7.18.2002

Gee! I sure love my job!

Can you sense the sarcasm in my voice? Ok, in all honesty, it is not that I don't like my job...it is that I don't like my job this week. The children are bonkers. It is very sad. Lately I do not feel like a teacher. Drill sergeant is probably a better description. I feel like all I do all day is yell. "Sit there!" "Don't sit there!" "Stop that!" "Do as I say!" Ahhhhhhhhh! Some of the problems these children want me to solve for them...well, here is the classic example...

"Miss Heather, I told Sean that I could make a sound like a mongoose and he told me that's not what a mongoose sounded like so I kicked his ball and then he pinched me!"

Excuse me, what? A mongoose! You had a fight about the noises that a mongoose produces! Do you even know what a mongoose is? Do I even know what a mongoose is? Do I even care?

However, this little incident pales in comparison to the darling little child who thought it would be funny to poop...yes...poop on the floor of the boys' bathroom. So, I am truly at a loss. Am I really making a positive impression on these children's lives? Am I a good teacher? Is this really the career for me? This week really has made me take a good, hard look at some of the things I thought I have always wanted, but in the end, I am always happy to be a teacher because all it takes is that one kid to say something that makes it all worth it. It was just after I had finished yelling to the class that they needed to sit down, close their lips and not move because they were on my last nerve and I was sick of it when Gary walked over to my desk and said..."You're having a bad day Miss Heather and I am sorry." And I said, "You know what Gary, you're right. I am having a really bad day, but I am still glad to be your teacher."