Fed Up

These past two days really tested my patience. I volunteered to counsel a girl who has a proclivity to skip class. I took her case because the vice-principal decided that she would need counseling as well as the behavior plan that he designed. She didn't really warm up to me, which was fine, I'm still a stranger in the building. We talked for a little bit and she told me that she wished she could start over. I took this nugget and went with it. I asked her what she meant, and she said that she wished she could start eighth grade over because her grades weren't great. I explained to her that she was getting a second chance now and a fresh start. She told me that she was having a hard time with her school work, social studies in particular. So I had her get her assignment and we sat down and looked at it together. The lesson was on Reconstruction era federal government. There was a question about the 3/5 clause that she had to answer. I practically pointed out the paragraph that she needed to read in order to answer the question. But of course, she refused to read the paragraph and expected me to do all the work for her! When I refused, she asked to leave and I let her. I couldn't believe the nerve of this girl. The look of indignation that she gave me was priceless. I had enough of her attitude so I was happy to have her return to class.

Today, one of the 6th grade boys I worked with rubbed me the wrong way. I really needed his mother to sign a consent form for one of the counseling groups that I run. I purposely went to the school on Monday to specifically give him another consent form to take home. As I went with him to his locker, I saw one of the old consent forms that I had given him a while ago. I made him take that home too. I told him that it was important for him to have his mother sign it. I really needed it. Well, this morning, I saw him and when I asked him for the form, he said that he didn't have it. It wasn't the fact that he didn't have it, it was the cavalier attitude he had about it. He didn't even apologize for not having it. That pushed me over the edge. I can understand not having it, but the fact that he wasn't even sorry about it really pissed me off. This kid really needs to grow up and honor his responsibilities. He needs to understand this now.

BBC

Article on Middle School

I read and article today in the NY Times about middle school teachers. It' worth a read, and it really opened my eyes to the unique psychology of the middle school teacher. It does take a special person to deal with the turmoil of adolescence.

BBC

Hormones

I'm beginning to think that my sixth graders are starting to get hormonal. There have been a lot of interpersonal conflicts recently. Girls are fighting and boys are being sexually inappropriate. It's just hormones running rampant through sixth grade. I feel like we're a couple of months away from rainbow parties and lewd details on myspace. It's scary only because I know its going to get worse before it gets better. The next couple of years are going to be rough for these kids. Adolescence is full of confusion and emotion. You couldn't pay me to go through that again.

Everything is so freaking dramatic. At the junior high, I had a girl that was ready to fight three others because they were talking about her. First, she came into the office to tell me that she was mad and ready to fight 3 girls. I immediately noticed that she was wearing shoes that didn't match. She chose a more comfortable shoe for her right foot because she hurt her ankle and was wearing a splint of some sort. Anyway, it was really noticeable that she was wearing two different shoes. Apparently one of the girls wrote a note to the other girls remarking that she was wearing mismatched shoes. This is why the girl wanted to fight?! Despite my efforts to make her see how ridiculous she was being, she still felt that she had justification to fight. Fortnately, I do believe that in the end all violence was avoided that day. Whew!

BBC