happen to be the perfect average students that every teacher needs to keep her class stable, and I told the mother that. She laughed. I asked her to tell Y.T. to speak up more in class, and to tell E.T. to stop talking to A.L. all the time during class.
G.S.'s mother is the cutest. G.S. happens to be doing very well in the new class. She calmed down a bit, but we think she's lost. She doesn't have a good friend in this class. We spoke about trying to put her together with either C.C.K or L.O. to encourage a friendship. I don't know how that's going to happen, but we'll see. I was also surprised to hear from her mother that G.S. has a soft side toward girls like M.L. and B.E.D. I was so pleasantly surprised.
M.P.'s mother is just as cute as she is. We spoke a lot about how pressured M.P. is and I said that I would speak to her about it. The mother also said that she called the principal to yell at her about all these projects. In fact, the mothers made a chain call to get as many mothers as possible to call up. They all told the principal that the teachers were wonderful, but the principal had to stop giving al the projects. I told M.P.'s mother that I appreciated her calling because the principal needed to hear it, but I didn't think it worked. I told her that I got all the blame for everything. She was shocked because she had specifically told the principal that it had nothing to do with me. She went outside to tell all the mothers what happened. (YES!!!)
A.L.'s mother still wanted her to switch classes because of her selective friendship with R.R. I told her to speak to the principal, and if she would then I would press it as well.
S.J.'s mother got to hear all about how cute and smiling her daughter is. I didn't have one bad thing to say about her.
M.R.'s mother is adorable! She is really not you typical mother. She looks so young and she's really spunky. I basically told her how great M.R. was doing, and then I asked her about her daughter's friendship with S.G.L. I wanted to make sure that she was on top of it, and that M.R. shouldn't be learning from her or whatever. We understood each other on that.
D.T.'s mother was all into praising me. She didn't even want to hear about her daughter. All she kept saying was how crazy D.T. was over me. ...Always good to hear.
T.J.'s mother was so funny. She meant everything seriously, but she made me laugh. She was worried that her daughter was so short and she hoped she would still grow. She wanted to make sure that T.J. was mature, and becoming less shy, and I assured her on both counts. About the growing though, I told her that I didn't think she'd stopped growing yet. She was relieved.
T.K.'s (7a) mother was very upset about C.O. being put together with her daughter in projects. The truth is, I was upset too, they never worked out well together. C.O. was hard to deal with, but T.K. is very bossy. I brushed over the group incident and gently told the mother to explain to T.K. that she didn't have to control everything.
M.L.'s mother wanted to know if she had matured, and of course, she had. We had a pretty nice conversation.
E.S. mother only wanted to vent about the principal. I happily joined her.
The funny thing is, at least 10 mothers had told me that they had called the principal. I told them that it backfired because the principal yelled at me.
They were all shocked. All of them said that was not what was supposed to happen. They had specifically told the principal that it had nothing to do with me or any of the other teachers.
Yay.
On a brighter note, I got my rating sheets in. Report cards almost due. I'm so thrilled.

Melaveh Malka, and a Lot of Money

My co's and I all went to school tonight to watch our students perform.
They were cute, even though their performances made us laugh. There was a dance, and a choir and a little play.
S.G.L., M.R., R.R., L.K., C.S.A., and some other girls had solos in the choir. They were pretty good actually.
B.E.D. was on dance, and she was smiling so nicely! We were all so happy for her.
T.K. was also in dance, and she was bossing everyone around stage. Typical.
The play was silly, but the girls worked hard.
T.K. in 7b wasn't in anything. She dropped out. All the teachers were bothered by that.
C.O. also dropped out. But she did it because it was beneath her dignity to perform with the seventh graders. She stayed in the back to be with the eighth graders.
This melaveh malka was very nice, it looked like the girls were having a good time.
After watching a cute slideshow, my co and I went to the supermarket to buy the goodies to fill our mishloach manos for the students.
We spent and hour and a half picking out the "nosh" and then an other two hours having panic attacks about the costs.
it does come out to a lot. If you spend two dollars per girl, it already comes out to $65. We tried to keep it under $2. The nosh itself cost $1.07, and with a container and maybe something else, it'll come out to just under two. Perfect.
I wonder if they include all this in our paycheck this month.
Yeah right.

Principal and S.G.L.- A Team?

