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Onward and Upward

The first week is over and it's left me depressed. Being a hard ass isn't really me and the constant negativity wears me out. I already had one detention for being late, one cell phone confiscation and one (almost) desk cleaning for swearing (apparently the boy's bathroom had no paper towels, which I really didn't want to know!). The students all think I'm incredibly mean for enforcing the rules from day one... I wonder how they will survive in the real world, where rule enforcement involves loosing your job in a tight market.

There were some highlights. Several students from last year stopped by to say hello. One told a younger sibling in my freshman class that I "would grow on him" and eventually he'd enjoy the class. Another claimed his younger sister said I was "mean" to her... and I couldn't even remember saying anything individually to the student; he told her that it was all a big joke, just do the work and she'd be OK. My neighboring teacher said she's been told that I was the favorite teacher of one her AP students and over half of that class contains former students. Basically, those that survived my class year got something out of it. Yippee.

This coming week is Open House. The sophomores have been working on an essay about their yearly goal. They're to finish on Monday, but I'm hoping that they'll be able to have to time to draw out their goal in some sort of poster for display during that time. Displays of student work are always good for countering the virulent complaining that has been going on.

Comments

Jenna said…
"daily wrestling match"... that is what I'm trying to avoid as well.

I've asked a veteran teacher to lend me some help in this area. Maybe I'll feel better about then - I'm always my own worst critic.
7:10 PM
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