Up and Down

Yesterday was wonderful. I taught PE to about 5 classes at two schools. The kids had a blast playing games that used soccer skills and playing kickball and I had a good time watching them. Half inside, half outdoors in the gorgeous weather! Also, due to one class being on a field trip and a teacher prep being next to lunch time, I had a break from 11:20 until 1:55 so – I went home and relaxed! First time this ever happened, and probably the last.

One negative comment: a boy in either 3rd or 4th grade asked me, “What letter of the alphabet comes after M?” They were shooting some goals and giving themselves a letter every time they scored and he didn’t remember his alphabet. 😦

Then there was today…..

One girl told me right off, “I have a talking disorder.” I said, “Not in this class.”
Fortunately I only had her in there for an hour and a half. Not sure who came out ahead.

I have canceled all the 6th grade classes at a particular Livonia school – of the classes I had been in and had a rough time. But I decided to take a class I hadn’t encountered except for a short time in Music class. As soon as I walked in, I said, “I had you for music, didn’t I?”
A student – D – said, “Yeah, you kicked me out of music class.”

I said, “No, you kicked yourself out. I never kick anyone out – but sometimes your behavior leads to you choosing to kick yourself out because you won’t cooperate.”

(This reminds me that yesterday a little girl asked me, “Are you nice?” I responded,
“Are YOU nice? How I act will depend on how you act.”)

Back to today. Sigh. Another 6th grade class off of my list. I find it intriguing that the 5th grade classes are all easy to work with, but the 6th grade classes are a pain in the butt.
The school only has 5th and 6th graders. I mentioned this to another 6th grade teacher, saying, “Next year – those kids are going to come in just fine – so get them settled right from the start.”

Talking. Ignoring direction. Talking during a test. Disrespectful language (one boy yelled, “Screw you!” because he was angry about missing ten minutes of recess because of his earlier disruptive behavior. Sigh. It just didn’t go well, although I must admit that it was mostly 3-5 students causing the trouble. I need to learn – if I stay with this job, which is unlikely because I’m looking for work as an editor/writer/graphic designer now – I need to learn how to proceed with class even while a student is cutting up, talking, messing around, talking to everybody.