The first thing I did this morning was call the principal at home. I should've known better.
According to her, it was all my fault everything happened. I still don't know what happened, but apparently, it's all my fault.
It turns out that S.G.L. had gotten caught running around the halls, and when the principal asked her what was going on, S.G.L. handed her a letter.
S.G.L. told her the entire sob story of how she wasn't doing well, and how I hated her, and how I never helped her and only made life harder.
I know she does this to her Hebrew sessions. She makes trouble, gets her teachers to yell at her, then she claims that her teachers don't like her, and that's her excuse for flunking life.
She cuts Hebrew classes, and really gets on everyone's nerves, and now she's trying to do it to me.
S.G.L. is a shrewd child. She knows exactly where everybody's weak spot is, and then she uses it to her advantage. She is now crying to the principal (who is known to give in to students,) to go hard on me. She knows that she herself can't really do anything to make me let her get away with things, so she's targeting me through the principal.
I must say that I admire this girl's way of thinking. She is brilliant. The one I hate here is the principal for the way she's choosing to deal with it. (Which is precisely the thing S.G.L. has in mind.)
She even lied to the principal about me, telling her that I embarrassed her in class by giving her an easy test in plain view of the class.
Of all the lies, this is the worst. It's because of HER, not any of the other "easy" girls, that I am so careful to staple the "easy" tests to the back of a regular test, so that no one should notice who gets what. I was even the one who gave the other teachers that idea!
The principal kept insisting that even if it was a lie, we had to make allowances for this girl.
Allowances?!? Any other girl caught cutting class would be suspended, and now, when she's cutting class and lying, the principal won't do anything.
She told the principal that the notes were too hard for her, so I explained my point of view to her.
The nerve of that principal, she insisted I make up special notes just for her. How thin do you want me to spread? Butter can only be spread over a certain amount of bread, and personally, I've more than reached my "buttering" limit.
I told the principal that I wanted to confront the girl myself. I wanted to have a meeting with the girl, and have the principal there as well. I wanted to see if S.G.L. had the guts to lie when I was there, and what she would tell the principal about it.
Listen, I'm not out to get S.G.L. I really want to help her. But when the principal is getting involved, and falling into the traps this girl so carefully planned for her, I need to establish my position here. I hope it will work.
Anyway, the school is implementing a new program for the teachers called Kesher. It's a division of Project Y.E.S. which deals with at risk teens.
We had a very nice orientation meeting with the two people of Kesher. They explained that they would have hours in the school where teachers, (Hebrew and English,) would be able to privately talk with them about specific students or problems in the classroom.
I didn't really get any feelings about them just from the orientation, but I'm sure that as soon as we begin doing one on one sessions, I'll figure out the way I feel pretty quickly.
What irked me the entire time, was that during their presentation my principal kept raising her hand and asking questions, and pushing her techniques. She was acting all chummy with the people, and the teachers were all sick. She acts so nice to everyone, but she treats us like dirt. There's a reason we have problems with kids in this school. The principal gives them everything and the teachers aren't allowed to do or say anything.
But when something goes wrong, it's always our faults. Or to be politically correct; my fault.
When we got to our classes it was already half an hour into the period, and both classes were busy taking a math test.
We had realized that the meeting would go into class time, so my co and I had decided to give her math tests to both classes at once so that we didn't waste any time.
I proctored the test in 7a, handed back their history tests, and passed around a picture of my "German friend" for the girls to look at.
The girls were so excited with the picture. I'm glad I brought it in. It made the whole Holocaust discussion more "real" to them. Instead of just reading an interview, they got to see the person behind it as well.
Thanks, German friend!
After recess, my co and I spontaneously decided to combine the classes, and I took them for the rest of the day.
I had the girls begin writing their picture books. Most had no problem, but there are always the few that do.
The class was pretty rowdy, but they got the work done, so I didn't mind that much.
I wrote a note to S.G.L. telling her that I really wanted to help her out, and if she had any questions she should call me up. I gave her my phone number and the hours she could call. I think she was thrilled when my co gave her the note and she discovered it was for her.
I think I saw her writing a letter for me, but I guess I'll find out.
I have to play it by ear.
For now though, I have to get started on my report card marks. They're due next week and I didn't start.

Cutting Class?

