bad, bad, bad day. my 3rd period class went the way of 5th period, imploded, and got their asses chewed out for their behavior. not 5 minutes after i finished, i gave up, sat down, and told them they're on their own for tomorrow's workshop. little monsters. and, of course, 5th period did their usual. and both classes had little bitches in them - argumentative, disrespectful, attitudes on legs. by 6th period, i was ready to break things and flunk any kid that got too close. and 3rd period got their stupid, noisy, disrespectful asses chewed off.
fortunately 6th period is a good group. when i tell them i need quiet and they need to be careful in how far they push, they listen. there's a reason they get the grades - they pay attention and don't irritate the teacher so much s/he doesn't finish the lecture. they ask questions when they're confused. they clarify assignments they don't understand. and they don't blame me when they screw up.
3rd and 5th period students refuse to take responsibility for their own stupidity. okay, so they are teenagers, but jeeez, people, get a grip! it's not my fault you were confused and chose not to ask me to clarify. it's not my fault you don't do the homework or study. 3rd and 5th period students love to argue. they love to tell me how i'm doing things wrong. they love to talk over me when i'm giving a lecture and "make" me repeat the assignment at least half a dozen time. (how confusing is to "write poem on any topic you want and in free form"? the most common question in 5th period? "do we have to write a poem?")
and these kids wonder why i get so irritated with them? they don't turn in their work, bitch about my grading (what am i going to do? hand them the grades? in their damn dreams?), and wonder why they're not doing so well? they don't shut up long enough to hear the assignment, much less the information they need to actually do the assignment, and wonder why they don't remember the assignment being assigned?
i got through without hurting anybody, but i'd call in sick tomorrow if i could afford it.
i'm going to be very glad when this assignment is over.
so, tonight, i was going to grade, but i think i'll take a break instead. tomorrow's workshop has a participation grade. if they don't care about that, i'll start sending them out to their administrators. i get a 3-day weekend and i want to go into it without the bad mood and exhaustion i've had to deal with for most this week. tomorrow also has the advantage of our weekly reading time - 20 minutes of silence in all my classes!
i've got a lot to do this weekend - grading, planning, finishing the fix on the gradebook - so i think tonight's grading can wait. i'm going to go play star ocean.
i need a break before the minor meltdown becomes a major explosion. :P
