Today was not a good day. I think it started on Sunday when I tried 15 phone numbers and only 1 worked. Which means that 14 kids thought I didn't follow through on my consequences. Then today I had to administer a diagnostic to determine the kids' reading levels. The 7
th graders were dolls, of course. The 8
th graders were terrors. It felt a whole lot like last year and mostly I felt really stuck. Like, what kind of strength and creativity will it take to bend the wills of 70 adolescents? Maybe not their wills, but their desires, their routines....
I feel the judgment from the other grade teachers as my noisy groups pass their perfectly straight, silent lines in the hallways. They are so hoity-toity. Little kids are so easy.
And Mr. Ashe marked up my lesson plans with red ink and big, fat question marks.
The pressure gets my shoulders tight and I find that I go ballistic in the classroom over the smallest things. The kids don't respond well (I don't blame them) and then it's a power struggle and mostly a lose-lose situation. Boo.
1 comment:
"But these things I plan won't happen right away. Slowly, steadily, surely, the time approaches when the vision will be fulfilled. If it seems slow, wait patiently, for it will surely take place. It will not be delayed." (Habakkuk 2:3) Keep plugging on. Let these kids see they are important enough for the long haul. You may be the only one investing in them. But you already know that.
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