Bad Chemistry (aka The Marble Story)

By popular demand, here is the marble story.  I hope I can do it justice. 

Yesterday, le mardi maudit, I taught six 55-minute classes.  My last class, from 4:00 to 5:00, is never an easy one.  The students are tired and so am I. 

In my school, the kids line up outside the classroom door and wait for permission to enter.  They take their places, and remain standing until the teacher tells them to sit down.  The first time I saw students do this (years ago in a different school), I was shocked, but as time wore on I realized that such discipline contributes to order in the classroom.  Usually.

My 9th graders were waiting outside the classroom (not lining up, per se), and I was sitting at my desk, mentally preparing myself for what I thought would be a difficult period.  (And I have these really easy periods, no PMS, you know, and...oh.  Wait a minute).

So I was sitting there, steeling myself for the confrontation I knew was destined to happen.  My doctor had suggested I keep Lexomil with me, and to take it before a panic attack. I hadn't taken any all day, and I thought it might be a good idea before that last class.  As I was leaning over my purse on the floor, I sensed a UFO.  Something had sailed over my head. 

I stood up, Lexomil stuck in my throat, water bottle in hand, and went to the doorway.  I said "Who threw that?"  Of course, no one answered.  The student closest to me said "It wasn't me, Madame!" 

Instead of trying to find the culprit, I made the students come into the classroom.  They stood until I indicated that they could sit down, and didn't make a peep when they were seated. 

"Wow!" I thought.  Heh. 

I have no idea what I said to them at the beginning of class, but I was soon distracted by a noise.  One kid seemed to have marbles on his desk.  I told him to put them away, and he pretended to be sorry, and made a movement as if he were putting the things in his pencil case.  Heh. 

Soon there were more rolling marble noises.  Another kid had a shit-eating grin on his face.  I just looked at the class.  I asked the two kids who had started the commotion for their carnet.  This is a kind of passport that the kids must have with them at all times.  It serves as a liaison between the school and the parents, and they need to have it on them in order to leave the schoolgrounds before 5 pm.  They both said they didn't have it with them (nine times out of ten they do), and showed me their backpacks. 

I heard another marble somewhere to my right.

Then there was a knock at the door.  One of my 8th graders was looking for a notebook he'd left in the classroom.  A marble landed in my hair and fell to the floor.  I can't write about the events that followed, because it's all a jumble in my head. 

However:

• One kid left the class, saying he knew we wouldn't get any work done.
• I gave detention to one of the marble guys, for interrupting me.
• He said, "Detention?  Well, then there's no reason for me to stay."
• The other marble guy asked why I had such a superior attitude. I told him that I might have a reason.
• Another student erupted, saying, "You teachers all tell us we need English for the rest of our lives, well, I haven't learned any English in the past two years!" 
• I said "Okay, let's talk.  Let's get it out in the open." 
• At one point, one of the girls asked if she could leave.  I told her that if she was too hot, she should take off her jacket.  Her friend piped up, "Madame, please let me take her out of here."  The first girl was crying by then. 
• After a few minutes of discussion, I started tearing up.  Panic attack.
• I opened the door of the classroom, held onto the handle of the door, and stepped into the hallway. The cooler air was welcome, but it wasn't enough to calm me.  The hot tears felt good on my face. 
• A minute later, a girl came out of the other door to the room. She was nearly in tears herself, and she said that they knew they had been mean, and that she understood how I must feel.  She told me she was the class representative, and that she would do everything necessary to ensure that their behavior improved.
• The head maintenance man came out of his office across the hall just then, and asked me if I was okay. 
• I managed to choke out "Please get someone." 
• The assistant principal showed up shortly afterwards. 
• The girl had stayed with me, and had kept talking to me. 

I heard things they both said, but none of it registered.

Next thing I knew, the assistant principal took me by the arm and led me to his office.  He'd gathered my things and had already taken them there.  He gave me a cup of coffee, and we talked, and I slowly calmed down as I told him what had happened.

During our conversation, 5 or 6 students from the class (including the girl who'd tried to reassure me, the boy who was angry about not learning any English in the past two years, and a girl I was sure hated me) knocked on his door to see how I was doing, and to apologize.  This morning three of the kids in that class went to see him before their 8:00 class to ask if he'd heard from me. 

Some of the kids in that class will be getting detention, or a worse punishment. 

Oh, and they weren't glass marbles, but the clay kind that you put in a potted plant.

Not major violence, but a showing of disrespect and an attempt at humiliation.  There was palpable tension on my part and that of the kids, and the late hour didn't help.  If I'd had class with them at 11:00, this wouldn't have happened.  So I'm chalking it up to bad timing and bad chemistry. 

I've read some blogs written by teachers in the United States, and I think I've got it pretty good, actually. 

I still want a pump-action squirt gun, though. 

Comments

[Allan]

Bastages!

They don't deserve a teacher as good as you.

[BHD]

Well. Of course you can't back down now, and as time goes by you'll feel less vulnerable. I pity the fool who fucks with you then! He'll be tasting your bootleather from the nether end, he will. And that, as they say, will be that.

:hugs:

[Mike]

I think a pump-action shotgun would work better.

[newwavegurly]

I would suggest bringing back the paddle, but it sounds like these kids might actually enjoy it.

Allan's right, they don't deserve a teacher as good as you.

[bothenook]

boy, to think that the kids in that class would be so stupid as to cross swords with you. let's see...a mature adult, with the power to make life miserable, or a snot nosed kid, with the power to be a snot nosed kid. sounds like you've got the uppper hand. i just hope you can hang in there. i know a number of teachers here in town that are no longer teachers, because they got fed up with the crap. i always thought teaching would be an amazing experience. that's probably because i've never had to teach in a classroom where the average student age was less than 18.
hang tough ali. you are a hell of a lot smarter than those kids, and if not smarter, then be more devious.
and i like mike's idea, too.

[Geoffrey]

Jeez...........that's why I never considered teaching, right there.
Besides, I have a temper and a shortish fuse.
Hang tough, Ali. Perhaps you are just a little out of practice, temporarily a little soft in the carapace. No doubt you will sooner or later put some stick about, or have a bellow or something, and it will all come back to you.
Or give the whole bunch detention -
army style. Punish the group for the misdemeanours of the few. Or something.
Jeez, I fear I would flip out a bit............
No wonder you were a little apprehensive about returning to work.......
Bastids!........................

[Donna]

It certainly doesn't sound like kids have improved much since I was one.

Dude. You are my hero.

Hang in there.

[Amber]

I bet they all smell of garlic too!! The little 5hit5!!