A Special Child Introduced

I have been debating all year about posting entries about one of my students, because this child is so very distinct, it would make identification of her easy, and that's not my intent at all. I want it to all remain anonymous, and just be a commentary on the crazy things that people do these days with their children, and what kids are doing, since it is so very funny a lot of the time.


So I didn't write any of the numerous, insane things that happened. And trust me, there are plenty. I don't think I'll have another student like this one, no matter how long I remain teaching.


But as the year is over, and I am gearing up for a fresh crop of kiddos, I feel the need to share a few of the craziest stories about this student, as I just can't hold it in anymore. As countless people have said, as I mention the latest thing she did, "I really don't know how you stood it."


I don't either.


For ease in storytelling, I will give this student a name, which of course isn't the real one. We'll call her Sarah.


Now, Sarah was on another team at my school, but after about 1 month was moved to our team, as we were "a better environment for this particular student." This translates to the other team was full of new teachers and teachers who complain if they have any student that isn't perfect, and so they moved her to our team, since they couldn't handle her.


We had been warned about her; we had a whole special meeting about her. She was placed in my homeroom and in my class for language arts. The first day she arrived, she sat on my floor and told me she didn't want to do the work. This was a little surprising, as I do work with 12-year-olds, and generally it takes them awhile to be comfortable enough to say things like that.


So I said that I was sorry to hear that, but she needed to do it anyway. She promptly threw a fit, and laid down on the floor and kicked her feet, and started screaming.


This obviously shocked me. (and the other students).


No matter how they had talked about her being "special" in the meeting, and how we would have to work with her carefully, I wasn't prepared for a temper tantrum that would make a 2-year-old proud.


I attempted to get her off the floor, and eventually managed to get her in a desk, with her work in front of her. When I stopped by to check on her later, she was playing with a piece of plastic. I asked what it was, and she ignored me, so I asked her what she was doing. Then she told me what it was.


She said, "Oh, this? This is just a piece of plastic. But it's a special piece of plastic. It's part of a bomb that I am going to build to blow you up."


Let me tell you, I was floored.

After school that day, I went to my administrator's office for advice. Now, I do love my administrator, but she has better things to do than worry about this child, so I was basically just told to make do, deal with it, and ignore the threats.

I then went to several other people at my school, and I was told just to ignore it, she didn't mean it.

I was angry about it then, and I still am. Whether or not she meant it, she said it. It's not safe to have hear around other students when she is making threats like that. It's just not. If she were of low intelligence, maybe, but she has an extremely high IQ, past Giftedness even, and she could easily figure out how to make a bomb.

But I had to go back and just do my best. Throughout many other threats to me, my co-teacher, and the other teachers on my team, we were told just to have a little compassion for this student, who is going through so much.

What about me? What about the other students? I kept trying to get them to see that if something did happen, and she hurt other students, we would be in very deep trouble, since she was threatening them!

I kept a log of everything she did, so that if anything did happen, I had a list of things leading up to the event.

Eventually I had enough, and wrote a referral for a threat to me and one of the other students. Nothing really happened, just one day in ISS, but it made it so that she was aware it was not okay to make threats anymore, and she mostly stopped. But she still did things like throwing herself on the floor, screaming, telling the other kids they were stupid, yelling out during tests or when was reading out loud, etc.

I really do not know how I made it.

Last Days...

As we close the school year, I am packing up my room, which saddens the kids.

I am also realizing that, for some very inexplicable reason, teachers like to load the children up with sugar seconds before the class switches.

I am not amused by this.

Sugar and kids = bad things.

I was also talking to the lovely lady who processes referrals and she had a stack that was unbelievably thick, both from teachers who have had enough and students who have finished being nice.

Please, please let the year end right now!

The Holidays

It's been awhile since I've posted, but the holidays are always a hectic time, and it's never less true than in the classroom.

The kids get infected with a restless spirit, which causes them to go a little insane. Just a little. They forget rules. They hit other kids. They throw things. They talk back. They spit sunflower seeds on my classroom floor (one of my students cleaned my entire classroom after that one...).

