Tell me how you really feel.

To get everyone participating in class, I sometimes ask the students to show me the numerical answers using their fingers. As most teachers know, it's a quick and efficient way to see which student knows what, which student is paying attention, and which student is in La-La-Land. It's the last 15 minutes of the day; we're going over some test prep strategies (getting ready for the oh-so-important state test that clearly tests students' knowledge) and I say, "On your fingers show me how many paragraphs this passage has." As I survey the room like a lifeguard on beach duty, I see two fingers are popping on each hand as there are two paragraphs in the passage. As I reach the end of my survey of the classroom, I notice Moses flipping me off. He notices; I notice it. He quickly pulls his hand down and starts turning bright red. He slams his head into the desk and under his breath he says, "I'm sooooo sorry- I didn't mean it- It's just habit..I mean...oo man...sorry."

I yell, "Tell me how you really feel next time, Moses!" as he walks out the door with his head drooping. "Please don't tell my mom," he cries back.

Although it was probably unintentional, it's pretty ridiculous what students do on a regular basis. Great way to end a school day!

Hello Mister Orange

Last Friday was a busy mess. My last period of the day is usually the funniest and the most fun. They're a great bunch of students as a whole. However, this was not the case last Friday. Most of the students were hyper and talkative; I guess, they were ready for the weekend. In that class, there is one student, let's call him, Bobby, who is ADHD. He is supposed to take medicine daily to help him calm down. He didn't take it on Friday.

At first, he came in loud and rocking back and forth. Then, he wouldn't stop talking and walking around the classroom. All these behavior are not typical of medicated Bobby; he's usually calm and composed, quiet and on task. After a couple of redirections, I call him to the front of the room, so that he can be my partner for the rest of the class period. He sits down right next to me and is playing with his orange stress ball, squeezing it rapidly. Next thing I see, he is rolling on the floor. UNBELIEVABLE. Everyone is laughing. He finally gets back into his seat. He looks at me and asks, "Do you want an orange?" as he shows me his stress ball. I say, "No thank you- get back to work please." He then puts the orange stress ball to his ear and says to the ball, "Hello Mister Orange! How are you?"

WHAT?!?!

No words.

The PE teacher was out today, so I volunteered to watch the kids with the PE assistant. Today, they were running the mile, so all I had to do was watch them run lap after lap. As the kids are lining up behind the line as if they were about to start a marathon, I noticed a 7th grade girl watching from the sideline; she was out for her recess. The whistle blows, and my students take off with the boys leading the pack. As they whiz by me, this GIRL runs into the STAMPEDE to talk to one of my boy students. By doing so, she viciously trips three boys. "WHAT IN WORLD WERE YOU THINKING?" I yell at this girl as my students are now rolling on the ground. "What? I was standing here; they ran into me," she replied back with an attitude. "You're joking, right? You ran into a mass crowd of boys...not the smartest thing to do." As she rolls her eyes at me, I tell her to leave and to watch both ways when she crosses the road...JUST IN CASE.
I have NEVER ever seen something so IDIOTIC in my entire life. Who in the world runs into a stampede of any kind? Let alone, 6th grade boys trying to impress every and anyone. I guess she's not the smartest of the bunch.