the look

today i had a lovely conversation with two of my classes. the note i got from their sub friday was depressing. when i read it i felt like the worst teacher in the world. my kids had honestly embarrassed me with their complete lack of maturity and respect. the subsitute basically said she felt sorry for anyone else who had to watch my classes. it was as though my own children had visited a friend's house and insulted their cooking and then peed on their carpet.

thankfully, a quick visit with my department head informed that the sub herself doesn't behave much better than my kiddos. (she personally insulted one of my girl by calling her fat....and then wrote it IN THE NOTE TO ME.) all the same, i believe that they should learn to be respectful regardless of the behavior they receive from the sub. a rude comment, after all, doesn't give them license to behave like miscreants. (which is actually a line from my speech today. using their vocabulary words while scolding them - priceless.)

so when my students walked in the door today, they already knew they were in for it. in fact, one of my boys, who misbehaves pretty regularly, even stopped in before school to see how much trouble they would be in. i put on my best teacher face and went into a schpeel (spelling?) about appropriate behavior. i told them i was disappointed, that they were better than how they acted and that they had displayed a real lack of maturity. now this is the shocking part: eyes dropped to the floor, heads nodded in ashamed agreement and a mood of sadness overcame the room. the "i'm disappointed in you" speech actually had the same effect on two classes. maybe i don't suck at this too much afterall.......