You wanna know what really bugs me? It bugs me when someone in a boss-type position over me has a half-baked idea and is going to force me to go through with it. I mean, it's the end of the school year and what does every teacher want: the kids to go away. Now, I mean this in the nicest possible way, but the past couple of weeks have been filled with kids refusing to do work, refusing to cooperate, refusing to serve detention, nit-picky attitudes, and a general lack of motivation.
April break caused some sort of shift in the universe, giving all the students at my school the idea that school is done. Not that we still had one whole quarter of class work to finish, but that, the end of the school year is arbitrary and doesn't matter. That refusing to do work makes the work go away.
So, the past couple of weeks have been filled with the whines and complaints of students who would rather be plunked down on the couch, vegging out, or sleeping or whatever most of the local kiddos do. Anything but school. And woe to the teacher who forewarns them that she teaches until the last minute of the last class. (that would be me)
And, it helps (uh, yeah) when the math teachers are done teaching and are having students clean their rooms from top to bottom, foreign language teachers are showing educational material like... Charlotte's Web in Spanish with English subtitles... and so forth. Just yesterday one of my little sparkling darlings told me it was unfair that she had gone for the first three periods of the day doing absolutely nothing and to come to my class and be expected to do "all this work." When another cherub pipes up from the rear of the class, "but she warned us."
This is how it goes.
Now the person in charge is wanting us to play games at the end of the last day? Uhm. Quite frankly, I don't want to play Bingo! with a bunch of high school kids who are just at school to socialize (it is the last day, after all). I don't want to go on a nature walk with any students. I don't want to play charades. Or kick ball. Or have a three-legged race. I don't want to have a hot dog roast with them. Seriously, I don't have it in me to try to play games with these kids who've done nothing but whine and moan and complain and gripe for the past month.
Instead of asking for suggestions, we get an email. And the email says... bingo, board games, kick ball, nature walk, and the like. And I think... are you kidding me? Is this for real? Seriously? WHAT???
After an hour or so of reflection (ok it was probably more like stewing) I emailed a response: I volunteer to open my classroom to the students who do not wish to participate in those types of activities.
Ohhhhh, sweet jeebus, what have I done????? What wrath will I call down upon myself? Why is the send button so conveniently located on emails? Why isn't it hidden, so you have to really think and hunt and find the button before a slap-dash send? Sweet jeebus, sweeeeeet jeeebus.
Now I have four days to obsesses over the retaliation.
Maybe Bingo! won't be so bad after all?
Nah, I want to work in my room. I want the kids to just shut up and go away. just... go.... away....
And I actually LOVE my students. Imagine if I didn't like them?
Here it goes. The final count down. What will happen? Will I end up coordinating all the activities for the last day? Me and my big send button.
what if this is as good as it gets?
3 comments:
Honestly? I've given up teaching on the last day. I generally let my kids (who, granted, are technically adults) order pizza and socialize in my room.
Now, you should understand that my saying they're adults in no way implies that I'm saying they DON'T whine and complain about the work that I give them - they do, all the time. I don't teach until the last minute because it's pretty much a guarantee that anyone who doesn't care to have their actual final handed back to them won't bother to show up. My experience has proven that that number is usually quite a bit more than half. It's just not worth it to plan a lesson for fewer than half the students who showed up either to get their paper back or who can't afford another absence (because my school WILL drop them on the last day if they miss too many classes).
In the immortal words of pretty much every student to ever have sat in a classroom... Whatever.
I'd be thrilled to not teach until the last possible minute, but it's what the administration wants. Believe me, this is going to come up in some future faculty meetings.
Well here's hoping that your idea goes over well and you end up with and empty classroom that you can work in. :P
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