Physically, that is not me. Emotionally, and mentally ... it is. Today was the first day back after a three day weekend and prom. Everything went well in my British Literature Class and in Speech (we are doing Award Speeches) I was given 3 "Best Student Teacher" awards.
That should have made my day . . . but it didn't.
I have one particular student that has constantly been treating me with disrespect and "'tude" for about a week now. I don't know if it is the weather or what, but I cannot get through to this student. He wastes his time in class and he is constantly disrespectful towards me in front of the class. It is this disrespect that is wearing me down. At first I looked at this student as a challenge, that if I worked hard enough I could figure it out. While I still want to believe that, the truth is I'm tired. I'm tired of dreading class because of this student and I'm tired of fighting everyday. This student's attitude is ruining the entire class atmosphere.
He gave a speech the other day that was the shortest of all, embarrassingly so, (It was supposed to be a minute and he spoke for 20 seconds). He neither persuaded his audience (me) to purchase any of the things he was trying to sell nor did he inform us as to what the objects were useful or necessary for (apart from listing them). That's all he did. But he did spend the entire hour in the costume shop coming up with the most outrageous costume. So, of course when we voted, the class voted for him. He didn't follow directions and gave a poor speech. But because he won his classmates' over - I did give him extra credit. With this extra credit he went from a C to a B.And he was mad! He told me he deserved an A! And then he wanted to argue! At this point I'm so frustrated. I hate the idea of detention and sending students to the office. Not because I'm afraid to be hated (I'm an RA after all), but because I don't like taking students out of the classroom. That is my number one pet peeve. Too many teachers just send their misbehaving students to the office because they don't want to deal with it. This kind of relationship with students and teaching is, in my opinion, a disgrace. I know that once a student disrupts the class to the point where others aren't learning, they need to be removed. But I really think that some how, some way, I can get this particular student to survive this class. I want him to survive and I want him to succeed.
But I, too, need to survive.
Sounds to me like the kid is lucky to have earned a B even with the extra credit. He's trying to wear you down, to see what he can get away with. Try to think of ways you can get the rest of the class to help keep him in line. We leave very near Boys Town and it's a method they use with great success. Say, for example, in this speech the kids were each given a grading sheet for each speech that listed the requirements. Have them give an example of how the requirement was met. That way they wouldn't be able to vote for this kid simply based on his costume. And you'd be able to tell that the kids were listening to the speeches.
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