I figured it out

The first two weeks of school have been great.  I have great kids in great classes.  Oh, yeah, there are a couple who are giving me some grief, but it’s ok, it’s manageable.  On Wednesday, it hit me as to why this was such a great beginning of the year and I was feeling terrific.  For the first time in 18 years, I do not have the sophomore Academy class.  I do not have to be the drill sargent, I do not have to teach like it’s bootcamp.  I have the kids who I put all that effort into two years ago, and now I am reaping the benefits.  It is bliss.

I knew I wasn’t happy having to be so hard on kids to retrain them to do what they were supposed to do in the first place.  The results, down the line, were exemplary, but getting there was killing me.  Each year got harder as I found kids had fewer classroom management skills.  I have some of my Academy kids in multimedia, and oh, what a difference.  They know how to behave, they know what’s expected, they know to listen to ME when I give directions, they know to do the work the way I want it.  Again, bliss.

Teaching is fun again.

Behaving badly

We are experiencing some HOT weather here in the San Joaquin Valley, but it’s not too hot for little boys to stay home, and stay out of trouble.  In a small town, out on the westside, in a school that has faced some tough financial times, a group of boys went in and did $250,000 in damage to school property, mainly damaging equipment.  The latest news article says that parents were involved in covering up for the boys.

In a New York Times article about boys misbehaving and parents’ reactions, the argument is made that discipline is a fine line and one must not overreact nor ignore.  An earlier news article about the local vandalism discussed the payment for the equipment replacement and school clean up, saying that the boys came from homes with little resources and they did not expect to collect damages.  Definitely not overreacting.