Middle School Mayhem

The entire week she has been dreading Friday. For most people Friday is a day of joy because they become emancipated from the onerous duties of work and can enjoy time off. Not for this English teacher. This English teacher doesn’t get filled with the same feelings of joy and optimism rather she is filled with dread and despondency.

Why do you ask? Three simple words. Middle school Classes. Yes, middle school. This English teacher has to teach in two separate schools. Teaching a two schools isn’t so bad for most English teachers just means more running around and more names to remember. For this English teacher it’s a little bit of suffering twice a week for several hours.

Office space: a small corner desk. (Where she might consider pitching a tent in order to avoid the tidal wave of children that come in only talk to the other teachers.) A computer that constantly looses the internet connection and doesn’t hook up to the giant printer beside her. On special days she gets locked outside her office. 

1-1, 1-2, & 1-3: not so bad this English teacher thinks. They are still fresh faced and still innocent from elementary school therefore haven’t been fully corrupted as of yet.

2-1, 2-2, & 2-3: There are good days and bad days. Mostly there are frustrating days because the co-teacher for this class is an absentee co-teacher. Pretty much nowhere to be found outside or inside of class. Co-teacher of Grade 2 provides no materials very little support. This English teacher thinks the co teacher is avoiding her.
3-1 & 3-2: here any class that the English teacher can walk away from is considered a good class. These classes have bullies, fist fights and all that other stuff teachers cry about at night.

So anyway to explain what happened today….
The English teacher woke up extra early to finish up a lesson on “Hobbies” she thought the students might like. In class 2-1 students didn’t take to the group work as well as they could. They just kept talking, talking, and talking when it was time to listen to the other groups. No matter how times she said to BE QUIET. The students did their own thing. Girls fussed with their bangs and stared at themselves in their mirrors. The boys punched and stabbed each other with pens. The co-teacher half paid attention to the lesson, the other half was spent beating the students and offering some English -> Korean translation. This continued until the English teacher couldn’t take anymore. “YO!!” The English teacher yelled. The students and co-teacher jumped and all were surprised. For you see this is the first time the English teacher had ever raised her voice. Class continued and finished without incident

Class 2-3, The English teacher had sometime to calm down a bit. She arrived to class early and set up her laptop (there are no computers in any of the classrooms). She began her lesson. The students go into groups and she presented the day’s topic. Again the students did everything but the actual task set before them. One student constantly just talking and goofing off since the beginning of the class was driving the English teacher crazy. The English teacher basically said to the student “If you don’t like English class then leave. I don’t care that you don’t understand what I’m saying. Just leave” and of course she has no clue what the English teacher just said. The English teacher tried to continue on with the lesson. The students continued on doing their own thing. So the English teacher lost it. “YOOOO!! WHAT THE HELL MAN?!... I can’t take this anymore week after week it’s the same crap! I’m sick of it! I’m DONE!... I don’t care if you can’t understand me I’m pissed!” The English teacher used every bit of her remaining self-control to stop herself from storming out of the class and out of the school entirely. The English teacher composed herself and handed out an article then told her students to read quietly. The class worked on the assignment and was completely silent.