Tuesday, January 18, 2005
This week I have the dubious pleasure of taking my kids to the computer lab. I really wish that "fun" activities were fun for the teacher as well as the student. I have grown to hate field trips, electives, and yes, pep rallies. They are only an opportunity for the children to commit random acts of weirdness or violence.

To top this off, the computer teacher is not so fondly referred to as "The Dragon Lady" here at my school. She is, probably, the meanest teacher here. She has really good intentions. She loves technology and really believes that kids need it. She stays late devising PowerPoint presentations to die for—the kind that relate to all the state standards and have links up the wazoo.

Only problem is—she hates kids. She hates talking, whispering, dirty hands on her keyboards, beeping computer sounds that she deems unnecessary, when they move out of their seat, when they wiggle in their seat, when they don’t remember how to cut or paste, when one kid asks the same question another kid just asked—essentially she hates everything that kids do.

She does not understand that only two of my students can sit for more than three minutes without making a sound or moving around. My one student who has Turret’s Syndrome (I am 99% sure) certainly cannot meet her standards. He beeps, bleats, and yells out "What What??" every minute or two. He stands up, spins in a circle, and yells "What What??" at least once a class period. These are things the Dragon Lady cannot stand.

She screams, "What are you doing? Get out of my lab! Get out!" and then she yells at the teacher. I have been able to control my classes, mostly, and I avoid the lab, so she hasn’t yelled at me, yet. But today may be my day. I am not looking forward to it.
¶ 4:43 AM