Half way through my third week

I'm so sorry it takes me so long to post. I really don't mean to leave you like that. I love you! I have really just barely had a minute to myself since the last time we spoke. You say, "But what about the weekend, DC Newbie? I know you frittered your whole Labor Day weekend away. Surely you did the same this weekend." I answer, "No, I did not, actually. I worked a lot."

Friday night I was dealing with more attendance issues (even now, halfway through week 3 of school, I got two new students today and a couple more were moved to another class). I also managed to grade a few papers. I didn't get very far at all through grading those quizzes before I saw that every single student failed. Not like, oh no, they got a C. I mean like, jeezy peezy, will anyone get at least 5 out of 12 on this? Everyone, 7th and 8th graders, failed the quiz except for two students. One genius boy in my GT class got 100% on one side of the quiz (the memorization side) and the monster boy from my other 8th grade class got 100% on the other side that was more application.

I was talking to another teacher earlier that day and he told me that although monster boy is, well, a monster in class behavior-wise, he is one of, if not the, naturally smartest kids in school. And he's not ashamed of it either. He's not a poor soul who wants to be accepted by his peers and so acts dumb. This boy, who I will stop calling monster boy from now on and start calling... ummm... Sleepyhead, is a leader and likes to brag when he gets things right. I know this because I made a point to announce to the class how smart Sleepyhead is. I didn't just come right out and say it, though. I had a plan.

I don't think I ever mentioned the spelling test I gave to all my classes. It's this "Morrison McCall Spelling Test" the other science teacher gave me. There are 50 words that start off easy like sea and far and end up harder like endeavor and villain. If you get all 50 right, then you are reading on a 14th grade level or something like that. A score of 32 means 7th grade, and a score of 37 means 8th grade. I highly highly recommend this tool to all teachers. I think this is the only thing I've done so far that I feel very good about. All the sudden I have what appears to fairly accurate predictions of the reading abilities of my students. After grading them, I realize that student A never does their work because they clearly never understand it, or that student B is always so bored because they are reading at a high school level. It's mad helpful to say the least.

Back to Sleepyhead. Turns out he's reading at a mid-9th grade level (which is expected since he's repeating 8th grade). In class, he started talking over my and all and saying some ridiculous things, so I said, "Sleepyhead, don't act stupid and do..." whatever it was he was doing. He, of course, goes, "You can't call me stupid!!" in his high-pitched yell. I then got to what I wanted to say the whole time. "I did not call you stupid and I never would. I know you are smart, Sleepyhead. You know, how? Because you got one of the highest scores on that spelling test out of all the students I teach. I know that you are one of the brightest students in the school, but you act stupid and waste that talent. I know you can do better and I'm trying to get you to do that now." Well, I don't know if those were my exact words but it was something like that. That shut him up real fast and put a genuine smile on his face, too. Since then, he's not been the worst student in my class at all. And neither has the monster girl that came in with him (who I'll start calling Freaker because she can't stop shaking her butt all over the school - it's sick). She scored really high, too, and I told her so after class. I've enlisted her as my friend, and although she's far from perfect, she has stepped down from being a terror in my class and let a new girl take her place.

So that's a lot of information that would lead you to believe my job is going great, right? Wrong. Thursday, Friday, and Monday were terrible behavior wise. I don't even want to get into specifics because it puts me in a bad mood. I'll just summarize. Every class but my homeroom has at least 1 if not 5 students in it that will yell and scream at me and walk out of the room without permission when I tell them to do something. I've written so many referrals already. Every class I taught (but my homeroom, thank God) had at least one student make it nearly impossible for me to teach. It was awful awful awful. All weekend I was trying to pick a new profession. I kept telling my boyfriend that I'm clearly bad at my job so I need to pick a new one. Except that there's really nothing else I can see myself doing. I told him I think I'd be a good secretary, but then he told me that at his office, almost all the secretaries have affairs with their bosses. So scratch that.

After my all work and very little play weekend (I graded papers while my boyfriend watched the US Open), Monday was even worse than Friday. My 3rd period lost their minds. Absolutely lost them. I kept 7 of them in for what was supposed to be 10 minutes and turned into 30 minutes lunch detention because they could not shut their mouths. Then, joy of joys, I realized the class I was assigned to cover 5th period - was the same one I just had! AHHHH!!! And it was terrible again. Only slightly better because I sent two of the kids to the office. But that defiant behavior was quickly replaced by fighting. Remember the "sweet" kid who so unjustly was punched in the bathroom. Ha. Turns out he's not exactly an emotionally fit child and picks fights with everyone he sees quietly. He mumbles insults at everyone he sees. So he kept doing that all class until another girl starting fighting him and I had to hold her back. Sent them to the office, too.

I was very afraid the administration was catching on to how bad I am at my job, but actually, they seem to expect me to be this bad because I'm new and in the ghetto and they really want to help even if they don't really have the time. So that's good news.

I knew something had to change. So Tuesday I had a new seating chart. Instead of rows I made groups of 4. This actually worked well during one class as long as a handful of the students stayed out of their assigned seats and sat in the back by themselves. I realize that went against my authority, but these kids either love or hate each other and I can never tell until they are right next to each other. I'd rather them not sit where I told them to than fight. I'm going to try and fix the seating chart tonight so that everyone will be able to sit in their assigned seats, though. I also gave a little speech like, "Last week was bad for everyone. I was yelling, you were yelling, everyone was angry. That's not how this class should be. I got some rest and I'm coming to you with a blank slate. Let's just start over. I don't want to yell at you guys anymore. Can we start over. Let's cooperate so science class is fun and not maddening." Third period liked this and they were much better behaved over all. It's was a miracle, really. Clearly a lot of the management problems I was having stem from me yelling at them. Everyone was wrong. Yelling is not the answer. I was right before. (I think). My GT class on the other hand behaved the same as ever. Ugh. I think they have a stronger group mentality and are very good at ganging up on me.

New seats with my 7th graders today also went ok minus all the kids not sitting where I told them to. But again, I'll try to fix that. Tomorrow my goal is no negotiate with the kids. They had their chance to write me a letter explaining why I should change their seats and if they didn't, too bad. I will not negotiate! Note: that's what I should say. Just watch as that turns into an all out brawl with the teacher.

Since everyone bombed the quiz, I've been reviewing all the information for two days and they'll re-take the quiz Friday and Tuesday. I'll let you know how it goes.

Meanwhile, I have GOT to go. I still don't know what I'm doing with my 8th graders tomorrow! Something about picking apart a lab report, I know that much. Oy. Talk to you later!