Wednesday, December 16, 2009

Suck it up and have fun, or else.

I love my job. I do. But some days, I just want to throw my hands up and quit. Yesterday was one of those days.
My second period class is a Family Studies class. It's one of the easiest courses in the school to pass, and it nicely fits the "I want to graduate, so what can I shove into my schedule so I have enough credits" slot. This term, I have all girls. Fifteen girls are on the register, but six regularly show up. With a class that size, I have lots of freedom to do things that wouldn't work with a larger group.
Lately a few of the girls have been....whiny. They have been giving me attitude. Eye rolling. Actually, it's just one, but she is strong and leads three or four others into being miserable. I've heard a fair bit of "But this is boooorrrriiiiing. Why don't you ever do anything fun with us?" Because you know, it's MY job to entertain them.
So, in order to bring some holiday cheer into our week, and to spark their interest in the kitchen, I said we would make cookies. I brought all the stuff from home. I lugged in
a bag of flour
a bag of sugar
carton of eggs
two cookie sheets
ginger
cinnamon
cloves
shortening
and told them we were making gingersnaps! Yay! Tasty holiday cookies! The whole building will smell delightful! And they said....
"I don't liiikkkkeee gingersnaps"
"Ewwww...I don't want to touch an egg"
"This is stuuuuupppiddd"
"How booooorrriiing"

And I lost it. I looked up from the recipe, and saw two girls actually enjoying this. The rest were sulking. "Enough!! If you don't like gingersnaps, sit over there, and don't make any. I'm not forcing you to eat them. Just stop the whining. I am sick to death of you guys complaining and moaning that we never do anything, and now that we are, you are just being miserable. If you don't like it, just be quiet."
At that point, I was still fairly calm. But then that one stellar student had to ask "Mrs. F, are you cranky today?"
...
...
...
"ACTUALLY, I was HAPPY today until you guys showed up. The eye rolling, the attitude, and the general disrespect has totally ruined my mood. Today, and EVERY DAY. I would like to do something nice and fun. But Noooooo. It's not good enough for the princesses. I work hard to make this class great, and if you don't like it, tough. Today, we are making GINGERSNAPS. Suck it up, and have fun, or shut up. Got it?"

There was silence, and then one brave soul said "I think the cookies are burning."

6 comments:

dogsled_stacie said...

"And you better eat those burnt gingersnaps dammit!!"

LOL!!! Teachers are saints, I don't know how you guys do it with that kind of reception for your efforts!

Anonymous said...

Oh, so it's not just my class that's boring. And it's not just my high school students. Yay! I find that attitude is the biggest factor in a class being fun, regardless of content, and in some grades, there's just nothing a parent or teacher can do that's good enough. It's either boring, not cool, or stupid! I guess it's one of those phases that teens go through.
You know who I be.

Anonymous said...

Ah yes - the princesses in Grade 7, the cool kids in Grade 8 and the superior beings in Grade 9 - you've captured them all!

Fawn said...

I remember telling one of my high school teachers that I couldn't imagine doing their jobs, because it seemed so thankless. Even still, I really can't believe the attitude. Where does *anyone* learn that it's okay to be so rude, to behave in a manner that is designed to hurt and offend? Wow, just wow.

Anonymous said...

Bawhahahaha and this is one of the reasons I do not miss work. You my friend are a saint. Happy Christmas Break, you deserve it

Buffy

wendy said...

Good for you!!!! I think FP should have a dose of "the things your peers and possibly parents don't say to you but that someone in your life should"
I think it's a testament to your teaching and personality that you waited that long to say it!!!!