High School students are tact-less
No offence to anyone in high school, but let's face it: there is something seriously WRONG with most high schoolers these days.
Ok, wait, that first line didn't make a lick of sense because the people reading MY posts are well beyond the high school range. Blaine (if you read this) doesn't count because she's my cousin, and she's different. I don't think about her like I do my students because she's so much better and cooler than they are!
Today was probably the worst day I have had so far this year. My first period is terrible! They can't handle a simple task. They are whiny, and they think they can just weasel their way out of work whenever they want to. It just irritates me. But for every single thing that drives me up the wall, there are two or three things that can't help but make me smile and remind me that there is something worthwhile about teaching...even if it might be a little off color.
We are studying 'The Crucible' in my two 11th grade classes, and we have finished reading Act One. My students are intrigued by the audacity of some of these individuals in the play. They did have a difficult time at first understanding that there are NO witches in the play, but are starting to see the characters' motives for blaming others of witchcraft. We were reviewing for a quiz on Thursday last week, and I asked the students if the character of John Proctor lived up to the Puritan code of conduct. I was met, of course, with blank stares. So, I rephrased my question to help it make more sense by saying, "Was Proctor doing anything that he shouldn't be doing?" Without missing a beat, PJ (a football player, and not the sharpest crayon in the box) pipes up by saying, "yeah, 17 year olds!"
There was a moment of silence, followed by some cautious laughter on the part of the students. I didn't really know what to do. I had to put my head down on the podium to keep from laughing. YES the student was right, Proctor was guilty of an affair of some kind with Abigail, but the WAY he said it was TOTALLY inappropriate.....FUNNY by inappropriate!
I've taken to calling PJ 'Giles Corey'--which ironically enough is the character that he chose to read for--because PJ is always the one blamed for EVERYTHING in my class, just like Giles is...and he was actually smart enough to make that connection.
My other little ray of light is my 7th period. They are the quirkiest group of children ever. They are so much fun. Ulices and Nash drive me crazy, but I just can't help but hang my head and laugh whenever they pull their little antics. Nash even told me today, "awe. Mrs. H, you know you can't stay mad at us!" Ulices is from Mexico, and they were talking about stereotypes in class (which is ironic, because we had that inservice earlier this month concerning "getting to know our Hispanic and Latino students" which also discussed both positive and negative stereotypes). Ulices is a little comedian. As they were walking out the door when the bell rang, he grabbed one of the other Hispanic students around the shoulder and said, "Hey Carlos, aren't white people just SO aggressive?" To me, it was almost the equivalent of when Pat Mortia (Mr. Miagi from the Karate Kid) guest-starred on M*A*S*H and said, "All you Americans look alike to me."
Ok, wait, that first line didn't make a lick of sense because the people reading MY posts are well beyond the high school range. Blaine (if you read this) doesn't count because she's my cousin, and she's different. I don't think about her like I do my students because she's so much better and cooler than they are!
Today was probably the worst day I have had so far this year. My first period is terrible! They can't handle a simple task. They are whiny, and they think they can just weasel their way out of work whenever they want to. It just irritates me. But for every single thing that drives me up the wall, there are two or three things that can't help but make me smile and remind me that there is something worthwhile about teaching...even if it might be a little off color.
We are studying 'The Crucible' in my two 11th grade classes, and we have finished reading Act One. My students are intrigued by the audacity of some of these individuals in the play. They did have a difficult time at first understanding that there are NO witches in the play, but are starting to see the characters' motives for blaming others of witchcraft. We were reviewing for a quiz on Thursday last week, and I asked the students if the character of John Proctor lived up to the Puritan code of conduct. I was met, of course, with blank stares. So, I rephrased my question to help it make more sense by saying, "Was Proctor doing anything that he shouldn't be doing?" Without missing a beat, PJ (a football player, and not the sharpest crayon in the box) pipes up by saying, "yeah, 17 year olds!"
There was a moment of silence, followed by some cautious laughter on the part of the students. I didn't really know what to do. I had to put my head down on the podium to keep from laughing. YES the student was right, Proctor was guilty of an affair of some kind with Abigail, but the WAY he said it was TOTALLY inappropriate.....FUNNY by inappropriate!
I've taken to calling PJ 'Giles Corey'--which ironically enough is the character that he chose to read for--because PJ is always the one blamed for EVERYTHING in my class, just like Giles is...and he was actually smart enough to make that connection.
My other little ray of light is my 7th period. They are the quirkiest group of children ever. They are so much fun. Ulices and Nash drive me crazy, but I just can't help but hang my head and laugh whenever they pull their little antics. Nash even told me today, "awe. Mrs. H, you know you can't stay mad at us!" Ulices is from Mexico, and they were talking about stereotypes in class (which is ironic, because we had that inservice earlier this month concerning "getting to know our Hispanic and Latino students" which also discussed both positive and negative stereotypes). Ulices is a little comedian. As they were walking out the door when the bell rang, he grabbed one of the other Hispanic students around the shoulder and said, "Hey Carlos, aren't white people just SO aggressive?" To me, it was almost the equivalent of when Pat Mortia (Mr. Miagi from the Karate Kid) guest-starred on M*A*S*H and said, "All you Americans look alike to me."
posted by shadygrove4h | 11/15/2005 10:04:00 PM
1 Comments:
Sorry that your kids are giving you some grief, but I have to say, your posts about the daily travails are so entertaining - love that you are blogging and I get to laugh at the tactless kids along with you!
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