Yes!...continued
Well Today I subbed for Suzie Teacher and let me tell you-What a day! I had the class from Purgatory. I take that back. The class was not from Purgatory maybe just one student! No seriously! This is a prime example of the old adage-"A rotten apple can ruin the whole bunch!" Sally Student as I call her would not listen, would not follow directions and had such a loud carrying voice that it just instantly give you a headache. I foresee a career in broadcasting for Sally Student and her booming voice. She thought that the class revolved around her and that her needs had to be met before anyone else's. She also seemed to think that if things were difficult she could just throw a temper tantrum and get out of it. I also had Sam Student in my class. A good student but seems to have a knack for causing trouble. Of course you know that Sam and Sally (along with Gabby Giggles) seemed to gravitate towards each other! Well I was muddling through the day. Things were going better but they were far from great. Sam Student and Gabby Giggles finally decided that they had better steer clear of Sally-at least when I was around! Still Sally was bound and determined to be the center of attention; so she stands up and yells as loud as she can- "I CAN'T DO THIS!" "IT'S TOO HARD!" I don't what know what about that saying did it to me but I snapped. I walked straight over to Sally Student told her to stop and sit down in the meanest, sharpest, voice I had. She sat down and began to cry. I was in shock myself-I had never heard myself speak to anyone (let alone a child) in that manner. I instantly felt ashamed. It didn't help either that the class had gone instantly silent. I told everyone to color the picture on their page and I would be right back. I went into the rest room and sat down. That is when I realized that I could not make it through the rest of this day alone. I asked God to help me help me and instantly I felt a weight lifted off of me. I know you've heard that probably a million times but when you lay a burden down instantly you feel lighter. Well I was jolted back to reality by the sounds of Gabby Giggles. The class got silent as I walked out. "I can do this," I thought to myself. "Just one thing at a time and one moment at at time." So I walked back over to the lesson and things seemed to calm down some. I could still hear Sally Student sniffling though. So I decided to give everyone a break after they fished the assignment. I told them to play with the play dough in their desk. BTW, who ever thought of the half dollar sized containers of play dough-Genius! So while they were playing I headed over to see Sally Student. By this time she had wiped away her tears and was working on completing her class work. I walked over and asked her if she was ok. She wined her big annoying voice that she needed help. Resisting the urge to snap at her again, I took a deep breath and asked her (in the politest voice I could muster) if she would raise her hand. She did. I smiled at her and she smiled at me. I was able to help her with her work and things went a lot smoother the rest of the afternoon. When ever she would decided to act out. I would (calmly reminder her-even if I wasn't calm on the inside!) redirect her. She did so well the rest of the afternoon that I gave her a peice of candy for being so good! When it was time to go she hugged me goodbye. I have always heard that teachers sometimes learn more than the students. Well that is definitely true in this case. I am schedule to sub for Suzie Teacher again soon and I am wondering what kind of lesson I will learn next.Morale of this story-The Power of life and death are in the tongue. James 3:
Labels: life lessons, school, teaching
posted by Unknown @ Saturday, September 26, 2009
0 Comments