My test today was very short, and I worried all night about what I would do if the girls all finished quickly, and I would have to start teaching.
I came up with a plan. Before I gave the history test in each class, I had them listen to a song I had brought in, Joe Dimaggio's card, on Journeys III. I had brought it up in class when we had discussed inflation; how when there is more of something. ie: money, it becomes worth less. Whereas when an item is rare, the price will go up.
This song was about a baseball card that was very rare. The girls really loved it, but I could see they were edgy about the test. They didn't believe me when I said that it would only take them 45 minutes.
I had them daven mincha, and then I gave out the test.
I was right. Most girls finished within 45 minutes.
Going back to lunchtime, L.K. cam over to me to tell me that she wasn't able to take the test because she had been absent the day before and she had missed some material for the test. She also had not studied because she hadn't been feeling well.
I wasn't happy, but I told her that if her mother spoke to the secretary and the secretary wrote me a note, I would let her take it the next day.
I spoke to the secretary and asked her to play along. I just wanted L.K. to see that there was an authority in the school, and that she couldn't just do what she pleased.
Well, she sure got authority. The principal, made her take the test.
I was really angry, but L.K. took it and failed.
I have to give it to her anyway tomorrow, but now she has the advantage of knowing all the examples on the test. This policy of the principal is brilliance. Sheer brilliance.
Another thing that had happened lunchtime was that I got a message to call S.G.L.'s mother.
I knew right away what this was about. S.G.L. had left all the studying to the night before, and she wasn't able to take the test today. Same old story.
I spoke to the mother and explained to her that her daughter needed to show more responsibility. I had given her the notes a week in advance for this very reason, and she still didn't bother to study.
The mother had to agree with me, but she did also complain that the "easy notes" were now harder than they used to be and her daughter wasn't coping.
The truth is, the notes were harder. I had found these great summaries that were on a 5th -6th grade level, perfect for the girls. Perfect for me too, I now didn't have to spend all that time typing up special notes for the girls.
My old notes were on a third grade level and I really though the girls were ready to move on. the only girl who was really having a problem was S.G.L.
I believe her real problem is that she doesn't bother to study in advance.
I told the mother that I would have to speak to the daughter before deciding what to do about the test.
I came into the 7a class after recess, and lo and behold, S.G.L. wasn't there.
She cut my class.
I couldn't very well leave the classroom and go after her, but I made up my mind to speak to the principal about it.
Of course, I couldn't catch the principal after school, so I figured I'd wait until tomorrow.
But then I got a call from my co. She told me that the principal had come over and spoken to her about S.G.L. and my co had mentioned something about my test.
I knew right away that the principal had probably gotten the wrong message, so I called her at home to settle the issue. (I mean, if she could call me at my house, why cant I do it to her?)
I called, but there was no answer. I left a message for her to call me back.
I left the house soon after to go to a meeting, and when I cam back 4 hours later, my husband told me that I had missed her call.
She had given him the message that she had spoken to the student and she knew what was going on.
That's exactly my problem. She did not know what was going on! Was she going to take the entire story from a student that was wreaking havoc in my class without even asking me anything? Who's word is more important, the student or the teacher?
The highlight of my day was as I dropped into bed. I was so exhausted, I was half asleep when I heard my husband say, " When your principal called, I wanted to kill her over the phone."
It's nice when my husband tries to take care of me, but this situation is one I'll have to deal with on my own.
I need to teach this principal a lesson.

Clean Classrooms and Folding Sheets

I had been taking care of personal business yesterday, and I couldn't be in school, so when I came back today, I expected index cards and spelling homeworks on my desk when I came in.
Of course, only about half the class bothered, so I had to spend a lot of time giving out minuses and warnings.
Once we got to the lesson I was in trouble because I was way ahead in 7a, because I hadn't taught 7b on Sunday.
I had to improvise, and I tried to catch them up as quickly as possible. But between finishing the history chapter for tomorrow, and catching up on literature, it took until recess.
So when recess came around I tried lagging behind after the bell so that I would have less time in the 7a class.
But the principal took care of that for me.
She stormed into the teachers room. The teachers all looked in my direction.
I know that kind of sounds funny, but by this time of the year, the teachers all expect trouble to have something to do with me. I have no idea why.
"I am LIVID!!!" The principal shouted.
I got on the defensive, ready to fight.
"Your classrooms are a mess! All of yours!"
I just had to laugh. The teachers were also breathing sighs of relief. Sometimes this principal can be so strange.
"Well," she continued, "the fifth grades are decent, and the sixth are fine too, and your classroom is not bad, and yours isn't either..." And soon she had gone through everyone except me.
Why am I not surprised?
She went on to ask if we had all washed our breakfast dishes before we had left for school.
It so happens to be that breakfast is a sore issue at home, because I eat on plastic and my husband drinks his coffee in glass, and I never feel like it should be my job to clean his cups. So yes, my dishes were still in the sink.
She of course, decided that my dishes were probably in the sink at home and made it a point to say so.
But I didn't say anything in defense. Not because I didn't want to, but because she didn't shut up long enough for me to open my mouth.
Old problems...
She instituted a cleanup contest throughout the entire school, and then she left the teacher's room. She left all of us giggling.
But it caused the distraction I wanted, and I walked in 5 minutes late.
I had an amazing time in 7a. They are so capable, and funny, and I always manage to have a good time with them.
In the beginning of the year, I had thought that the other class, being more spunky, would be my more favored class. But now, February time, I'm getting sick of the whining and chutzpah in 7b. I would have to say that 7a is the class I look forward to now. They're becoming less shy, and raising their hands to say more. Every day gets better and better in that class.
Today I managed to have a history review, start the picture books with them, and even do a little literature.
There was one part in literature where a teenage boy is helping a woman fold her linen.
That sparked a discussion about how boys are so inept at doing anything around the house. One girl entertained us with the story of her brother climbing in to the duvet cover to get the blanket inside evenly.
Then A.L. asked why that was so funny, she did her blankets that way all the time.
The class was on the floor.
I called S.J. up to the front.
I over using her as an example. She's tiny, always smiling, and always ready to volunteer.
I had her take off her sweater and using the sweater I demonstrated how to put a cover onto the blanket.
I turned it inside out, put my hands inside, took her hands, and put it over her head. It got stuck halfway thorough, so the class was in stitches watching her struggle to get into it.
I remember that I used S.J. in the beginning of the year to demonstrate how hard it was to travel by dressing her in 3 coats.
She's just the cutest when I ask her to help me demonstrate anything.
I reminded the class about the history test the next day, spoke to R.R. about taking it later, and breathed a long sigh of relief.
My day was over.

