The Joys of Teaching

Sooo.... this kid put his hands on me today. Wanna hear about it?

I have this kid in class (let's call him Frank). Frank has been a problem this year. Frank's mother and I have spoken on numerous occasions, but Frank's behavior never improves for more than a few days.

Today, the students were working in groups. At the beginning of class, I was going over directions. Frank and his two group mates would not stop talking. I asked them at least four times--calmly--to stop talking, listen, hush, pay attention, etc. The final time they ignored me and continued talking, I said, "Since you don't cooperate when I ask you politely, then how about 'shut-up'? Do you understand that word?" Okay, not the most "teacherly" thing to say, but I'd had enough. We hadn't even been in class 10 minutes.

Frank grew very angry and began cussing me. I went to the button to pus the office button to let them know I was sending him down. While I was waiting for the office to respond, he walked across the room toward the door. He was still cussing. I decided it would be best to call for an escort and told him to stay put. He walked up to me and put his hands on both of of my arms beneath my shoulders. I stared in his eyes and he quickly removed his hands saying, "I let go, I let go." The office finally came over the intercom and I told them to send an administrator because a student had put his hands on me. He kept insisting he'd removed his hands, but he backed off.

The administrator came to my room, and I told him what happened (including my "shut-up" comment). He asked if I wanted to press charges. I said give me a little while to cool down.

Turns out they arrested him. He won't be coming back, at least not this year and CERTAINLY not to my classroom.

The sad thing is I was angry but not shocked or upset or crying or anything. Another teacher said it means I'm officially jaded.

Maybe I am...