Welcome to calls Officer Nasty
Student: I don’t understand why it’s so hard for old people to understand technology…..
a few seconds later
Mrs. Kane: How do you right click on a Mac?
The bell rings and students start steaming into my class. Many walk into the room, only to walk back out a few minutes later, as suddenly they realized that they need to go to the bathroom. This always seems to spread like a bad cold, as one female needs to go to the bathroom, suddenly 10 others will surely have an accident if they don’t go now as well.
Then the announcements come on…..
Will the following students please report to the office, John, Sarah, Dan, Amber, Ashley, Karen, Carl, Cindy, Bob, Souhyen Lee ( they stumble over this one a few times and finally give up) , Alex, James, Ryan, Joe, Molly, Lauren, Melissa, Sarah, Tracey, Steph, Jack, Lisa, Allison, Tyler.. and the list goes on, but I”m tired of typing and coming up with names.
Students then begin to ask me if they were called to the office.
I respond , I don’t know, I wasn’t listening for “your” name, that’s your job.
So now class is to start, but there are still some girls in the bathroom, a few students at their lockers, and at least 5 students think that they were called to the office and must leave. So I push off starting for a few minutes in the hopes that I won’t have to give the same directions 20 different times.
One male students returns, as he sits down I notice his lovely 2 sizes too small white undershirt that he’s wearing. On the shirt, in marker, he or someone else with bad handwriting has written, Cop , Officer Nasty. I welcome Officer Nasty to the room , and request that he be on his best behavior today. Officer Nasty, and some of his other friends begin to respond to me, but when I use the word respond, I use it lightly. They rarely finish sentences. Everything that comes out of their mouth begins with “I mean…..” And well, it has become apparent that they don’t have a clue what they mean, because rarely does anything follow. They are simply very good at drawing words out, much longer than they should . So they are spending the class period raising their hand to answer or ask a question and then saying, but I meannnnnnn. I ask what do they mean? and with that, they say, well, buttttt, I meannnnnn. Okay, I’m moving on.
Students are learning how to develop film, a task that blows their minds. So after reviewing how to use scissors, and a can opener, they begin practicing. During this practice time, another student decides that she really wants the back of her iphone to crack, so she begins slamming it on the table.
I try to be a reasonable person, so I make an attempt to understand why she wants the back of her iphone to crack. However, after asking several questions, I still have no clue. Clearly I”m too old, and this is one of those things, that it’s not even possible for me to understand.
The phone is now being chucked on the floor. The logical part of me steps in, and questions what will happen if the entire phone breaks instead of just the back cracking. I meannnnn , we’re talking about an iphone, they’re not cheap. She responds that she knows that it won’t break. Some of friends have done it, plus she’s due for an upgrade in December. I remind her that it’s Oct, and students tell me that December is not that far away.
While on one hand that is true, however, they can’t seem to part with their phones for 2 seconds, so again, I’m having trouble understanding how they think that they could deal with a broken phone for Oct, and Nov. But this, seems to be another thing, that we’re just going to agree to disagree on.
With that a freshman boy, pulls his iphone out of his pocket and throws it , full force across the room. I’m still staying calm here, and ask what he is doing. He’s attempting to demonstrate to the senior girls, how to crack the back of their phones.
We need to back up here. This class has 25 students in grades 9-12, some with learning disabilities and some that are gifted. Freshman boys can be a whole monster themselves, they’ve just discovered that girls exist, and when you put them in a room with senior girls, well they lose it. The phone throwing freshman boy, also has a crush on me, and clearly has no idea how to talk to girls. He’s always hiding in corners, and jumping out at me like some crazy jack in the box. He often raises his hand to tell me that he likes me clock, asked me if I’m real, and will approach me carrying random art supplies asking if he can have them.
If the last three sentences don’t make any sense to you, don’t worry, that just means that you’re not a freshman boy. They don’t make sense to me either, I”m just recounting events here.
On this particular day, I told him that he could have glue stick, for the glue gun he tells me that he has at home. He’s over the moon. Perhaps the excitement of the glue stick is what prompted him to chuck his iphone across the room.
Well somehow through all of this insanity the students manage to develop their film, I stay calm, not even raising my voice, and can mark off another day down.
It’s because of days like this one that I created the teacher reflection journal. A reflective and inspirational journal designed for you, the teacher, filled with 108 pages of reflection prompts focusing on your day, your classroom, your lessons, your impact and your legend.
Click the image below to get your copy, buy one for a friend, or pick up some copies for your children’s teachers.
