Well, I'm done giving an inch, because of a "last straw" situation that exploded today because of people who keep taking a mile, or ten.
Oh, I'd love being like H.H. the Dalai Lama, but I'm not. Obviously.
Yes, I like it when everything's smooth and I don't have to bark at people, but things have been nutty and barmy these past few weeks, and I'm too exhausted to keep trying being nice.
The main pains in the... neck are a handful of students.
Most of them are nice. A few are delightful. A few have been raised by rabid gremlins with no social graces whatsoever.
Just today, I caught two students playing ping-pong texts right in front of me. When I asked the culprits what was so important (the rest of the class could see how furious I was - coz I was), the most annoying of the two answered that they had to share important things (Riiiight. Tiny lil' problem: mobiles are forbidden in my classroom, and they know it - well, to be honest, they should know it, but I'm not convinced that their brains are all there, so... you know). Important things? *snort* Whatever.
When I added that I'm not blind, the same culprit was all surprised. [Note to all students: most teachers may be older than you, but that doesn't mean that they're senile. Or blind. Or stupid. Or gullible. Thank you.]
It made them laugh that I scolded them. Lovely.
Oh, and earlier, they'd branded me a Scrooge because I refused to lend a piece of equipment (that I would need in the next five minutes) to a student I'd never seen before, and who was in Merlin knows which classroom. The visiting student was less annoying than mine, who refused to understand that my "No!" was final.
I could say that I'd like a word with their parents, but perhaps the poor parents aren't guilty and aren't to blame for the behaviour of their offspring.
Of course, I'm dealing with (so-called) young adults, but they can't be bothered to respect that I'm the one in charge.
Now, I'm just one teacher attempting to give them lessons in something that they view as minor, boring, and uninteresting.
I blame their head teachers, who see them once in a blue moon (and thus leave them all alone to their own devices), who tell them to treat them like friends (Probably because they want to pretend to be cool and so close to their young-ish students... Bloody hell! Since when did I give the students permission to be so buddy-buddy with me? Oh, wait! That would be never!), and who keep telling them that my class is useless.
I'm boiling.
Usually, I find quiet again once I get home, but not this time - hence the "last straw" situation.
I feel a Vesuvius coming up, and it won't be pretty.
I've tried explaining things nicely. I've been patient...
... I've had enough.
In years of teaching (not saying how many, but I didn't start two years ago), this is the first time that students manage to anger me this much - and that I keep being angry outside of my classroom!
The poor lil' bunnies are going to be all surprised, but life's freeking too short, and I'm not going to let them drive me nuts (I've got colleagues for that).
Time to get the rolling pin out and crack the whip - but I bloody shouldn't have to do that!
To paraphrase the great Dr Leonard H. McCoy: I'm a teacher, not a copper. And I'm not their mother.
