I didn’t think I would write about students so soon. But as I concluded day two, I already experienced two very fun incidents that left me shaking my head and disappointed. I hope this doesn’t foreshadow what’s to come this year.
Monday started out with an extended drive to work. The roads were filled with more drivers due to it being the first day back to school. That meant there were a lot of new drivers out there. I’m not sure if those were responsible for the accidents and delays or just distracted drivers. But it didn’t help matters much, that the city decided the perfect time to start construction, just north of the school, was the week before. Thankfully, they hadn’t shut it down to one lane, like they did when the teachers returned to school. However, things were still a mess.
I was hoping this was going to be the worst of my Monday and, for a few hours, it was. That’s only because I have planning periods in the morning and there weren’t any students to harsh my mellow. Honestly, I was looking forward to my third and fourth period classes. The classes were filled with mostly juniors who were excited to work with some of my best seniors. I had the first week already planned out months ago. Which meant nothing because during pre-school week I learned that administration wanted to have class meetings during 3rd and 4th period. So I adjusted and could still coordinate what I wanted to teach.
As I greeted my new set of students, some I knew while others were brand new, they all claimed a seat and were talking to themselves. My first error was not checking their schedules. I figured they were all upperclassmen that knew whether they would be in film or news. I didn’t think I needed to check anyone’s schedule because I recognized 90% of their faces from the roaster I had checked minutes before. I called attendance and everyone answered “here”.
Once it came time for me to breakdown how the year was going to go, one very large student was getting vocal with their friend. I kept having to ask this student to remove their headphones or quit talking. A few times, they would snicker when I said if they didn’t stop talking to their friend, I would ensure they sat apart for the next few weeks. When it came time to break into groups, they begged to work with their bestie. I shared the three songs everyone could choose from, explained the importance of making a detailed shot list before filming, and mentioned that the quick turnaround would be challenging. Leaving the students to it I sat down. Not even two minutes later the snickering student comes up to my desk.
“Ms.” the student snickers. “I can’t believe it. I’m in the wrong class. I’m supposed to be in news.”
I am completely taken back. The pain in the butt answered during attendance. I don’t have patience for people who waste my time and are in the wrong place, I would have kicked him out right away. “No way, give me your schedule.”
And of course, the student was right. Snickering and being as boisterous as possible, the student shouts to their friend, “Man, good luck with this class, she gives way too much work. I’m going to Wrights.”
As annoyed as I was that student acted out and thought they would cause a disruption to the class. The person they were acting out with drastically changed their behavior. No longer were they acting too cool for the music video project, they became an active participant in the project.
I warned the other teacher about the disruptors’ actions, and he was disappointed and surprised at the students’ actions. After that class, I check every single student’s schedule. I didn’t want a repeat.
Unfortunately that student’s first and last name is burned into my mind now. I expected little from them after that. However, today before fourth period, the student came to me and apologized for their actions. I hope they were genuine because if that student is coming with us to any competitions this year; they have already lost my trust. I expect this student to act a fool until proven otherwise.
Again, I allowed myself to believe that disruptaurus was going to be the worst of it this week. Students tend to be on their best behavior during the first week. You know, slowly letting the crazy out. And to be honest, having a kid try to figure out what class they want to take by sitting in and being a bone head wasn’t that bad. What happened during a freshmen class left me speechless.
The students received a packet containing my syllabus, the academy handbook, and a cell phone policy, all for their parents to sign. We request that every student who can pay contribute an academy fee of 40 dollars. I’ve learned that if I give a grade for the signatures, students return the papers quicker, and I don’t spend weeks hunting them down. Thankfully, the freshmen this year were prepared and in one class in particular two students had money for their fees.
Before I collected their papers, I asked the students to get into groups and work on their favorite movies slideshow. I did this so I could walk around the class, talk to the students and collect their papers while others are busy being on task. One student paid in cash. I collected his papers and picked up the next row. I was worried about dropping his money, so I put the stack of papers on my desk and headed back to get the rest. After I collected the rest of the papers, I looked at my desk and the cash was missing. I retrace my steps and start looking on the floor next to the row that I left.
“Are you okay?” A student asks me.
“R did you hand me the money or did I ask you to keep it?” I ask the student in the row ahead of where I was standing.
“I gave it to you,” he says matter-of-factly.
I turned to the student who asked me if I was okay and asked, “did you see money by your desk?”
That student shake’s their head but says “No, but those guys were asking whose money was on the floor.”
The whole row confirms that the row behind them was asking about money.
So I stare at the third row and every single student in that row can not make eye contact with me. That is a handful of students whose faces are bright red and darting around.
“Did anyone happen to find money on the floor?” I asked hoping to god someone will just say oh yeah I found it.
The lies pour quickly out of everyone’s mouth. “No, I didn’t see any money? Money why would there be money? What kind of money?”
I had to keep my cool because I wanted to throw some FCC finds at them. “Don’t lie, six students just confirmed you all were talking about money on the floor.”
I turn to one who has the reddest face. Eventually, that student puts their hand in their pocket and magically pops out a twenty. “I just saw it and -”
I took it from them and walked to my desk. Before I could sit back down, I hear, “Ms! I think there’s another twenty on the floor.”
I love how things just appeared when the floor was bare, and I had moved backpacks around to double check before asking a single one of them. When I went to take the money from the group, I made it very clear how disappointed I was in their actions.
“When you find money on the floor, a classroom floor no less, that doesn’t belong to you. I am collecting money. You know I am collecting money and your first response to seeing something on the floor is to take it? Not bring it to me and ask if someone may have dropped it. I would understand if it was in the middle of the courtyard, filled with people or empty, that it would be hard to find the owner. But in a classroom where you know money is being moved really speaks a lot to everyone, one of you in this group’s character.” The two who pocketed the money won’t look at me, while the others just hang their heads. “In this class we are checking out equipment that cost upwards to thousands of dollars at a time. Sometimes classmates are going to forget headphones and SD cards in their bags. I expect you all to be good stewards and classmates to turn those items in, not steal them. Because one day you will forget something or drop something and I hope it’s around people who return things and not just take them like someone in your group did.”
The bell rang not too long after that and that entire group rushed out of the class. I heard mutterings of kids saying they can’t believe that everyone just went along with it and no one said anything.
That made me feel a little better to hear there were those in the room that were disappointed by their classmates’ actions.
I am not sure how I can combat stealing or poor character, but I know that class has lost its ability to have open seating. I want to be sure that none of those students are sitting next to each other.
So two days down and only a 178 left to go.
Hopefully, the rest of the week is less eventful.
