Wednesday, June 29, 2005

Patience....

We're into our third day of summer school, and I am feeling stressed....already. Why? Oh, for multiple reasons:
1. I've never taught reading before. I'm literally flying by the seat of my pants. I asked one teacher for help with the curriculum and discovered that he, too, had never done reading before. So the two of us went to a third guy for help. Did he help us? No. He apparently guards his curriculum like a lion with its cubs.
2. My first hour class is awesome. They try, and, even though they complain, they actually work. The second hour class, however, has been shuffled so that I have new kids who do not work. The first thing out one of their mouths today was that they couldn't learn from me, because "You're a white boy, and I'm not. We have nothing in common, so I'm just gonna sleep now." That's pretty much par for the course with that class. My favorite was the girl who went off on a rant about homosexuals, because there was an article in the paper (I make them read the paper) about "Canada and Gay Marriage." Hey, I'm glad you have your standards, but don't interrupt my teaching so you can spout anti-homosexual rhetoric. Most of them like to tell me that they don't need to be there and hate the fact that they have to be. I am also really tired of hearing that reading is not important. Look, to anyone thinking about becoming a professional basketball player (as most of my second hour thinks it will be): There are around 100 schools taken seriously in basketball (not including high schools). Each school has 12 players, though maybe only 4 or 5 (if that) are pro-caliber. That's four to five hundred people vying for sixty spots. If you assume 500, then you have only a 12% chance of getting on to a team. Most of these kids don't have the skills to make it, but they think they do. It's kind of depressing.
3. There is never enough time. Between work, and school, and life, there is never enough time to get everything done. I am slightly OCD, so I not only compartmentalize, but I also plan out my time very carefully. It's not that I can't be spontaneous, I just don't like down time. It's a thing, I know. So not having enough time, to me, means that I am failing in my planning. Yesterday I was in an educational setting (as a teacher or student) for a combined eleven hours. That's fine, but I also need to get aspects of my life in order around my house, and such. I feel very behind.
Man, I hate venting, and this is what I feel like I'm doing. Sorry. I promise my next post will be funnier.

1 comment:

000 said...

haha...you admitted you're OCD...