Half of a Half Day

I didn't get a chance to teach 7b today.
All I did was daven with hem, and then go out to a "2 minute meeting" about the picture books.
Old news. The 2 minute meeting turned into an hour and 15 minutes, and all I had left was my 7a class.
I had no choice but to go ahead of the other class, and I did. This class is such a pleasure! We finished history, and got a load done in literature.
We had about 8 interruptions during the period. The principal and the secretary kept coming in to deliver things and give me messages.
The girls thought it was fun.
I spent some time with R.R. after school to answer questions she had on her test, and I was so proud that she scored an 85%. She wasn't happy, but I sat with her and gave her a pep talk. which was what she really wanted. :)
Now I'm home with a ton of things to read, and a severe pain in my back. I'm taking off school for an appointment tomorrow, and to tell the truth, I'm looking forward to the blood tests more than I now look forward to school.

Have it Her Way

The principal came over to me in school today to "discuss" what had happened yesterday.
The word discuss is in quotes because the principal seems to have her own definition of what a discussion is.
I had always lived with the misconception of the word discussion meaning "an exchange of views on some topic." I learned today that this definition has a slight mistake; the words "an exchange of views." It should instead be changed to "Listening to someone's view..."
Because that's what I did.
I listened to her view of the world. I wasn't allowed to open my mouth.
She claimed I was an "individual soul" but that also caused me to defy authority. No, not authority... Her Authority. That's like going against G-d's word.
I tired reasoning, but I've discovered more than once that it's useless.
After wasting 15 minutes of my class time, (yes, she had called me out of class for this) I finally got her attention elsewhere, and she became quite civil.
I learned this method as a young child in the park when I was being chased by dogs. As soon as I was able to throw a stick in another direction, I ceased to be the center of the dog's attention.
I had no idea it worked so well on humans.
But then again, she isn't really quite human, is she?
But anyway, the day somehow ended.
I had the girls read a lot of picture books today in class. They were not very mature, but they seemed to have fun.
I also took a survey of the students.
They each took out a piece of paper and wrote down if they felt this writing was a pressure, and why.
Then I asked them to give me any suggestions to help make this writing easier.
I read the papers on the phone with my co. Every single girl said that yes, the project was a pressure, and it was because they had so little time, and too much work.
they all suggested having a lot of time to complete it.
B.E.D. was one girl who wrote that it was not a pressure. I find that very ironic. She never hands in her work! I guess she doesn't plan on doing anything anyway, so she doesn't find it hard. LOL
My husband actually suggested that I do this survey so that I could hear what the students had to say about all of this.
It really is a great idea. The principal can tell me whatever she pleases, The girls just told me that it's the projects they hate, not the way I present them.
I doesn't help much, but it does make me feel a bit better. Or at least a bit more aware of what's happening in my classroom.
So the principal is getting her way, again, and I'm not happy. But I will make sure I get my revenge someday....MUHAHAHAH!!!
;p

