Not feeling the love
I am NOT feeling the teaching love right now. My kids were acting like jerks today and for some reason, it really got to me. I screamed (yes, screamed) QUIET!!! at my 4th hour class because they could not shut up. They seem to think it's really funny not to do what I ask them to. I do not find it so funny.
I took out some of my anger on my 7th period class because they were having a similar outbreak of stupidity and immaturity. These kids expect to be entertained every single second. I gave them a talking-to about being quiet, and not thirty seconds later, a few started talking again. That really set me off. I told them that they needed to exercise some self-control, that they are acting extremely stupid and immature, and that no one will put up with it in high school. At least they had the decency to shut up for a few minutes after that. I had to (again) talk to two of my students because I caught one throwing something at the other. The next time it happens, I swear I am sending them both to the office and letting the office work out the problem. It's ridiculous.
I understand the value of creating interesting, engaging, fun lessons. But it's just not possible or desirable for me to do a lab every day. There are other things to be learned and other ways to learn them. My students shy away from any task requiring ongoing mental (or even physical) effort. Their ideal class is to watch a movie or a Bill Nye episode, because they don't have to DO anything. They can completely zone out and think about their selfish little lives. Some of them don't even make an effort to do what is asked of them. I need to remember that I was just as self-centered and shallow as an 8th grader, but I like to think that I was marginally better behaved and had an attention span longer than 30 seconds. I guess I'm not typical.
It's at times like this when I think of a radical book I read a few years back. Why not stop making education mandatory? The kids who cause the most problems are the kids who DON'T want to be here. So why are we making them? This would be a whole lot easier if we didn't force kids to attend school, but allowed them to choose. Many of them would choose to be here anyway, because their friends would be here or their parents would make them. It would force us to make school more interesting for kids, so that we could get them to show up. It would definitely force us to change our teaching methods.
On the other hand, sometimes kids don't know what is good for them. The very same tasks that they never want to do build patience, perseverance, and critical skills. I have so many kids who claim they can't even wait 45 minutes to use the restroom. What happened to their patience? They have grown up on so much instant gratification that if they don't get their way, they throw a tantrum. I think some of my kids have hardly ever been told "no" in their lives. They just don't get that life is difficult, and you are always going to have to do things you don't want to do.
I guess my rant is over. Time for me to go do things I don't want to do--finish grading some papers.
I took out some of my anger on my 7th period class because they were having a similar outbreak of stupidity and immaturity. These kids expect to be entertained every single second. I gave them a talking-to about being quiet, and not thirty seconds later, a few started talking again. That really set me off. I told them that they needed to exercise some self-control, that they are acting extremely stupid and immature, and that no one will put up with it in high school. At least they had the decency to shut up for a few minutes after that. I had to (again) talk to two of my students because I caught one throwing something at the other. The next time it happens, I swear I am sending them both to the office and letting the office work out the problem. It's ridiculous.
I understand the value of creating interesting, engaging, fun lessons. But it's just not possible or desirable for me to do a lab every day. There are other things to be learned and other ways to learn them. My students shy away from any task requiring ongoing mental (or even physical) effort. Their ideal class is to watch a movie or a Bill Nye episode, because they don't have to DO anything. They can completely zone out and think about their selfish little lives. Some of them don't even make an effort to do what is asked of them. I need to remember that I was just as self-centered and shallow as an 8th grader, but I like to think that I was marginally better behaved and had an attention span longer than 30 seconds. I guess I'm not typical.
It's at times like this when I think of a radical book I read a few years back. Why not stop making education mandatory? The kids who cause the most problems are the kids who DON'T want to be here. So why are we making them? This would be a whole lot easier if we didn't force kids to attend school, but allowed them to choose. Many of them would choose to be here anyway, because their friends would be here or their parents would make them. It would force us to make school more interesting for kids, so that we could get them to show up. It would definitely force us to change our teaching methods.
On the other hand, sometimes kids don't know what is good for them. The very same tasks that they never want to do build patience, perseverance, and critical skills. I have so many kids who claim they can't even wait 45 minutes to use the restroom. What happened to their patience? They have grown up on so much instant gratification that if they don't get their way, they throw a tantrum. I think some of my kids have hardly ever been told "no" in their lives. They just don't get that life is difficult, and you are always going to have to do things you don't want to do.
I guess my rant is over. Time for me to go do things I don't want to do--finish grading some papers.
posted by Suzy at 3:19 PM
1 Comments:
Wow. Posts like this remind me why I avoid teaching like the plague. I just don't have the necessary patience.
What's really sad is when my (college) study abroad students do this. For goodness sake, they're paying thousands of dollars to go on a fun trip. The least they can do is be civil during orientation.
Post a Comment
<< Home