Lessons My Teacher Taught Me: For What Good Are Irritating Students?
I consider myself a very patient person. I don't know that I'm the most patient person of all the people I know, but I think I'm a good deal more patient than at least some people I know. And I think my job requires a fair amount of the quality, though perhaps having children would require more. At least Moms might like to claim so, though such claims are rather less scientific than they are impressionistic, and seeing as most Moms do not also teach in a public high school, I'm not sure they can really lay claim to being the most patient. Then again, seeing as I am not a Mom, nor likely to ever be one, I will be consistent and not suggest my occupation takes more patience either. Ok, that's digression number one for this post.
Back on track. Patience. I have to have it. It takes patience to deal with a class of 30 students who would much rather talk than listen to me ramble on about history, or their homework, or whatever. It takes patience filling out seemingly endless paperwork every day, or every other day, on the handful of students who continously cut my study hall or U.S. History class. It takes patience endlessly filling in bubble sheets eight (yes, that's right, eight!) times a year so a machine can read them and turn them into report cards and progress reports and canned comments, like "needs to work to capacity" (how many barely functionally literate students can even understand that comment??) or "displays good effort" or "needs to complete assignments" or "needs to improve test grades." It takes patience to deal with parents who can't understand why Johnny is failing and make comments like "He's working so hard" and "He's passing all his other classes," when Johnny has missed five of twenty homework assignments, has failed all but one of his tests, and does not open his mouth in class, even though participation is part of the student's grade. It takes patience working in a school district that does not provide staples for the copy machines, so that teachers are left to endlessly staple packets they prepare for their students in an effort to help them learn the topic, or perhaps become interested in some aspect of history. It takes patience dealing with the freshman in homeroom who has to be told to be quiet almost every day and stop talking, and to know how to respond to him when he claims it is his first amendment right, also stated in the school handbook, that students can say things even when they are unpopular or do not want to be heard.
(New paragraph just to break things up.) It takes patience working in a school district living in the dinosaur age. I only have an overhead projector--technology that is 30-40 years old?--only because it is on loan to me from a family member. And I only just got a screen upon which to adequately project the images from said projector, rather than using a wall with broken surfaces which makes it very difficult to read. This screen has been about 18 months in the coming since I first requested it. Need I say that sometimes people move slowly on requests where I work? I also got a computer in my classroom early in the year after having none for a year. Still working on a printer, but at least I can read email in my own classroom now...
It takes patience dealing with students who would cheat if they could by sharing answers about what will be on an upcoming test. It takes patience listening to students and their multitude of excuses for not turning in work on time. It takes patience dealing with students who think that Vietnam is near the Middle East, and who do not know how to write a sentence without making it a run-on and who obviously don't know much about grammar at all compared to the expert who knows everything about grammer and has never written a run-on sentence in his life despite the fact that he had a dictator for an English teacher in ninth grade but he survived. It takes patience dealing with students who do not seem to get the fact that whenever they write a research paper and use information not their own, they need to cite it. And whenever the write a research paper it would be helpful if they did more than summarized the textbook.
Did I mention plagiarism? Don't get me started on that...
Where am I? I think patience is the point. Yeah, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm extolling a virtuous life or something, because I'm not (you'll see soon). But I hope the point that patience is a key ingredient to doing my job has come across. So I was surprised recently to discover that I was really struggling to be patient with a couple of my students.
These students are both guys. They also are both lazy. One is failing the quarter due to not doing much work, the other might pass, but just barely. One of them especially likes to challenge me frequently in class. He claims I am wrong on various points I make. Furthermore, he often does it in a belligerent tone and interrupts my lecture without any warning. He's almost vitriolic in his approach. It's like I've done an offense against humanity in what I've said, and it's his mission to counter my assertions with both negativity and conviction sprinkled in his tone of voice. What's funny is that usually he is out to lunch. He watches the history channel a lot, and I have believe he thinks he knows more than I do when it comes to a lot of history we discuss. On one hand I think that's more than a little amusing, as I have immersed myself in more history in the past ten years than most of my students will in a lifetime. And even if he has watched a lot of TV, I still have quite a headstart on him when it comes to studying the topic. One example of his claims: once when I equated "conscription" as a synonym for "the draft" in the context of WWI, he contradicted me. (Remember I try to keep things relatively simple for these students). "No it's not" he blurted out. When I gave him a chance to explain himself he went on a spiel about how with the draft you could do certain things to get out of it, etc. I believe he was thinking of the draft during the Vietnam War. I had said nothing about details surrounding conscription, other than to say that militarism in Europe led to countries conscripting, or requirng all men to serve within their armies (Great Britain was an exeption to this, but I don't think I mentioned that). Yet I am quite sure this could include exceptions as well (I hardly think men without arms and legs, for example were required to serve!) As it turns out, conscription is basically the European equivalent of "draft." I don't know of any substantive difference between the two (any historians out there want to correct me, feel free to). And certainly if there is a difference, I do not think this student knew to what he was referring when he made the claim.