There's Only So Much I Can Handle

I was pretty nervous last night about starting this whole new writing with the girls. They're to start writing picture books, and I wanted to introduce the lesson in an interesting way.
I started off the class by having the girls tell me what the qualities of a good picture book might be, and the girls really seemed to enjoy reminiscing about their favorite children's books.
After we had talked about what makes a children's book great, I had the girls sit on the floor as I read them a personal favorite of mine; The Jester Has Lost His Jingle by David Salzman.
The girls were thrilled with it.
After we had discussed that one, we looked through the book Look Alikes Jr. It's similar to an I Spy kind of book, where they find objects hidden in pictures.
They had a great time.
For homework, I had the girls go home and see if they had any good picture books at home that they'd like to bring in, and I also told them to begin thinking about a story they'd like to write.
I had to be a bit strict, and I said that a girl who came to class without an idea tomorrow would not be able to join the lesson. I have had girls take advantage of my being easy with homework before, and I have had to send some students out for not completing their homework.
If they wanted to continue taking part in the lesson tomorrow, they had to make sure they were following along.
I had a few attitude problems, but not anything I haven't seen before, namely, T.K, F.G, and a few others.
I was actually quite proud of the way my day went until I got home.
I just got a call from the principal.
She had gotten a call from an irate mother who's daughter had come home crying that she was pressured to have a plot for tomorrow.
The principal berated me for a half hour, blaming me for every problem she ever had in her life.
So it wasn't enough that I had stayed late in school yesterday, she now finds it important to call her teachers at home.
She said that I was irresponsible because I had forgotten to ask her for something that I had needed for my lesson.
I had not forgotten, they were not part of my lesson today.
She hated that I didn't come over to talk to her when my students were pressured to figure out what we could do about it.
-How should I know to come to her??? And more importantly, why would I want to?
"Whether you like it or not, you are going to have to work together with me to make this succeed."She said.
Somehow, she had turned me into a huge problem, I almost quit over the phone. It would be such a relief not to have to go back there. But, being a little bit of a logical thinker, I decided not to do it over the phone, I'll wait until school tomorrow.
Quitting over the phone wouldn't have worked anyway. She didn't' let me get a word in edgewise. She wouldn't have heard me if I said I quit.
She claimed that the seventh grade this year was having more problems than any other year, because I didn't know how to explain things to my students in a way that would excite them and make them understand.
I spaced out in the middle because I began typing to my husband over MSN messenger so that he could keep me calm, but at one point I had to open my mouth.
I began talking, but the principal didn't let me.
I refused to let her walk all over me.
I firmly said, "Please let me finish talking, I think you've said more than enough to this point." and she actually shut up for a minute so that I could finish me sentence.
I told her that she was not in my class today. I had done everything a good teacher should do and more. It was not my fault her writing projects were hard, it was not my fault that I had to be a little strict with my students today, and it certainly was not my fault that a student had taken my words out of context.
But she seemed to think otherwise.
At this point I realized that she had already made up her mind to be right, and that whatever I was going to say would not make nay difference. So I simply stayed quiet, and let her talk. (Which seemed to please her.)
She went on and on while I didn't make a sound. Sometime in the middle she thought I must've hung up, because she asked me if I was still there.
I made some sort of unintelligible noise which she took to mean, "Yes, I'm here, go on yelling. I don't mind at all."
So she did. She got confused that I wasn't answering back to her, but what she didn't know was that I had put the phone on mute and gave my lungs some exercise. I had a few good screams, and then I put the phone back on.
She was still talking.
She finally finished, and without even waiting for me to say anything, she abruptly hung up.
While I told my husband what had been going on, she called back to apologize for hanging up so abruptly. It was just that her car service was waiting outside.
She wants me to come talk to her during lunchtime so that we can go over some ways of making the girls feel less pressured.
Yay.
By the way, I got my paycheck today. $500.00.
It isn't fair that teachers don't get disability pay. How in the world will a paycheck like that pay for my psychologist?
Officially, I'm a teacher with heart, but sometimes I like to punch people too.

Discouraged

Test again.
I've learned to dread giving tests. The girls get so bratty, whiney, and frustrated, that it really wears me out.
I had to give L.K. a minus, and I was tempted to do the samw for R.H.
S.G.L. and R.R. didn't study, and they'll be taking the test tomorrow. I really ought to fail them.
S.F.F. was absent yesterday, but she managed to study anyway. I am so proud of her.
T.K. totally took advantage of me, and I HATE her attitude!! She made me go through recess answering her questions, and at the end, she had 3 left.
I was not going to answer those questions, and I demanded she give in her test.
She refused becuase by leaving out 3, she would start off with a 94.
I smiled and told her that if her paper wasn't in my hands within 5 seconds she'd fail.
After an entire day of answering questions, the principal came over to request I saty at a short meeting to discuss the picture books I'm supposed to have my students write.
The short meeting took 2 hours.
I just got home.
I didn't get a chance to put my stuff away yet. My coat in on the back of my chair, and my briefcase is on the floor. I am so angry.
I wasted 2 hours of my time in this meeting, and I still don't understand this project. I spoke up a few times, and asked questions, but the principal either avoided them, or answered vaguely. I cannot go into my classes now, and do this with them. I seriously can't handle this.
I am tired, upset, hungry, and I have ton of things to do. I don't know where to start, so I came here.
Now that I vented, (sort of) I guess I'll go mark tests.
Starting to make supper at 6pm isn't something I can do. My husband will just have to bring something home.
I called other schools this morning, but they all told me to call back in a few months.
I feel so discouraged.

