Thirdland Week 7

 

Yellownecked Caterpillar

My job has not been offering many pleasant experiences so far.  A few good moments.  A few engaged students.  Overall, mostly bedlam and chaos. 

Yesterday I got so exasperated at the constant talking while I'm talking that I looked up at the ceiling and moaned plaintively to no one, "I just want this to be over."

A few kids seemed to notice, but most kept on with their rigamarole and folderol.  This is the kind of thing I'm dealing with right now:

Episode 1:  While they were sitting on the rug not listening to my brief directions for their writing assignment, one kid secretly poked the kid next to him with a pencil.  Over and over again.  It's sad that the poked child would prefer the pain of a pencil jabbing into his thigh over telling the kid to stop so he could attend to the teacher's directions. When I finally caught on and stopped the pencil poking, 10 other kids decided to poke at each other, play rock-paper-scissors, or lay down on their backs while humming loudly.  

Episode 2: I was attempting to describe the book choices for our upcoming lit. circles and mentioned the covered wagons of Sarah, Plain and Tall and The Indian School.  A kid yelled out, what's a covered wagon.  Everyone knows the pioneer experience is a big part of second grade curriculum and yet, 4 kids started explaining covered wagons all at once.  6 others began talking among themselves about who knows what.   2 others then decided they needed water bottle refills.

Episode 3: Out for extra recess, one kid faked injury when my whistle blowing signaled the end of recess.  He lay on the ground screaming.  Kids crowded around him to help and yelled out to me, "He's hurt!  He's hurt!!!"    I ignored this and waited with the others at the line until I couldn't take it any more. I yelled across the field for them all to get to line NOW.  That's when the injured kid got up and sprinted to line with the rest of them. 

There are other episodes to share, but  I'll save them for another day.  The upcoming week will bring additional moments where I experience despair and a frustrating sense that I lack even a modicum of efficacy where pedagogy is concerned. 

The 3rdLanders are, perhaps, decent enough people in and of themselves but the classroom collective is a nightmare.  Every day is a series of reminding and thanking and ringing chimes and singing directions and blahblahblah.  

On Friday afternoon I took them out for a long recess.  There was no point in working on the owl pellet lesson.  As I sat on the bench, ruing my lack of teaching proficiency, a kid sat with me telling me about his weekend plans to organize all the foods in his kitchen cabinets.  He went through various items and identified their categories.  When he said cheezits would go with cheese, I asked, "Wouldn't cheese go in the fridge?"  He nodded but offered no alternate grouping. 

Redirecting the conversation to me and my problems, I asked him, "Am I over-reacting here?  Am I being overly sensitive to the constant disruptions?"

He thought a moment and then said, "Maybe a little." 

He's probably right.  In addition to everything, self doubt plagues me right now.