Anyway, this one example illustrates a general trend. This student will challenge me whenever he can, and is almost unceasingly belligerent about it. For some reason, good or not, this grates on me more than most any other behavior. It's probably an ego thing or something, though I don't think I really have that much of one, because I am generally quite open to students respectfully challenging me when they think I'm wrong, and I have freely admitted to being wrong in the past. So it's not that I think I'm perfect or anything. I think it's partly the laziness combined with the belligerence. It's kind of like "You barely ever crack open a book and do any work, and you're challenging me on little things like this??"
Ok, what's my point? My point is that this belligerence and irritation I have have recently seen mirrored elsewhere. Specifically, in me. For every time I sin in some way and displease God, I am essentially doing the same thing. I am telling Him I know better than He, that my way is better than His. That I know more about how I should live my life. As much as it must pain/irritate/hurt Him when I do contradict His plan by sinning, He still shows everlasting patience, kindness, and mercy with me. So God helping me I will do the same with these students. How can I do less for them, when God has shown so much leniency and forgiveness toward me? So chalk this one up to a less my Teacher has taught me. Irritating students show me what God feels like toward me when I stray.
Back on track. Patience. I have to have it. It takes patience to deal with a class of 30 students who would much rather talk than listen to me ramble on about history, or their homework, or whatever. It takes patience filling out seemingly endless paperwork every day, or every other day, on the handful of students who continously cut my study hall or U.S. History class. It takes patience endlessly filling in bubble sheets eight (yes, that's right, eight!) times a year so a machine can read them and turn them into report cards and progress reports and canned comments, like "needs to work to capacity" (how many barely functionally literate students can even understand that comment??) or "displays good effort" or "needs to complete assignments" or "needs to improve test grades." It takes patience to deal with parents who can't understand why Johnny is failing and make comments like "He's working so hard" and "He's passing all his other classes," when Johnny has missed five of twenty homework assignments, has failed all but one of his tests, and does not open his mouth in class, even though participation is part of the student's grade. It takes patience working in a school district that does not provide staples for the copy machines, so that teachers are left to endlessly staple packets they prepare for their students in an effort to help them learn the topic, or perhaps become interested in some aspect of history. It takes patience dealing with the freshman in homeroom who has to be told to be quiet almost every day and stop talking, and to know how to respond to him when he claims it is his first amendment right, also stated in the school handbook, that students can say things even when they are unpopular or do not want to be heard.
(New paragraph just to break things up.) It takes patience working in a school district living in the dinosaur age. I only have an overhead projector--technology that is 30-40 years old?--only because it is on loan to me from a family member. And I only just got a screen upon which to adequately project the images from said projector, rather than using a wall with broken surfaces which makes it very difficult to read. This screen has been about 18 months in the coming since I first requested it. Need I say that sometimes people move slowly on requests where I work? I also got a computer in my classroom early in the year after having none for a year. Still working on a printer, but at least I can read email in my own classroom now...
It takes patience dealing with students who would cheat if they could by sharing answers about what will be on an upcoming test. It takes patience listening to students and their multitude of excuses for not turning in work on time. It takes patience dealing with students who think that Vietnam is near the Middle East, and who do not know how to write a sentence without making it a run-on and who obviously don't know much about grammar at all compared to the expert who knows everything about grammer and has never written a run-on sentence in his life despite the fact that he had a dictator for an English teacher in ninth grade but he survived. It takes patience dealing with students who do not seem to get the fact that whenever they write a research paper and use information not their own, they need to cite it. And whenever the write a research paper it would be helpful if they did more than summarized the textbook.
Did I mention plagiarism? Don't get me started on that...
Where am I? I think patience is the point. Yeah, I hope this doesn't sound like I'm extolling a virtuous life or something, because I'm not (you'll see soon). But I hope the point that patience is a key ingredient to doing my job has come across. So I was surprised recently to discover that I was really struggling to be patient with a couple of my students.
