Wind In My Head: Being the Grown Up
Wind In My Head
Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Being the Grown Up
I hate having to deal with discipline cases. Two years or so ago, I had to deal with a girl who was drunk during a first period class from tepid Tiger Beer out of her water bottle. All I wanted to actually tell her was that drinking beer before lunch just isn't done, Tiger sucks and tepid beer- she had to be really desperate! Instead, I had to tell her it was against the law and school rules and she had to face the consequences of her action, her being underaged and all complicated matters further.This morning, same thing. No drunk girl, I think that's a once in a career experience. A girl in my class missed three Math classes and when her tutor asked her for her medical excuse, she said I had it, which I didn't! And according to my records, she wasn't even absent. So that made her a liar, on 2 counts.
When I confronted her, I was annoyed because she couldn't lie to save her life. She remembered clearly she was absent on those specific dates, but then again, this wonderful ability to remember things didn't extend to what we actually did in class yesterday. When I told her that her Math teacher was concerned for her because she hadn't attended any of the follow up classes for those who didn'd do well in Math last year, she said it wasn't just her that missed those classes. Wrong answer again! And to further exacerbate my annoyance, she said it was no big deal that she had ONLY missed 3 classes in 2 weeks in response to my telling her that she was doing herself a disservice by not attending these classes.
Sigh.
What I'm most pissy about right now is the blatant way they skip classes and lie bold faced even when they know they've been caught out. When they apologise without meaning a word they say and have done so more because I was eating into their precious break period.
A colleague said we should just leave them be and let them fail. Ideally, that would work. But as grown ups with a sense of responsibility and supposed fairmindedness, we're supposed to give a damn even when they don't. Hmmm...
Ondine tossed this thought in at 10:07
2 thoughts...
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At 9:44 am
Ondine said... I'm quite sure she hates me for the fact that I called her on it. Didn't yell at her. I don't yell unless I'm swearing at the kids... but then the whole class gets it. I don't see the need to yell at single kids. Realised with my "Ng" look, I have no problems conveying utmost displeasure plus some aspect of guai-lan-ness without going a decibel above my normal speaking voice... :)
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At 11:35 pm
char said...
my history teacher came back on the first day of school with a smile on his face, because he was enlightened by another teacher during the holidays. he says he sleeps better at night knowing the world needs its road sweepers :)