When most people hear that I am a middle school teacher, they sigh and give me that look. You know the one that goes along with, "You are such a trooper." Yes, middle school sucks. It sucked when I went through it, and that part has not changed.
No one tells you before you walk in the classroom door that most of your day will be spent wrangling and pleading and praying that you don't say something that will be misconstrued by a parent or media outlet. I usually find myself laughing sometime during the day about what comes out of my mouth in the course of those interesting 7 periods.
Here's some of what I said today:
"Please don't kick boys in the knees. Ladies don't act like that."
"Yelling is only acceptable at sporting events, to stop someone from running into traffic, or when someone is beating you to death."
"I guess I just like them better. What kind of question is that?"
"I asked you to please stop talking. I didn't say anything about acting obnoxious and ignoring me."
"These excuses are getting really lame. You can come up with something better than this."
"Wow. You guys are, like, really bad at this whole voting thing."
"Um, I asked you stand in a circle, not in a weird polygon."
"Hmph. You know, if you're going to cheat, you really need to work on your technique. I'm not supposed to be able to see it."
It makes for a interesting day. Fortunately, I'm laughing today.
No one tells you before you walk in the classroom door that most of your day will be spent wrangling and pleading and praying that you don't say something that will be misconstrued by a parent or media outlet. I usually find myself laughing sometime during the day about what comes out of my mouth in the course of those interesting 7 periods.
Here's some of what I said today:
"Please don't kick boys in the knees. Ladies don't act like that."
"Yelling is only acceptable at sporting events, to stop someone from running into traffic, or when someone is beating you to death."
"I guess I just like them better. What kind of question is that?"
"I asked you to please stop talking. I didn't say anything about acting obnoxious and ignoring me."
"These excuses are getting really lame. You can come up with something better than this."
"Wow. You guys are, like, really bad at this whole voting thing."
"Um, I asked you stand in a circle, not in a weird polygon."
"Hmph. You know, if you're going to cheat, you really need to work on your technique. I'm not supposed to be able to see it."
It makes for a interesting day. Fortunately, I'm laughing today.
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