This is the third semester and I have settled into my position as a teacher. There were times during the Fall that I swore that I was not coming back in January. I am going to be 49 years old in 10 days and have been in the workforce since I was 15 years old and dealing with 6th grade and 10 grade children has tried my last nerve. I can say for certain that I am better for having weathered the storm. I have taken the reins and am finally guiding them down the path I want them to take instead of being dragged along behind them.
I am not a parent so I do not have the luxury of having dealt with teenage attitude on a daily basis. In the past if a kid gave me attitude I would either send them to their parents or I would walk away but when you have other kids sitting there looking at you, while a kid is giving you lip, to see how you react, it is a different situation altogether. At first, I would get mad and threaten to pound them into the ground which they knew was not going to happen, then I resorted to sending them to the office for a paddling (yes a paddling), now all I do is look at them and smile like I know something they don't know and that seems to work in most cases. :)
Funny thing is I have a couple of kids with behavior issues in other classes yet they don't give me a problem. In my spelling class, I let the girls who are a little better at the material work together while I take the boys and work them like a coach or drill instructor and they seem to respond better than if I let them just get lost among the other students.
God Bless the Children
1/30/2013
Still here. Just added sixth and ninth grade Health and 11th grade Economics to the list of subjects I am teaching. This means I am have both ninth grade and 6th grade Health in the same class at the same time. The only way this is possible is to let the kids work at their own pace using quizzes and worksheets and when they get to something they do not understand I am there to guide them. Since this is basically homeschooling curriculum it makes "teaching" certain classes much easier than if I were having to orally present the information. Even the kids who are usually much slower seem to be able to work this way because as long as they can read and comprehend they stay busy.
The only problem I have now is keep butts in the seats. The kids come to me after Lunch and P.E., full of Energy and Sweet Ice Tea which makes keeping them in their seats about as easy as sticking a limp noodle up a Wild Cat's Rear. It can be done but there is a high degree of certainty that someone is going to walk away at the end of the day with some injuries and it is usually me.
Still here. Just added sixth and ninth grade Health and 11th grade Economics to the list of subjects I am teaching. This means I am have both ninth grade and 6th grade Health in the same class at the same time. The only way this is possible is to let the kids work at their own pace using quizzes and worksheets and when they get to something they do not understand I am there to guide them. Since this is basically homeschooling curriculum it makes "teaching" certain classes much easier than if I were having to orally present the information. Even the kids who are usually much slower seem to be able to work this way because as long as they can read and comprehend they stay busy.
The only problem I have now is keep butts in the seats. The kids come to me after Lunch and P.E., full of Energy and Sweet Ice Tea which makes keeping them in their seats about as easy as sticking a limp noodle up a Wild Cat's Rear. It can be done but there is a high degree of certainty that someone is going to walk away at the end of the day with some injuries and it is usually me.
