So the aforementioned ISS student came to my room at the end of the day today, handed me his quiz (JUST the quiz; nothing else), and said, "Miss, are you sure the vocabulary review is due today?"
Most of the time, when they ask me questions of this nature, I blink at them for about 3 seconds; I guess I'm hoping that they'll disappear or, I don't know, MAKE SENSE, in the time it takes me to open my eyes again.
So, I obligingly blinked a few times. Alas, the child neither disappeared nor made any sense. I wanted to respond by saying, "You know what? I wasn't sure about that, because really, I have no CLUE how to do my job. Maybe YOU could tell me when this should be due." Instead, I slowly replied, "Yes...I'm sure." And then my brain exploded in a billion tiny bits because I had so solemnly and readily restrained the sarcastic genius that lives inside me.
4 comments:
I can't even begin to tell you how much your posts make me laugh!! Only those of us who've served in the classroom can truly appreciate how realistic your stories really are. It's frightening!!!
Heh. I made it my job to best-befriend the ISS lady my first week. Because I bring her treats and occasionally relieve her for cigarette breaks, now if my ISS kids claim to be out of work, she makes up new work for them!! HAHAHAHAHAHA. Last time she made them copy out pages from a National Guard manual...
Well, Susanna, I didn't know the whereabouts of this blog until recently, and I have to say, reading a lot of posts at once has given me higher blood pressure. I have to stop! Our ISS guy lets the kids sleep and doesn't make them do anything (yes, he's an Alabama grad) and if the kid's assignment is to read something, he'll shake his head and say, "Aw, he ain't gonna do that." He will if you make him! Sheesh! And speaking of Captain Obvious, I have the following experience all the time. We will finish a particular unit, like poetry, or a novel, and we'll have culminating activities and then we'll have a big review game the day before the test, and then on the next day, the day of the test, I will reference their test in some way, and at least one of them (often more)will say, straightfaced, "What test?" I DON'T KNOW, MAYBE THE TEST WE'VE BEEN TALKING ABOUT FOR DAYS, YES DAYS, IN HERE!
Wow! Even though I know most teachers experience the same cookie things I do in the classroom, it is interesting to hear someone put in words what I sometimes don't know how to express. I have been a teacher for four years now, and I am miserable. Today, I had a student and her equally trashy mother tell me off. Instead of reprimanding her daughter for storming out of my classroom and slamming the door behind her (which almost came off the hinges), she blamed me. I know what sets a great teacher apart from a mediocre one is the will to fight, but honestly, I just don't have it in me anymore. It is funny how you seem to experience and feel pretty much what I have for 2 years now. I wonder if you or any veteran teachers have advice for this about to dash out the door and never look back gal.
Mood: Frustrated, sad, disillusioned, drained
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