I'm taking today off for two reasons (though perhaps only one is legitimate). Firstly, and most legitimately, I am in the process of moving, and I would like a day to get things done, unpack, call banks about address change, etc etc. Secondly, and perhaps less (or not at all) legitimately, I need a break from my freakin' seventh period.
Seventh period is by far my most challenging of the day, but things were getting much better. I had a system, the kids were into it, it was working. But right after Thanksgiving, everything changed. I got a new girl who just made everything ten times worse (who I found out Friday was a foster child and has been popped around from school system to school system, which probably accounts for her discipline issues). She was absolutely uncontrollable. I essentially went off the deep end and my students know it. I lost authority over them for three minutes. But those three minutes, like all minutes in the classroom, are essential. I was shaking when the dismissal bell rang (from pent up anger, embarrassment, stress, and a sense of failure) and went to see an administrator about the situation. He was completely understanding and told me later he had dealt with the problem child accordingly.
For some reason, the weeks between Thanksgiving and Winter Break are the most hellish of the entire year, for both students and teachers. Earlier that same week, I had an issue with a different student from the same class who I suspected of being mentally unstable. I asked a fellow teacher if I should report her actions directly to the school psychologist, or tell her counselor first. He suggested that, since she had verbally threatened me, I tell the administrator and then the counselor. Whoa.
Ug... only eight more days of school, then a much deserved break.
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