Keep Calm: The End is Almost Here

So it's almost the end of the year.... I think the key word here is almost. The kids seem to have given up. They know the end is near. I know the end is near, but not near enough. Today we had a fun day. Kids with all passing grades played fun games; I'm talking about almost carnival rides. Kids with failing grades were in what my school calls lockdown. They were in classrooms making up the work they didn't do.

My part in a this was two-fold. I had made a quick summer school promotion video over the weekend and spent a good chunk of my morning showing it to kids who might attend summer school. I'm not above pandering. I need kids to attend summer school for fun so I can teach my fun classes.  The second part of my day was spent with some kids in lockdown who had work to finish to pass their classes.

I have a hard time understanding students who think they don't have to do their work. It's probably because I was never in that situation. I didn't think doing my work was a choice. I hope my own sons felt the same way. So being around students who abandoned any thoughts of finishing their work was a chore. Thankfully, another teacher was in her room with me. Thanks Mrs. C for being so kind when I was getting a little crazy.

And crazy was how I felt, honestly. Students tried to take tests before they were ready. I saw study guides that didn't even answer the questions. There was no way these kids were going to pass tests with totally wrong answers on their study guides. Once again, thank you Mrs. C. for being so patient. Your modeling helped me not completely lose my cool. I persevered and made it until 3:00. I will probably see most of these students at summer school, as so I should. But I shant be teaching them. Someone with more patience and kindness in their heart will help them get the basics they should have learned in class with their teacher.

Maybe these students will learn something my Dad taught me a long time ago: Do something right the first time. I had to redo washing the dishes because I left some dirty, but I learned a good lesson from it. Maybe students can learn to complete their work right the first time so they don't have to redo it. I don't know. I would hated to have to attend summer school to pass my core classes. But I never went down that road. I hope this will be a learning experience for those that must attend.

What have I learned from this day? Kids will be kids. There's no use getting myself riled up about it. Calm and cool is the way to be. I can let students deal with the consequences of their choices. It wasn't my choice, after all. And I've learned to be thankful for my co-workers who can demonstrate the patience needed to show me how I need to behave. Lord, I am thankful for my co-workers. Just remember... The End is near! Until next time...