These past two weeks have been a testament to my patience and my ability as a teacher. Even during the weekends, I hadn’t been able to get a real moment to breathe. Even as I type this blog, I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. I mean…I knew I was going to have to deal with teenage rebellion at some point and I thought I was really for it. Oh, boy, I was so wrong.
Teaching
It has been three weeks, and I am already tired. Yes! I’m three weeks into the new high school semester, and I can feel new gray hair growing. I should be annoyed about it, but it’s the opposite. I’m happy. Elated, even. I’m back with my students – old and new – and I’m teaching old and new material. But teaching isn’t the only thing that causes more gray hair to grow. A lot more, actually.
The first week of school is completed, and I am beyond proud of my students. My class got bigger by three students, and I’m already enamored by their dedication to their goals. Most of them already know what they want to major in for their university while some have an idea but not where to start. However, a few of them don’t know what they want to do because of the many choices available to them. Sure, they are nervous about that…but I let them know that that’s part of the fun of their journey.
Today is a good day for many reasons. I just finished my last paper for my Literary Theory and now I can return to my actual writing (I was only doing about 25%). I will admit that this class was something fierce and gave me a newfound respect for literary theorists. I mean, the amount of analytical thinking involved with this type of narrative nonfiction is quite something. It’s something else entirely and I know hands-down that I’m not going anywhere near it after I finish this class.
So, I’m writing this blog during my break – at work! Yes! I am at work because the Chinese government doesn’t like it when students lose a day of school. So, since we had a five-day week (one was the actual holiday), we were told that last Sunday and this Saturday would be work days. Yeah…my students and I are pissed.
So, I have two new students in my Grade 9 class and two in my Grade 8 and with it brought a whole new set of challenges. However, it wasn’t as bad as my previous student. She was a total nightmare and all my students hated her. Even Jack-Jack didn’t like her – and he likes everyone. Anyway, I would like to focus on the two that I’m responsible for.
Parent-Teacher meeting and getting the Reading Room set up. These last two weeks have been really something and I almost lost my cool in front of my boss because of the latter. In my defense, I did tell him that I was an advocate for reading and the arts when I was interviewed. In fact, I told him that I value reading and the arts over everything else. But I should start from the beginning…
It’s finally happening. Sunday is the day I start my Master’s Program in English and Creative Writing and I couldn’t be happier. I finally get to go back to school and be a student – not a teacher. Well, I’m still a teacher but…you know…I already gave this song-and-dance. Instead, let me talk about why I have been so tired these last two weeks.
Well…it happened. I finally snapped at a student who was my own. I didn’t think it would happen. I thought I had a handle on my temper, especially since I was dealing with teenagers. Moreover, I was dealing with my usual group of teenagers so I didn’t think that would have been the case. But, alas, here we are.