Happy Teacher Appreciation Day

One of my colleagues is writing her graduate thesis and wrote a survey to give to her students.  I also volunteered one of my classes to take the survey so that's what we did in Math B today.  This evening the colleague texted me some of the results from one of my students:  "C. R. thinks that you made learning math easier while McNely, Fornaro, and Mahon (three other teachers at my school) made it harder."  Wow.  That's all I have to say.  This kid, while sweet and generally good can be quite a pill.  I had another student last week tell me that I was her favorite teacher.  Shocking, because she can be a beast.  I shutter to think how they treat the teachers that they don't like.

Don't worry though, I'm not everyone's favorite teacher.  One student made sure she was clear on that point today by cursing me out.  This girl is a gem.  I've talked to her after school on multiple occasions, I've sent letters home and left messages that are never returned, and most recently I've referred her to the guidance counselor.  NOTHING WORKS and there are never any consequences for her misbehavior.  Today she refused to follow my direction to change seats for an exam, so I didn't give her an exam.  She threw a calculator on the floor and let a stream of vulgarity  mixed with curses stream out of her mouth.  I calmly wrote down what she said and called the AP on my phone to come get her.  She was surprisingly calm after that, as was the rest of the class.  Even her friends knew she had gone overboard so they behaved beautifully.

Some days are hopscotch days and some are waiting to get nailed in dodgeball days.  Today was somewhere i the middle.