I don't usually write referrals. I think I've mentioned that before. It's not that I don't believe in them, because I do, but I generally take care of the behavior before it gets that far.

But this week alone, I wrote two. And I was out one day this week! And it's only Wednesday! One was for an 8th grader who ignored me when I told him to go back out of the hallway (because it's a 6th grade only hallway, and he was cutting through.) When he didn't, I told him if he didn't, I would have to write him up... I had to follow him to the front office to get his name.

Then, one of my students had a toy taken from him earlier this 9 weeks (incidentally, it was Trouble...). I told him he couldn't have it back until he earned it. So yesterday, he went to the sub that I had and lied to her, saying I had told him to come and pick it up, and then he went through my desk until he found it. I do not like children in my desk. And the fact he deliberately lied to the sub also made me unhappy. He's done it before, so this was the last straw.

Still, I want to focus on the happier aspects of the holidays.

Today in my critical thinking class, we talked about Hanukkah, and what it meant. It was really funny what the kids thought they knew about it, like the kids who celebrate Hanukkah get a full Christmas every day of Hanukkah. Like, as many presents as they get for Christmas, but every night. I was like... not really, dears. I compared it to them getting stockings... they get stocking-type presents each night, then the final night is something more substantial.

So that was fun, as the kids were getting all excited about learning about different cultures. Before I explained that they didn't get 8 Christmases, several wanted to "convert," but they called it "change over." They wanted to know who to talk to in order to change.

I have some decorations in my room... nothing that is not allowed, of course. My county has strict rules about what is okay and what's not okay, and I am careful to follow them... (I did get in trouble with the fire department last year during inspections, because I had hung Christmas lights from the ceiling and it wasn't Christmas...). I have Candy Canes cutouts all over the place, hung by magnets I cut up and taped to the back of the paper. I have a bear with a Santa hat on that says something like best teacher. I have some various other winter-y type things.

But my favorite thing? It has to be my Christmas tree.

I love the little thing. It's so cute. I have had a small tree in the past, like 1' tall, with tiny decorations.

But this year while I was at Walgreen's to get something I really needed, I spotted the trees on display. They were on sale... well, you could get a rebate, anyway.

They were pre-lit. They had many sizes, even. From about 1.5' to 6', and some had white lights, and some had multi-colored lights.

There were also those truly ghastly pink or white foil ones, but honestly, does anyone like those?

So my tree is 4.5' tall. It's covered in lights, and it is adorable. It's a little like the tree from A Charlie Brown Christmas, because it looks a little raggedy (apparently, balancing the branches on artificial trees takes skill; I've always had real trees at home). I bought some small little glass balls for it at the dollar spot at Target, and put them on with red and green pipe cleaners, so they wouldn't fall off onto the tile and shatter.

It was transformed! It looked like a REAL tree. Sort of.

I also told the kids to bring stuff in, since it still looked sad... One little girl brought me two tiny ornaments. She added those.

Another child brought a pack of drum ornaments from the dollar store, and a tree topper (which was too heavy by FAR for my little tree, causing it to bend in 1/2, making it even more like the Charlie Brown one... I fixed that by using another bunch of pipe cleaners and securing it to the top... it now is quite... sturdy...) One little disco ball was added recently.

And today, a girl brought a packet of tinsel. I told her that was a wonderful idea for the tree, and asked if she wanted to put it on (I let the kids put the ornaments they brought in on the tree themselves, which made them very happy, and me too, since I didn't have to drop everything to do it, because if I didn't drop everything to add it right then, they'd be very sad...)

She wanted to do it, so she did.

And may I say... she has an eye for... creative expression...?

She put it on like a 4-year-old does: by grabbing ball-shaped handfuls, then putting it on top of the branches. She almost used the entire package for my tiny little tree (I use only one packet at home for my 8' real tree, and it looks completely silvered.)

It was, and still is, hilarious. I sat and watched her decorate, and I laughed and laughed. Every few minutes, she would look at me suspiciously, but go back to decorating.