These students are both guys. They also are both lazy. One is failing the quarter due to not doing much work, the other might pass, but just barely. One of them especially likes to challenge me frequently in class. He claims I am wrong on various points I make. Furthermore, he often does it in a belligerent tone and interrupts my lecture without any warning. He's almost vitriolic in his approach. It's like I've done an offense against humanity in what I've said, and it's his mission to counter my assertions with both negativity and conviction sprinkled in his tone of voice. What's funny is that usually he is out to lunch. He watches the history channel a lot, and I have believe he thinks he knows more than I do when it comes to a lot of history we discuss. On one hand I think that's more than a little amusing, as I have immersed myself in more history in the past ten years than most of my students will in a lifetime. And even if he has watched a lot of TV, I still have quite a headstart on him when it comes to studying the topic. One example of his claims: once when I equated "conscription" as a synonym for "the draft" in the context of WWI, he contradicted me. (Remember I try to keep things relatively simple for these students). "No it's not" he blurted out. When I gave him a chance to explain himself he went on a spiel about how with the draft you could do certain things to get out of it, etc. I believe he was thinking of the draft during the Vietnam War. I had said nothing about details surrounding conscription, other than to say that militarism in Europe led to countries conscripting, or requirng all men to serve within their armies (Great Britain was an exeption to this, but I don't think I mentioned that). Yet I am quite sure this could include exceptions as well (I hardly think men without arms and legs, for example were required to serve!) As it turns out, conscription is basically the European equivalent of "draft." I don't know of any substantive difference between the two (any historians out there want to correct me, feel free to). And certainly if there is a difference, I do not think this student knew to what he was referring when he made the claim.
Anyway, this one example illustrates a general trend. This student will challenge me whenever he can, and is almost unceasingly belligerent about it. For some reason, good or not, this grates on me more than most any other behavior. It's probably an ego thing or something, though I don't think I really have that much of one, because I am generally quite open to students respectfully challenging me when they think I'm wrong, and I have freely admitted to being wrong in the past. So it's not that I think I'm perfect or anything. I think it's partly the laziness combined with the belligerence. It's kind of like "You barely ever crack open a book and do any work, and you're challenging me on little things like this??"
Ok, what's my point? My point is that this belligerence and irritation I have have recently seen mirrored elsewhere. Specifically, in me. For every time I sin in some way and displease God, I am essentially doing the same thing. I am telling Him I know better than He, that my way is better than His. That I know more about how I should live my life. As much as it must pain/irritate/hurt Him when I do contradict His plan by sinning, He still shows everlasting patience, kindness, and mercy with me. So God helping me I will do the same with these students. How can I do less for them, when God has shown so much leniency and forgiveness toward me? So chalk this one up to a less my Teacher has taught me. Irritating students show me what God feels like toward me when I stray.
posted by redsoxwinthisyear at 9:27 PM
6 Comments:
Good post.
and thanks for the paragraph breaks :-)
Excellent, Madman! I see myself in "my" kids all the time.
Ahem, I need to extend mercy to YOU, though, for calling me a dictator. Lucky for you that you had some solid English training before you dove into ten years of history. :-)
I don't envy you your job at all. I'm sure nothing less than the very call and grace of God (and paycheck) would keep you there!
But good analogy.
Okay- I've opened this comment box in another tab just so I can comment as I go along b/c if I wait til the end, I will have forgotten most of what I wanted to say.
Firstly, the overhead projector thing made me smile.
Secondly, I can't beLIEVE that your school district is so pathetically poor and behind the times. I mean- I CAN believe it but that's just sad. It's as if you are working in some forsaken jungle lands, many miles from civilization.
Thirdly, the sentence about how you hope it doesn't sound like you're extolling a virtuous life because you're NOT- that was very chuckle inducing.
Fourthly: VITRIOLIC! You win the vocab prize! Maybe YOU should teach the English classes these punks so desperately need!
I really think you should say that very line to that student the next time he opens his mouth to challenge you. ( The one where you said, "You barely ever crack open a book...etc.") Of course, you'd have to say it with a hint of a smile on your face, and in a light-hearted tone...but hey- I don't think that would be an unvirtuous mode of attack. You'd be speaking the truth in love, wise as a serpent/innocent as a dove, and hopefully turning away his wrath with your "soft" answer.
KMS was THE DICTATOR!? I didn't know who your 9th grade English teacher was til I read her comment.
Good bottom line though- with the whole spiritual analogy thing. You must be related to Cherilyn or something. :) I think you should write a TOR article on this or have a meeting or SOMETHING. These anecdotes are too good to confine them to your blog.
And NOW I WIN THE PRIZE...for longest comment EVER.
Great post (and quite sympathy inducing - yikes!). My favorite part was the run-on sentence:)
Working as an OT in the public schools for five years, I remember observing teachers around me becoming worn down and burned out, especially around this time of year. Just hearing their voices in the hallway made me tired. Certainly not a job I envy.
I'd venture to say though, any job that involves less than 24 hour responsibility for a child/children, requires less patience than motherhood.
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