Irritation

I love teaching. I love creating creative ways for the kids to learn. I love when the light blub comes on above their heads when they get it. I love my cute, little, insecure seventh graders.

Flip side.

I hate teaching with tests. I hate that the students don't know how to think by the time they're in seventh grade (seriously, they begin the year asking me where the bubbles are...). I hate when the kids are too lazy or unmotivated to try. I hate when the my cute, little, insecure seventh graders turn into horomonal, selfish seventh-and-a-half graders. Yes, hate is a strong word, and yes, I feel that strong.

That is the time of year we're in... the hate stage... from December to March...

Today I have the coolest lesson ever (honestly, the kids who care said so). We're about to start reading a western and most of them have never seen one and know very little about it. So we start by doing a quick-write about what we know (assuming it is very little). Then I've collected nine sounds related to a western and they listen and guess what they are... after that, they watch six minutes of a John Wayne classic, and finally, they feel six things I've collected that relate to our story. As we begin the story, the sights, sounds, and textures appear in the text and they have a way to connect it in their brain.

Second period pissed me off to the point that I stopped teaching and sat down in my chair and stared at them. I gave a small lecture and stared at them some more. They were feeling VERY awkward, so I kept staring. I told them that I'd spend a lot of time and I'm wondering "why the hell it matters." They stared back. I kept making eye contact. I kept them in for eight minutes of their ten minute snack break asking pointed questions. I asked them, "What do I need to do for you to be engaged?" and stared at them some more. I got several responses. Tomorrow I expect to see a change, but if I don't, I am fully prepared to send them to jail and they won't be allowed to do anything fun and will lose all "creative" teaching completely. As I told them today, I can teach the way other teachers do and give them what is in the book and only what is in the book.