She finally finished, and had tinsel in her hair, hanging off her arms, her rear end, her shirt, and some in her socks. I told her, very solemnly, that she did a WONDERFUL job, and I loved it.

Honestly, I did love it, since I know she brought it just for me, since she knew I wanted more stuff for the tree, and my kids all know I love sparkly things, and color. I know she did her best, and she worked so hard to do it.

I was proud of her, but still, it was hilarious.

I nearly lost it when the next class came in, and one of my students said, "Ms. Language Arts Lady, what happened to the tree? It looks TERRIBLE! It has clumps...! And...!" She almost couldn't find the words to tell me about how it was wrong.

Then, suspiciously, she asked, "Did YOU do that?" I kept laughing, almost not able to answer. When I had assured her it wasn't me, she seemed satisfied, but begged to fix it. I said it was fine, but don't make a mess.

As I walked the kids to the bus this afternoon, I saw tinsel all the way to the bus stop. The stuff is insidious. It got everywhere.

And the entire trip to the bus, I laughed.

The kids must have thought I was nuts.

But I'm not... I'm just loving the holidays.

Discouragement and Annoyance

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted. It's been a little crazy around school, with stuff being due, the kids being crazy, media center visits, the kids being crazy, day-long meetings, etc.

Did I mention the kids are being crazy?

Yes, they are. Apparently something's in the water, because the students have begun doing things that are quite unexpected. For example, on Thursday, I had to write 2 discipline referrals. (Those are the official, going-into-their-permanent-record forms that are essentially an invitation to speak with their administrator and receive a consequence... the lovely forms which give the teachers only 3 tiny lines to explain what happened...) In case I haven't mentioned it, I don't write referrals. Yes, I have before, of course, but I just simply don't, as a rule, have to write them, because I deal with my behavior issues in my classroom myself as a general rule, so I just don't let it get that far.

But I had to write 2 of them. 2! Same day, actually same situation, so I guess maybe that makes it better? Maybe?

Essentially, the issue was two of my students just completely stopped listening to me. As in, I asked them to stop talking and get to work, and they started singing over the sound of my voice. They said things like, "NO!," "You can't make me," "I'm going to sue you," "Shut up," "You don't know what I'm doing, so you don't know what you're talking about," and finally, when I'd had enough and told them they would be receiving a detention as a consequence, they told me that "I won't be coming, so it doesn't matter." When I dismissed them, to catch their bus as it was the end of the day, they ran out screaming and cheering, so loudly some of the other students in the hallway jumped.

This type of the thing has the distinct honor of making a teacher crazy. Honestly, how do you respond to things like that? Nothing I tried worked; nothing I usually have success with in getting the students to do what I am asking worked.

So I had to write them up, and I don't really regret it. At all. I feel a little crazy as I think about it, just because they made me so very angry.

I feel discouraged, sure that I'm doing everything the wrong way, sure I can't do anything right, and sure I am a total failure. An angry, total failure, because I am still really, really angry. The students treated me as less than a human, and it is crazy-making.

I am seriously looking forward (in a strange way) to going back to school. The other students really need to make up for this situation, before it gets any deeper sunk into my mind and causes great stresses. I need to have some success, some special learning moment, some kid telling me that they finally understand a concept, something special, so I can just chalk this experience up as a bad day, albeit a really, really bad day, and be able to move on.

So I really hope my students cooperate.

Substitute Teachers

Substitute Teachers... they can be angels from heaven or something from quite the other direction. I have had some awesome subs, ones who left my classroom neater than I left it (I do admit I am a messy teacher). I have had some who did everything exactly as I asked, which honestly, is rarer than you'd think.

Then I've had the kind of subs where you have no idea what was going on, and honestly, you're just as happy you don't know. The kids always are thrilled to see you after those subs, because they don't like how out of control the class was.

Sometimes the subs are so old, I am amazed they drove themselves to my school, and managed to walk to my classroom. The kids told me once their sub was a little old lady with a blanket who slept through class.

Sometimes they are so young I could confuse them with my students, and that's saying something, as I teach 6th grade, and they are still quite small.

