Wednesday, April 07, 2004

Every teacher knows that if you don't have control of the classroom it creates a vacuum. Children can't stand a vacuum, so they take the control from you. Every teacher knows that they should never let that happen.

But sometimes-- sometimes you are just so TIRED. Tired of the kids' noise. Tired of saying the same three sentences, ("Why are you out of your seat?", "I need your attention now!", and "What in God's name are you doing?") over and over. Today, I was so annoyed by my last period class that I just mentally checked out altogether. I mean, I really deliberately decided to leave the premises in my brain and go elsewhere. I went to really pleasant memory of going to Seattle one late night with Owen. I think I went there because it seemed like such a free time. And I was feeling very very shackled in that tiny trailer with seventeen screeching children.

I was pulled out of my reverie by an adult voice shouting, "What is happening in here?" It was my trailer-neighbor, another teacher. I suddenly looked around and literally every kid was out of their seat doing something weird. One kid was pulling the quotes I have up off the walls. Another student was gathering every pencil and pen he could find in my desk and putting them carefully around a picture of my neice. One student was gingerly taking off another student's shoe. I looked at my white-board and the words "Mrs. S is F'kn WACK yo!" were written (happily, I am not Mrs. S) in rainbow colors. And finally, my one very special young man was singing opera and doing high leg lifts by himself in the corner.

I couldn't have even been checked out for that long. It had to have been 8 minutes, tops, from the time I thought they were working in pairs on a reading comprehension worksheet to the graffitti and leg lifts. They are fast and wily. Amazing.

It really must be time for spring break. Heaven help me. ¶ 3:10 PM