P.T.A. 2

I spent the entire night sick.
Between my migraine and throwing up, I didn't sleep at all. My husband didn't know what to do with me, but somehow we go through the night.
It had been a warm winter up till now, but last night we were hit by a blizzard full force. By this morning we had at least 10 inches of snow, and even more than a foot in some places.
I got up early to prepare for P.T.A., but before I bothered to get dressed I called the school's hotline.
School was cancelled!!!!!
They cancelled the P.T.A. on account of the snow, but I take personal credit. It just shows what prayer can do when people really put their minds to it.
I called my co to tell her he good news, but she had already called the school at 7am. She was nice enough not to call me and let me sleep in, but it backfired, because I called her, and woke her up. :)
I finally got myself together and went out with my husband to clean up his car. We had a snowball fight and then drove around town to laugh at the cars without 4 wheel drive.
But the last laugh was on us when we went to get a hot chocolate and we realized we forgot our moneys back home!
But the cafe was really nice, and they said they wouldn't let us go back out in that weather without a hot drink, and they gave us our beverages on the house.
What a great day!
Such a great day, in fact, that I don't really want to waste it writing this blog!
See ya'll tomorrow!

German Misconceptions

I had a great time in class today.
For some reason the girls couldn't get that holocaust interview out of their minds, and they brought it up again.
I didn't mind going off on a tangent, especially one so interesting, so I went along.
It took time away from history, but that was ok.
We first reviewed most of what was said in the interview, and then the girls had a ton of questions.
L.K. wanted to know if the guy I had interviewed was a Nazi. -I couldn't stop laughing, as I explained to her that he is in fact quite a nice person, and that not all Germans are Nazis.
M.R. needed to know how people could be so mean. I spent a while telling her that they weren't necessarily mean, they were just mindlessly following a twisted leader.
M.R. had actually gone home and researched video clips of German soldiers marching. I had mentioned to them something about the Germans being beautifully coordinated as they marched, and that video clips always focused on their marching feet, to show how neat they were. M.R. came to tell me that the clip she had seen had focused on the feet, exactly as I had said.
The girls were pretty hurt that the world could be so bad. Their naivete is so charming.
The truth is, I'm still naive and idealistic, and that's why I had this holocaust conversation to begin with.
I had been chatting with my "German friend" for quite some time, and I always had some questions in the back of my mind. That's what prompted me to ask him about the Holocaust.
It took a while to make the girls understand that people cannot be generalized, or put into categories. It can't be that all Germans are bad people, in the same way that not all Americans eat hot dogs. Or in the way that not all Jews have Semitic features. And in the same way that not all Italians are mafiosos.
It was hard to get through to them because they aren't exposed to the world in that way. They don't mean to be racist, but they don't know what's really out there, they only know what they're taught.
In school they're taught that Germans killed Jews. That makes them bad.
They're taught that Africans were slaves. I guess that makes them lower class.
Their knowledge is limited to what they read and learn. Most of them never try to investigate and find out more about their world.
That irks me.
By nature I am a curious person, and I need to know everything. I can never understand how people can go through life not even caring to know more than what they do.
Especially in this school.
If I walk into the classroom one day and tell my students the sky is red, they'll calmly write it in their notes and study it for the test. My students only challenge me when they're trying to waste class time. Never because they really want to know.
So that's one issue. The girls see everything in black and white. Germans = Bad.
Another issue I had in trying to explain this to them is that they are, after all, just 12 year olds.
Sometimes I feel like they're bigger, but in truth, they're really tiny.
They were pretty shocked that I even had a "German friend." They couldn't fathom why a German would even look at a Jew.
Oy, do these kids have a lot to learn.
They wanted to know if I could bring him in for show and tell.
Yeah right. I guess it wouldn't be a problem if I wanted to lose my job.
We had to end the conversation eventually, and go on to history, but It was really nice to spend time on it.
In the 7a class I had a great time. M.R. kept me laughing all day. The class was thrilled to see me in such a good mood, and they caught on to my mood quickly.
In 7b, my mood had stayed with me, so I managed to handle the "calling out" and still keep smiling.
Somehow, L.K. got to telling me that she had seen a young married woman who looked just like me. She wanted to know if she was my sister.
I laughed and said that I didn't have any married siblings. They then asked if I had sisters that looked like me.
I told them that she was 6 years old.
The girls were thrilled to hear that I had such young siblings. They begged me to bring her in. R.H. wanted to know how many siblings I had.
I just smiled and told her that I'd leave it to her imagination.
It's funny how these girls are so into every aspect of my life. Hee hee.
The principal came in closer to the end of the day to announce the newspaper jobs.
Very few girls got jobs in the paper. It's supposed to be a big privilege.
But of course, in the 7b class, they don't appreciate anything, and R.H. who had gotten the job of reporter, immediately said she wanted to back out. L.K. who was assigned to graphics, followed R.H.'s lead.
I have no doubts that T.K. will soon join as well.
I'm more than slightly turned off.
I had sat for hours trying to make sure that these specific girls had gotten jobs. I guess there are some people you can never seem to please.
By the way, who do you think is in charge of the entire newspaper?
ME!!!
I love to write, and a career in journalism would be a dream come true, but taking charge of a seventh grade newspaper...? Not my cup of tea.
I'll be staying late a lot, pressuring my head off to get to print on time, and making sure the girls all have their jobs done.
I did not volunteer for the job. It seems that it was a hidden part of my duties. It's a seventh grade newspaper, and I'm the seventh grade English and writing teacher, so that makes it all my job.
Yay.
And how much do you think I'm getting paid for this?
Yep, the grand total of $000000.00.
I am definitely going to start making calls to other schools Sunday afternoon.
It's time to start applying for next year.

