Friday, March 13, 2009
Tales of a 4th Grade Nothing
I have a feeling that when Judy Blume wrote this book in 1972, she had never seen anything like my 4th grade class! It has seriously been one of the worst weeks ever! I don't know what is going on but I have the most hormonal students ever. Two of my students were looking up male body parts on the computer a few weeks ago when they were supposed to be taking a test. Then, I found a note at the beginning of the week that one of my students had written that had a bunch of rules for kissing on it. As if that wasn't enough, she was one of the same girls that was looking up inappropriate things on the computer. When I asked her about the note she (of course) lied to me and told me it had to do with her mom. I spoke with her mom (which is a whole different story) and it turns out that two girls in my class had written the rules and they were for the game truth or dare that was going to be played at recess. So, on Thursday, after all of this had made its way to my principal, I had 8 students that ended up with pink slips for inappropriate behavior. There were four girls in my class that had gotten together with four boys and they all decided that they wanted to play truth or dare with kissing. This may not seem like a big deal, but if you read the rules you would be a little flabbergasted. On top of that, the past few weeks my students seem to not be able to keep their hands to themselves. Everyday I hear: they pushed me, they touched me, they hit me, they tripped me, they kicked me, and it goes on and on. Plus, I also hear: they called me a name, they looked at me funny, they were talking about me, they said a bad word, and on and on! I really can't take much more. I feel like I am teaching 1st graders which I normally would like, but they are in 4th grade! Not cool. I told my kids that from now on if they are tattling or being tattled on for something they did, they are automatically going to miss recess. That seemed to scare them a little bit. The other teachers at my school said that this is what comes along with March, April and May. Let me just say that I am SO excited for June!
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5 comments:
Hey babe,
Those kids don't know who they're messing with. And I'm sure most of their parents (besides a select few, like Kendra's) don't really care. So they leave all the instruction and training to you. So let me just say that you'll be blessed for being willing to parent so many little evil children that aren't even yours. Heavenly Father is watching! and so am i! I love you!
Seriously I'm sorry that you've had a tough week. I promise you it gets better. When I was intern one of my students threatened to kill another one in my class. I think for some reason they always give the toughest kids to the interns. It's like baptism by fire and I promise you....it gets SOOOO much better! Just remember that in a few months....they are somebody else's problem. June will be the best month of your entire life!
oh my gosh I know how you feel. the same sort of thing happens with seniors in high school, the only difference is that they are much more explicit and they legit think you're too dumb/old to know what they are talking about. I never really know how to handle those situations. i just cross my fingers that they don't happen anymore.
maybe if we start wearing lee straight legs to class they will know we mean business
Ha ha ha. Oh my gosh!! What is this world coming to? Remember when we were in fourth grade and we didn't even know what "going-out" meant? Now look what society has done to our little babies over the years. It's quite disgusting if you ask me! And as far as looking up male body parts on the internet, just sign them up for the 7th grade health class and they'll learn more than they ever wanted to. That was the most awkward class of my life! I hope things get better for you. The tattling and losing recess is a great idea. I had to do that with one of my student teaching classes. I had to explain what the diffference was in "telling" and "tattling". They got the picture when half the class sat on the curb and watched everyone else have recess. Ha ha. And I agree whole-heartedly with Larissa. Who has those Lee Straight Legs anyway? You need them now more than ever!! Love you.
I am teaching 4th grade too and I was so happy to read your blog and realize that my class wasn't the only one that was going crazy this last little while! We had a kissing incident too! Sounds like you have a little more on your plate, but sheesh! Isn't summer here yet?! Hang in there!
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