So last week, I felt just like the man in this picture. Sometimes teaching in a middle school feels like you're trying to herd cats. Emotional, ADHD, short-tempered, occasionally affectionate, but only on their terms, cats... Ok so middle schoolers are pretty much regular cats!
Last week was a LONG week! I had district, school & team meetings all week on top of Open House so by the time Friday hit, I was in need of something tall and strong. To make it "less" stressful, we had a pep rally on Friday which, I love the school comradary and how spirited both the students and staff are, but I swear they put something in the air on pep rally days. The students lose their damn minds! It'd be comical if I wasn't the one having to deal with them. Now with that said, I love my kiddos, every single one. And pep rally's can be a lot of fun, especially when you get to be the teacher chosen to participate in games like "Tee-Pee" the teacher (as seen the the right). The young lady to my left is even one of my students who was a little too thrilled to see it was me they were going to Tee-Pee. Either way, the reason I believe teaching middle schoolers is sometimes is like "herding cats" is because at any given moment, one student can change moods, personalities and their work ethic in the span of 10 seconds... just like a cat can. And it is amazingly crazy to watch! But one young lady who I had a personal encounter with this week was a reminder that beneath the turmoil that is adolescents, they'll show who they really are
My 4th period class is one of my largest classes, sitting at 24 students. The student dynamic is pretty split as I seem to have 1/3 quiet, studious works, 1/3 behavioral issues/ talkers and 1/3 ELL students. Try making a seating chart that works with that dynamic, it's like managing a three-ring circus. However, although the personalities that make up the class is a ever-changing free-for-all, they have the 3rd highest class average. Like I said, the delicate balance that is middle school is fascinating... Anyways....
I have one young lady named, "Alex," who really likes to talk and be the center of attention. She's quite small in height and stature so I believe she suffers from "small dog syndrome" where she feels the need to feel like the big dog in class. I see her try to beat on the football players and mouth off to her friends, showing attempted dominance any chance she gets. It doesn't particularly bother me, I was a bit like that growing up myself (but for other reasons), unless it begins to spill over into my class. And on Friday, Alex was a whirlwind of mouth. On a normal day, it takes a minute or two to get her on task and then a few more throughout the class to hush her up since she feels the need to respond to EVERY COMMENT any one makes... every single one... every time... never anything constructive. Didn't I say she had small dog syndrome? Anyway, Friday we had a lot to do and she was taking her time getting her stuff out, sitting down, getting ready, ect (All the things she knows she should have done within 2 minutes of the bell ringing). I had already had 3 classes of crazy, "something in the air," students and wasn't really in the mood to deal with anymore of it so I told her she had 15 seconds to get herself situated and quiet while I explained what we were doing today. She kept running her mouth, this time... to me. I looked at her, thought silently to myself "This girl has lost her damn mind," and then told her to grab her stuff and follow me. Alex ended up spending the rest of the class in another science teacher's classroom, where she did none of her work however, my class was perfectly behaved. I didn't realize how much Alex's mood dictated the rest of the class's overall behavior. Like a chemical reaction, when the reactant is removed, there is no reaction and thus no possible explosions. It was a beautiful 52 minutes!
Then she rejoined a few minutes before the bell rang and I called her to my desk to talk, where she proceeded to tell me she was not going to after school detention today (I told her I was going to give her Friday after-school detention... I love that they believe that exists), that she didn't care being in the other class, blah blah blah... I let her talk and then asked "Did you talk in the other class?" She looked confused and with an eye roll and huff said "No." I then responded in a very calm and quiet voice with this nugget of wisdom"That's because no one over there cared about what you have to say. You talking would have made you look dumb and embarrass yourself. You embarrass yourself every day in my class when you do the same thing but for some reason you think it makes you look "cool." And I will tell you something else, this is my class. I dictate how it is run, not you. When you act out, you pay for your actions which in this case could land you in detention. Would you disagree?"
... She just stared at me!... So I continued: "Alex, if something is going on at home, you need to tell me before class so when you act out, I can respond properly and we not have these issues. I don't want you out of my class because you deserve to be here and I want you here. So you need to be the young adult I know you are and tell me if something is going on, got it? Is there anything you'd like to say?"
And then Alex did something I don't think she's done in a long time... she apologized, genuinely. Without the eye rolling, the hip thrusting or head tilt, she became accountable for her actions and in that moment I was proud of her. By this time the bell had rung and she was late for class and I was cutting into my prep period, so I wrote her a pass and she left. Well the story doesn't end there... at the pep rally, towards the end (after I'd been wrapped in toilet paper) she ran up to me and asked if she could call her mom to tell her to pick her up later from detention. I thought "Omg, this girl believed me!" and told her I had decided to give her a second chance and didn't assign her detention (this time)...
Then she hugged me. This spit-fire of a teenage hormone machine hugged me. I was so caught off guard that I almost missed her saying "Thank you Mrs. Gonzalez! Monday will be better, I promise!" So Monday is tomorrow so we'll see but like I said above, you never know how one of your cat-students will act on any given day... moment... 10 second time span... But one thing is for sure!
When you've 133 cats to corral and only a piece of yarn for a lasso, remember...