First Day Back

The first thing my students noticed when I cam into class was my tan.
Or actually my burn.
I spent a good deal of time in Florida tanning, and I came home fried. I couldn't move, couldn't sleep, couldn't shower, and couldn't wrinkle my nose without yelping in pain.
As soon as I got into class, my students all began giggling. (Just wait until they see my co, she's even more tanned than I am.) I had to take my watch off in class because the burn on my arm was stinging, and the girls saw my beautiful watch/tan mark. That inspired another round of giggles.
I can't wait for my face to begin peeling. They'll split their sides laughing.
I tried to ignore the giggles, and I began the most boring day of my life.
I gave the girls a speech about the second half of the year. I made it sound like they were so special, almost eighth graders. I enforced some rules, (namely the no calling out in class rule,) and had a small review.
The history I taught today was dead boring and hard to understand, but I was too lazy to really explain it well. If I have any student who still believes that teachers don't enjoy vacation, someone has to tell her that she is sadly mistaken.
I definitely could use a couple of more days.
My literature lesson was even more frustrating. I was in no mood to teach, the girls were in no mood to learn, and the material itself was stupid.
What a day.
Over vacation the principal had given me a 15 page booklet to read. It was a syllabus of my next writing project; the book fair.
Every girl in the school has to write a book and display it at a fair we are going to hold in March.
My girls cried when they heard they were having a book fair. They just finished 5 projects, one after the other, and this really was unfair to them.
Another problem I have, is that I didn't understand a word of that booklet. She wants me to do so many things with these girls, that I would need to teach 24 hours a day in order to get it all done in 4 weeks. The other teachers feel the same way. And as a side point, none of the other teachers understand the booklet either.
Over vacation I put it aside, because I couldn't be bothered to think of school, but I took it out last night. I looked at the cover and my blood ran cold.
No kidding.
The first page of the 15 had a little header that read: Week One.
All of this has to get done in one week. When I pointed it out to the other teachers they had the same reaction.
If you ever wondered when you were a student if teachers cry, well they do.
I went over to the principal to tell her I didn't understand the syllabus, and she just smiled and said, "Don't worry, I'll 'unconfuse' you."
I'm so thrilled.
I came home with so much pressure on my head, I didn't know what to do.
I spent most of the night making up a history test, and then I quickly made up a rating sheet for the biography projects. I just realized that P.T.A. is this Sunday, and I have to have the marks in by then.
We got rating sheets for report cards again. I can't believe second term is almost over, we just finished first.
This school seems to like doing things a little rushed.
The 6th grade teacher's wedding was tonight and I went over for a while. It was beautiful. I didn't dance much because I had to scream every time someone touched me. My burn was hurting more than ever.
I met a student's mother at the wedding, and she told me that my makeup was stunning.
I had to laugh. I wasn't wearing any makeup. My face is so red from my burn that I didn't want to put anything on it. All I was wearing was a little eye makeup and lipstick, and she couldn't get over me.
I just smiled and took the compliment.
What was I supposed to tell her? That I had just roasted in Florida? :)
I am so overwhelmed now, I've got a load to do.
3 days of vacation isn't nearly enough!

