Please, No More Sugar

The kids were feisty today. I had to assign two of them to a lunch detention. I personally hate lunch detentions, because it means that I have to give up my kid-free lunch to do it. My team eats together every day, and when we have kids we have to meet in a different room, which isn't as comfortable.

But today, we had 4 kids total serving detention. The kids really are finished for the year. They don't care about grammar, they don't care about the story we're reading, they don't care about anything... not even the candy I was trying to use to bribe them. They just want to talk to their friends and eat things they're not supposed to be eating in school (which I would give them to eat, if they'd just do what they were supposed to be doing).

One of the kids that I had serving today was a girl who is constantly late to my class. She has lost privileges, she has written essays, she has had a "lunch delay," which means she gets to sit with me for 5 minutes of her lunch, but it just doesn't sink in. I warned her the last time that she was tardy she'd owe me a detention next time, but apparently she thought I wasn't serious.

The funniest part is most mornings since I warned her, I would see her in the hallway dawdling with her friends by the water fountain, and I would call down the hallway to her and tell her to get a move on. But this morning I just watched her mosey to my door. She came and almost went in, but then the call of her friends were just too much, and she headed back to the water fountain, where she was standing when the bell rang. I told her to sign in, and that I'd be seeing her today for a lunch detention.

"WHAT?!" she shrieked. I reminded her we don't yell indoors, and not to "what" me. (I sound like my mother when I say that, and I hate it, but I hate it more when a kid says, "what?" when I call their name. No wonder it drove my mother insane.)

I told her that I had been watching her messing around in the hallway, and that I just knew she was going to be late.

"Why didn't you tell me then?!" she asks.

"Because I shouldn't have to tell you. It's not my job to tell you every morning that you need to be in class. The bell does that. I just observe whether or not you are, in fact, here on time."

"But you have for weeks been telling me!"

"You're right, but you're a big girl now, and you know what a bell means. When the bell rings, you know you have five whole minutes to get to class. Now, stop arguing, and sit down. I'll be expecting you at lunch today."

She grumbled, but she's not a bad kid, just one to push to see where the boundaries are.

My other kid who had to serve today was a boy who is a little mouthy sometimes, and this gets him in trouble pretty consistently. Today the kids were talking while they were taking a test, and I was not amused by this. I had to correct them a couple of times, then got tired of that and told the ones talking to bring me their planner so I could record their misbehavior (something we do on my team, which is a good deterrent usually for misbehavior).

He yelled back at the top of his voice, "I don't have my planner today, so I guess you can't have it!"

This irritated me.

The kids are all required to have their planners every single day. If they don't, they're not allowed to use the bathroom, go anywhere for any reason, and many other things. Since it's their homework tracker, they're supposed to have it to record what they have to do that evening. So for him not to have it, that's strike one. Then for him to yell during a test that he left it at home, so I couldn't record this negative behavior?

Not a good choice. I told him he had a lunch detention, and instantly, the other kids were all very studiously doing exactly what they were supposed to be doing.

He also argued, but I didn't even engage... just told him that unless he'd like to escalate it to an after school detention, he would do what he has supposed to have been doing this whole time.

Mercifully, he gave in. He can be a real problem, as he loves to argue, and is a little ham who sees how the kids are watching him, so he can't back down. Today, the kids were all ignoring him, since they have finally started to notice that he drags them down with him when he's mouthing off and gets them involved.

When it was time for their lunch detention, the boy showed up right on time, took his place on the floor, and didn't make a sound the entire time. Good job, boy.

The girl? She didn't show up. And she didn't show up. And she wasn't there.

Finally, she shows up, 10 minutes after lunch starts. This may not sound like much, but lunch is 23 minutes long. She missed 1/2 of her entire lunch detention.

I told her that she has just earned herself a lunch delay tomorrow, and have a seat on the floor.

Why are they so feisty?!

I long for the time after the holidays. Yes, it's a stressful time because of the standardized testing that is coming, but I love the kids so much more when I come back. It's my favorite time of the year... I am fresh off of a break, but I know the kids now. Starting school is stressful, since you've got to teach the children who you are and what's expected. Coming back from a break just takes a little reminder.

I need this break, and I think they need it from me.

Plus, it's just enough time to miss them and want to come back.

Thank goodness the holidays are almost here!