Think like a proton, & Stay positive!
~Mrs. G
Live. Laugh. Teach.
Last week was a LONG week! I had district, school & team meetings all week on top of Open House so by the time Friday hit, I was in need of something tall and strong. To make it "less" stressful, we had a pep rally on Friday which, I love the school comradary and how spirited both the students and staff are, but I swear they put something in the air on pep rally days. The students lose their damn minds! It'd be comical if I wasn't the one having to deal with them. Now with that said, I love my kiddos, every single one. And pep rally's can be a lot of fun, especially when you get to be the teacher chosen to participate in games like "Tee-Pee" the teacher (as seen the the right). The young lady to my left is even one of my students who was a little too thrilled to see it was me they were going to Tee-Pee. Either way, the reason I believe teaching middle schoolers is sometimes is like "herding cats" is because at any given moment, one student can change moods, personalities and their work ethic in the span of 10 seconds... just like a cat can. And it is amazingly crazy to watch! But one young lady who I had a personal encounter with this week was a reminder that beneath the turmoil that is adolescents, they'll show who they really are
My 4th period class is one of my largest classes, sitting at 24 students. The student dynamic is pretty split as I seem to have 1/3 quiet, studious works, 1/3 behavioral issues/ talkers and 1/3 ELL students. Try making a seating chart that works with that dynamic, it's like managing a three-ring circus. However, although the personalities that make up the class is a ever-changing free-for-all, they have the 3rd highest class average. Like I said, the delicate balance that is middle school is fascinating... Anyways....
I have one young lady named, "Alex," who really likes to talk and be the center of attention. She's quite small in height and stature so I believe she suffers from "small dog syndrome" where she feels the need to feel like the big dog in class. I see her try to beat on the football players and mouth off to her friends, showing attempted dominance any chance she gets. It doesn't particularly bother me, I was a bit like that growing up myself (but for other reasons), unless it begins to spill over into my class. And on Friday, Alex was a whirlwind of mouth. On a normal day, it takes a minute or two to get her on task and then a few more throughout the class to hush her up since she feels the need to respond to EVERY COMMENT any one makes... every single one... every time... never anything constructive. Didn't I say she had small dog syndrome? Anyway, Friday we had a lot to do and she was taking her time getting her stuff out, sitting down, getting ready, ect (All the things she knows she should have done within 2 minutes of the bell ringing). I had already had 3 classes of crazy, "something in the air," students and wasn't really in the mood to deal with anymore of it so I told her she had 15 seconds to get herself situated and quiet while I explained what we were doing today. She kept running her mouth, this time... to me. I looked at her, thought silently to myself "This girl has lost her damn mind," and then told her to grab her stuff and follow me. Alex ended up spending the rest of the class in another science teacher's classroom, where she did none of her work however, my class was perfectly behaved. I didn't realize how much Alex's mood dictated the rest of the class's overall behavior. Like a chemical reaction, when the reactant is removed, there is no reaction and thus no possible explosions. It was a beautiful 52 minutes!
Then she rejoined a few minutes before the bell rang and I called her to my desk to talk, where she proceeded to tell me she was not going to after school detention today (I told her I was going to give her Friday after-school detention... I love that they believe that exists), that she didn't care being in the other class, blah blah blah... I let her talk and then asked "Did you talk in the other class?" She looked confused and with an eye roll and huff said "No." I then responded in a very calm and quiet voice with this nugget of wisdom"That's because no one over there cared about what you have to say. You talking would have made you look dumb and embarrass yourself. You embarrass yourself every day in my class when you do the same thing but for some reason you think it makes you look "cool." And I will tell you something else, this is my class. I dictate how it is run, not you. When you act out, you pay for your actions which in this case could land you in detention. Would you disagree?"
... She just stared at me!... So I continued: "Alex, if something is going on at home, you need to tell me before class so when you act out, I can respond properly and we not have these issues. I don't want you out of my class because you deserve to be here and I want you here. So you need to be the young adult I know you are and tell me if something is going on, got it? Is there anything you'd like to say?"
And then Alex did something I don't think she's done in a long time... she apologized, genuinely. Without the eye rolling, the hip thrusting or head tilt, she became accountable for her actions and in that moment I was proud of her. By this time the bell had rung and she was late for class and I was cutting into my prep period, so I wrote her a pass and she left. Well the story doesn't end there... at the pep rally, towards the end (after I'd been wrapped in toilet paper) she ran up to me and asked if she could call her mom to tell her to pick her up later from detention. I thought "Omg, this girl believed me!" and told her I had decided to give her a second chance and didn't assign her detention (this time)...
Then she hugged me. This spit-fire of a teenage hormone machine hugged me. I was so caught off guard that I almost missed her saying "Thank you Mrs. Gonzalez! Monday will be better, I promise!" So Monday is tomorrow so we'll see but like I said above, you never know how one of your cat-students will act on any given day... moment... 10 second time span... But one thing is for sure!
When you've 133 cats to corral and only a piece of yarn for a lasso, remember...
Think like a proton, & Stay positive!
~Mrs. G
Live. Laugh. Teach.
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