Yo, Coach!

8/27/04
Coaches can have such an amazing impact on a kids life. Kid X had been telling me he wasn't stupid and didn't need our help. So I had Coach B (who had been a sped kid himself) to talk to him. I think he'll do better now. He sure seemed happier the next time I saw him.

Arrgggg

8/25/04
I hate subbing. Why is it that I can have 5 kids and they make me want to scream? I want to cuss, but I keep this on my desk, so I can't. I like just doing paperwork. It's peaceful. So What now? Is this screwed up career number 3? I never want to teach brats like this again. But I won't have a choice. If I get stuck with them tomorrow, I'm going to have the a principle stop by 4th period, and probably send brat #1 to the office first thing.

Knockout

8/24/04
Just witnessed my 1st fight. You could see it building. Kids were yelling. I saw one kid holding another back. Every movement was a little more pronounced. Then it broke out. The principle said something in her radio & started to break it up. I just watched at first. I didn't know what to do. I tried to keep the kids away from it, but it seemed pointless till the other teachers joined in. Could I have done more though??

Knock Out

8/24/04
Just witnessed my 1st fight. You could see it building. Kids were yelling, louder than normal. I saw one kid holding another back. Every movement was a little more pronounced. Then it broke out. The popular VPrinc. muttered something into her radio & dived right into break it up. I just watched at first. I didn't know what to do. I tried to keep kids away from it, but it seemed pointless till the other teachers joined in. Now I wonder should I have helped the V.Princ? What else could I have done?

Is it me?

8/23
Do I just piss the kids off? The sub today was doing well until I poked my head in. Then Brat #2 went off. Was it the act of interruption or was it myself? (later I found out that it was just the kids standard operating procedure)

Not quiet Cinderella

8/23/04
Day 3 with kids. I wish I had more confidence. With this age you have to be confident. If your not, the kids pick up on that, & they will eat you alive. Today I was challenging some kids in the hall, walking backwards, and my sandal came off. Yeah, they had a long hard laugh over that.
I'm not really sure what I should be doing at the moment. I've been testing kids, but what else? I wonder if my teach is frustrated with me yet?

Lock Down

8/20/04
I wish we could let these kids be more free to express themselves, instead of having to force them into this rigid rule structure. But they give us no choice. We these students, we HAVE to teach them how to survive in society. If we don't get through to them, who will? I wonder how many of the kids we are sending to the office are headed straight to jail? And thus, free expression falls to necessity.