7.02.2008

teens

It's been yet another unplanned hiatus. Teaching a college prep program for underprivileged teens from 8:30- 10:30am and then teaching my own undergrad class for 2 hours in the afternoon is kicking my ass. I pretty much come home and prepare lectures, videos, and review the readings until it's time to go to bed. It's been really hard to train my body to sleep at a decent hour like most people. Everything else has fallen by the wayside -- laundry, dishes, groceries, time with K, time to relax and watch TV. I think I would have more energy if my teen class didn't eat away at my fucking soul. Let me tell you about my students' behavior today. One of them pulled his hood over his hat and face and put his head on the table and closed his eyes. This on a day when his classmates are delivering speeches. I called him out on it. What does he do next? Puts on shades, puts his head on the table and starts drawing on the desk with a pencil. I got him put on probation. And these speeches. Holy shit. Some lasted barely more than a minute (on a 3-4 min speech), many had no arguments, and most of them treat the assignment like it's some joke. Most of them are so bad that I'd be tempted to score someone higher for going to the front of the class, lifting an ass cheek and letting one rip. I cannot deal with snarkiness and stink eye. Someone remind me to never take these "working with teens" type jobs again. They're not for me.

3 comments:

Sarah said...

It is good to be back :) I'm glad you enjoyed my first two entries back! I enjoy having a potty mouth (clearly) and I think maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to keep this up for a bit! Anyway, I'm sorry the teens are being bitches but thankfully you won't have to deal with them for too long! Miss you too!

Anonymous said...

I watched a movie recently called, Freedom Writers. Perhaps watching it would inspire you...or just anger you more :P JON

rt said...

yep, sounds familiar. with my high schoolers at least, i think getting in front of the class and talking is the hardest thing. we did that this week too. but yeah, high schoolers are sooo different. not to mention that you can't swear in front of them. haha.

what are the director and guidance counselors like? ours want to hear from the teachers how students are doing. they'll let us know if certain students are on probation (at risk of being kicked out of the program) and that sort of thing. it wasn't always like this but now that it is, it's great!