Projects, Introductions, and the End of a Week

Today was an insanely rushed day.
I woke up very early so that I could bake with my husband, and then of course, I was left all alone to clean up after him.
I spent most of the morning running around,m getting stuff together for my vacation, and dumping them onto my couch.
Too soon I had to leave to school, where I was taking over both classes at the same time because my co had taken her mid-winter vacation a day early.
I came to school, and my kids were a wreck. They were busy trying to get their projects done even though they were supposed to be done already.
C.S.A. was having a panic attack because H.W. who was part of her group wasn't there yet, and she had things they needed to finish the project.
Other girls from other projects kept coming over to me to ask if they could have more time in class today to finish.
The principal then came over to me to tell me that almost every seventh grade mother had called the school to complain about this project because it was so pressuring on the students.
And whose fault is that, may I ask?
I felt like kicking her.
Having the classes together wasn't half bad. I actually enjoyed it. We did history, literature and even current events.
I did give the girls some extra time to finish their projects, and by the end of the day I had all of them.
During history, G.S. asked a good question about how the British troops were so organized in fighting. I compared it to the Nazi's in WWII and the lesson went great. I used a technique I had rest about in a book called The Wave, and I made all the girls sit up straight, with their hands on their desks.
It worked wonders. The girls were so much more alert and attentive. I was impressed! Now I really could understand why Hitler's strategy worked so well. I almost got carried away with that power myself!
And that was only for 5 minutes!
The girls really caught on to what I was trying to tell them.
I then read an interview I had with a German friend of mine. I was planning to keep it for the 12th grade, but because of the direction my lesson took, I read it to them.
basically the point I brought out them was that discipline is a key element in achieving a goal. The interview I read had a small part there about the Germans still being very disciplined until today.
There was a part where my friend had said that he believed another holocaust could happen any day, because his country had not changed.
The class was shocked and upset. I felt that maybe it was too much for a young class to really grasp, but they did well for their age. M.R., the cutest kid in the class, didn't look so shocked as much as she looked hurt. Her eyes were tearing for the rest of the lesson.
The one problem I had all day was the talking. Between R.H, L.K, L.O, T.K, and C.K. I can't get a word in edgewise.
They're all in class 7b, and their class suffers because they won't keep quiet. I really have to talk to them.
I also had a group coming down to me to discuss T.K. is 7a. It seems that she was being extremely bossy and she had controlled the entire group. The girls were all crying, and I told them I would try to do something about it.
Now I just have to figure out what.
I got to twelfth grade, and read them that same interview I had about the holocaust. They went nuts over it, and it sparked a huge debate. That's exactly what I wanted, (as this is a speech class) and it took up a nice amount of time.
I also gave every girl a slip of paper with a classmate's name on it, and they each had to come up and introduce the "next speaker." It worked out well.
My day was over. I got a 12th grader S.C.W. to help me carry home my 7th grade projects, and then I packed.
Florida here I come!!!

The Nerve!

I was proud to give back my history tests today, as the classes had gotten a 95, and a 98 average. The girls were thrilled too, and they all looked excited as I gave them back.
Except for T.K.
I had sat with her all during lunch yesterday going over her test. I even let her take it back home so that she could do the essay.
I don't know why I gave in to her and did it with her. All she did was speak to me with an attitude, and refuse to think for herself. I practically had to force her to write the answers on the page.
Today, when I gave the tests back, she came over to me to tell me that she wasn't happy with her mark.
She had scored a 96%.
I was tempted to take her test and rip it up.
Instead, I looked at her sharply and said, "I don't believe you are in any position to complain about your mark."
She looked annoyed and went to whisper to her friends.
I don't get these girls. What do they think? That they deserve all this? In Yiddish we have an expression, "Sie kimpt sich mir." Basically, "I deserve special treatment and good things."
But this is a little too far. After I was nice to her, let her take the test home twice, put up with her attitude, and sit with her during lunch, she still has the nerve to fight over a 96? There is something so wrong with this picture.
And it's not only her.
I had been sitting in the teacher's room during lunch today with my co, and my girls did not stop banging down the door.
My co was giving a math test, and the girls had questions. My co was busy and she wasn't going out to them. Instead she sent out a message that she was not available and that the girls should stop knocking at the door.
They kept knocking anyway.
When another teacher told the girls that it was pretty disrespectful to keep knocking, they insisted on seeing my co. The other teacher said that my co was eating lunch and she should not come out.
R.H, one of the girls there at the time said, "Well she better come out, that's her job."
I was so disgusted.
My co sent a note out to R.H. saying, "Being respectful is more important than passing a math test."
The girls just laughed when they read it. I wonder if it's just in this school, or if other schools have this problem too. I don't remember students doing that in my school!
Maybe the times are changing.
Change isn't always a good thing.