But the worst sub I ever had was so bad... there really aren't enough words to describe how bad she was. It just boggles the mind whenever I think about it. And to make it even worse, she was only there for 1/2 day! She arrived 1/2 way through my 4th period, so she had only to make it through 4th, then 5th is my planning, and then do 6th period, and that's the end of the day. But that was, apparently, just too much for her.

The day after I got back, everything seemed normal. The classroom was clean (or at least, looked like when I left). The work I had left was done, and on my desk in neat little piles. The report she left mentioned no problems, and told me the kids were wonderful, and she'd just had the best time... and on and on about how fun it was. That was a little strange, but okay. She had fun. It all seemed okay.

Then 4th period rolled around. I knew what they had accomplished yesterday, because class has been well begun when I left the day before. They were firmly under control, working, and quiet. I had lectured them on how they would be behaving for the sub, and they had no issues, and knew I meant business when I mentioned consequences for any issues. They were also my advanced class, so they knew how to behave.

The class started normally. No problems. Nothing was mentioned about the day before as I started class. After doing our bellwork (the 5 minute assignment that is on the board as they walk in, getting them settled and working for the day), I handed back the work from yesterday so they could continue working, as it was a mini-project, and most weren't finished.

The work had been collected by the sub and piled on my desk, as I had asked her to do. I had found one student's work, though, on top of my bookcase as I entered my classroom earlier that morning. I quickly nabbed it and hid it. Nothing makes me crazier than how my students leave their stuff all over everything, as if I didn't have enough mess without their help! I always move things from where they left it, so I can talk to them about how I don't like it when they leave things.

Anyway, after passing back all of the work, the student who's paper I had hidden came wandering up to me, and asked me if I had seen his work. I said, why? Didn't you get it back? No, he told me. I asked him why his wasn't with the rest. He said he didn't know. I asked him if he remembered leaving it on top of the bookcase, and he said, Oh yeah! I scolded him mildly, then asked what it was doing up there in the first place.

This one, innocent question opened up the biggest can of worms, ever.

Because I was working there, he told me.

"Why not use your desk?" I ask, feeling like this is an obvious thing.

"Because the sub was sitting in it," came the reply.

"Wait... what? The sub was sitting in your desk?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"I don't know," he answered, looking pitiful. He had that down pat.

I looked around my room for my informers. All teachers have them. The ones we know watched the whole thing, carefully making notes, and will tell you all. 6th graders as a whole are all informers, but some are more reliable than others.

I told him to sit, then called one of my angel-children over. I asked her why the sub was in his desk.

"Because she moved everyone," came the answer. Okay, she moved everyone... I provided a perfectly good seating chart, so why the need for movement?

"Well, she said that some of the students were bad, so she moved the bad students, so she could watch them. But the ones she was yelling at weren't the ones she moved." Okay, so what did that mean?

"Okay..." I say, hoping to get more information, but not sure of the questions to ask, "who did she move?"

"Just the boys. Well, she made everyone in 2 rows stand up, then she picked a spot (the boy's desk, apparently) and then she pointed at students to surround her spot. They were all boys."

WHAT??

"All boys?" I ask, carefully.

"Yes," my angel confirmed. "The girls had to just find somewhere else to sit. No one would let him sit down, so he was using the bookcase for his work."

After all was said and done, after calling up student after student, I discovered she had indeed surrounded herself with the boys, and chatted them up. That's the only way to put it. She asked what they did for fun, if they liked to party, where would they be that weekend, etc. Let me remind you... I teach 6th grade. The are 11 or 12. They are NOT high school boys who look like men. They are children!

Not only that, she allowed chaos to rule my classroom. I ended up writing 6 referrals from things that happened in just that last half of 4th and my 6th period. I called up student after student who told me about what they did but told me also they weren't doing it alone, so then I was talking to another student, who mentioned a whole different incident.

I had never written referrals before... I had never needed to. I take care of the misbehavior, and don't need to send them to the Assistant Principal. However, the students were hurt, things were thrown, profanity reigned, and more and more.

Suffice to say, I reported that sub, and waited until summer was out to have another doctor or dentist appointment.