The day I think I should have stayed in bed...

I know I just posted yesterday but I just have to tell you about the day I had.

As you know, I have been able to conquer managing/disciplining the middle school grades and these students have been relatively easy for me to teach with no real major challenges.

High School has not been the same. Today, I had high school choir which the cooperating teacher and I decided to split boys and girls. I had the boys today and she had the girls. The reason we did this was because the guys were so bad, they needed more attention and were kind of dragging the girls down...most can't read music at all and rely on me playing their parts to get the songs.

Today I had asked another teacher at the school to come and observe and give me pointers. The guys were good in the beginning for warm ups but got progressively worse as the rehearsal went on. One student asked to be excused to go to the bathroom and on his way out, was kicked by another student. This I did not see because I was playing the tenor's part at the time. When the student returned from going to the bathroom, he smacked the student who kicked him in the groin. This unfortunately I also did not see because I can only see the guys from the waist up when I am sitting at the piano playing parts. All the guys saw it and of course no one would explain what happened, even the student who got hit in the "man area" would not say what happened.

But the teacher who came to observe me today saw it. She told me afterward what happened and said they have done this before.

In the midst of all this, I had another student in class who told me he wasn't singing because he wasn't going to be able to go to Dorney Park which is what we were practicing this music for (I found out later that the reason this kids wasn't going was because his parents couldn't afford it). I informed him that he could sing with us regardless because by doing so, it would help him become a better singer. He did not fight me on this statement and joined the choir but for the rest of the class, proved to be rude and distracting in everything he did. At one point, he blatantly walked in front of me and was making faces at the tenors. It was at this point that I asked him to sit down.

On my way home, I had to call Tom. He of course was very comforting and encouraging, and gave me some good tips and suggestions for Wednesday when I have this particular class again. Tomorrow I am going to speak to the Principal about the kid who hit another student in the groin. That act could be considered sexual harassment. I came in to the class trying to treat everyone with courtesy and respect but now realize that I can no longer treat them as young adults but as children who need to be directed in what they should do. I am amazed at the level of behavior in this school though. In talking to other teachers, this seems to be accepted that the students act this way and most struggle at ways to help them behave. I can't wait til I get to the elementary school!

Pray for me if you think of it!  I need it right now.