Performance
After Dinner
If you get enough Poles together to fill a private room in a restaurant, there will surely be some after-dinner activities.
And if you get enough of those Poles to congregate in one home afterward, there will surely be some singing.
Nuclear Guests
Playing and Destroying
"Daddy, will you play with me?"
Some day, I know, I will regret not taking as many opportunities as I could have to play with my children. It's certainly a regret most parents have, I would say, no matter how much time they actually spent with their children.
This weekend, with the rainy weather keeping us inside, we were together most of the time. But I spent a large amount of time grading papers. Late Saturday morning, I sat with E on my knees, grading papers online as he played with cars and shoved various items in my way. Saturday afternoon, I headed to the basement for more grading and fewer distractions. And Sunday morning, it was a mix of grading papers and hanging out with the kids -- mostly the former. Sixty papers graded in one weekend. And the price?
I justify it with the realization that it's just the unit my English I Honors kids are working on now. Lots of writing -- lots of it -- to form the foundation for the entire year. Once we finish this unit (about a week to go), everything will calm down. But there will always be something I could do for school, so perhaps I'm just fooling myself.
But I smart enough to realize that when E asks me point blank, "Daddy, will you play with me?" that I'd be a fool not to. (I'm a fool occasionally.)
So we built a few things with blocks and knocked them down again. Which was more fun? The knocking down, of course.
Rainy Saturday
Lake Jocassee
Trains
Follow-Up
Dear Terrence,
I’ve said it before, and I’ll probably say it a million times more: nine times out of ten, when you get in trouble, it’s not what you originally did that gets you in trouble but how you react to teacher redirection that causes the issues. Today was no different: had you simply moved when I directed you to, things would have ended right there. Instead, you decided to turn it into a battle of wills. By insisting that I tell you why I wanted you to move, you put yourself on the same level as I, or at least tried, suggesting that my authority depends upon the legitimacy of the instructions I give you. By asking “Why” — and not just asking it, but asking it time after time after every calm repetition of the direction I provided — you suggested to everyone that you might move if you think the instructions were justified, and if you didn’t think they were justified, you would simply refuse. In other words, it was a direct challenge to my authority as a teacher.
After your week of excessive talking, if you didn’t know why I wanted you to move, I would be surprised if you didn’t know why I wanted you to move. The fact that you continually asked “Why?” — and in an increasingly disrespectful tone — suggested to me that you were never going to move anyway. It was a losing battle, and it was sucking time from the class and doing serious damage to the classroom atmosphere, and that’s why I decided to end it then and there by requiring that you get out your school-provided discipline card for me to notate the incident.
“Oh, the card!” you replied sarcastically. “I’m scared! I’m terrified! The card!”
And at that moment, young man, you sealed your fate. Previously, you’d simply been disrespecting me and my authority. But mocking the school-wide discipline program, you disrespected the entire school, the entire administration, and the entire teaching staff that came up with a school-wide plan to help you and students like you change some of the damaging behaviors you and students like you so clearly and brazenly exhibit. These are behaviors that will destroy your future if you do not make a serious attempt to change them, and our school discipline plan is intended to help prevent that, to help you see in an on-going basis the negative (and positive) behaviors you’re showing. And so it is not intended to scare or frighten or even punish: it’s intended to help. But you showed that you don’t want help, that you’re set the way you are, that you see a bright future with your behaviors. Ironically, it was that very short-sightedness that we’re trying to help you correct.
Sad because of the disciplinary referral I now have to write,
Your Teacher.
Apples and Pairs
