Knicky Knicky Nine Door

To keep with the theme of things that piss me off, I'm going to rant about something that drives me nuts.

Some of the neighbourhood kids think it's fun to ring my doorbell and run away. This is annoying. They can kinda get away with it because my place's front door is the closest to the road and I don't have a rail in front of my ramp (which acts as my front staircase. Ask me about the ramp if you're curious). I find it especially annoying because it takes me a while to get to the door. I usually sit at my computer and it is as far as possible from the front door. My computer is in front of a giant picture window in my living room. With a view like this, can you blame me for spending a lot of time here?



When the doorbell rings, I usually run because if I walk it takes me 25 seconds to get from my computer seat to the door. That is not counting any stops to turn on the lights, or to stop what I'm doing or to put down the math textbooks I usually have in my lap. I have to go down the long hallway ...



... and then down the loonng staircase.



The last time I ran for a "nine door", I slipped on my way down the stairs. Yeah, I know my fault for running down stairs. But it pissed me off that no one was there. Usually I go out the door and look down the street to see kids running off. I told a couple of co-workers and they told me who the kids were and where they lived.

Well, the next time after the slip-on-the-stairs, I was really pissed. I was in a good brain space with my work and I was ticked that I had to get up for nothing and lose my train of thought. So I put on some slip-ons and marched out the door into the rain to see the same #*%$ing kids strolling down the street. I yelled my loudest,

"DO YOU KNOW IT'S RUDE TO RING SOMEONE'S BELL AND NOT STAY FOR THEM TO ANSWER IT?!?!!!"

The kids kind of stooped like they knew they were caught. I was pissed so I kept yelling ...

"IF YOU DO IT AGAIN, I'M GOING TO FOLLOW YOU HOME AND TELL YOUR PARENTS!!!!"

They started running down the street. I just stood there. I saw them run toward the house that my co-workers said they lived in and the kids turned around and saw me standing there so they kinda veered onto the street and just hung out on the road lolling about and glimpsing at me. I guess they thought they were being clever that I couldn't figure out where they lived if they didn't go to the door of their house.

I just stood there with my hands on my hips (to show them my pissed body language) and watched them. In the pouring rain. For about 3 minutes. The kids were obviously scared to go home and have me see them go. After I was nice and wet, I finally went inside.

They haven't rung my bell since.

Egg Baby Mishap

So I had my first "major" problem with a class. It left me shaking after the kids were gone.

In my HCE class (Health and Career Education) we have a week where the kids are given an egg (that I've blown the insides out of ... insert joke here) to take care of. We spend a whole class building it a little home and naming it, etc. This project is worth 10% of the kid's mark. All they have to do is fill-in-the blanks on a template that works as a daily journal and have their parents sign the log daily that says the kid brought the egg home with them everyday. I also understand accidents happen so if the kid broke the egg or lost it, they had to write me a 250-word letter about what happened and what they learned to earn their 10%. No biggie.

Day three comes around and we have some drama. One girl leaves class to go to the washroom and comes back and her egg is gone. Someone in class has taken it. I casually tell the kids that whoever has it needs to give it back because the joke is over and it's really not that funny.

So we finish the lesson 10 minutes before the bell and I give the kids some free time. I also tell them that they can go for lunch early it the class is clean and the egg has been returned. The class get tidied up but no egg.

I mention to the kids, again, to give back the egg and they all can go. Most of the kids are playing cards and working on the lap top in the class but some kids are itching to go early. These kids are like, ok, give back the egg. Still no egg.

The bell rings. I am now barricading the door so the kids can't get out. I'm a bit upset that someone took the kid's egg and is not giving it back. Plus, I'm pretty hungry and want my lunch. Some of the kids are trying to get past me and telling me that it's bull that they have to stay when they didn't take the egg. I tell them that someone in the class has the egg and needs to give it back.

The kids then start trying to say that they'll give their egg to the kid that's missing the egg or that she can just write the letter to get marks. I point out that that is not the point. Someone has taken someone else's property and is not giving it back. That is called stealing and I won't tolerate it in my class.

The kids are now getting pissed that they can't for lunch. Some of the kids make small attempts to push past me but they can see I'm pretty mad. They start saying stuff like, "Well, it's her fault that she didn't take care of her egg. She needs to have it with her at all times." And "It's just a stupid egg anyway."

That is not the point!!! Some kid stole something from someone else. I don't care if it was an egg. No one steals in my classroom.

The kids keep up with the arguments and I'm getting genuinely mad, which I never do. I agreed with them that it was a stupid egg and I don't know why who ever took it won't return it.

The one thing that blew me away was that the kids that were vocalizing their anger were more mad at me that I wasn't letting them go then the person who stole the egg and wasn't returning it. I guess in their head they just didn't get it. The kids then start saying that someone must have come in the room and took it. No one came into the room during that time frame.

As I was arguing with the kids that it was the person who stole the egg that is keeping them in at lunch, three kids decided to jump out the window.



As you can see in the photo, this is not an easy feat. A fourth kid would have jumped but he would have been too big.

I felt so helpless because if I had tried to stop the jumpers, the other would have just walked out the door. Of course, this made me more angry. And I realized this. I also realized that one of the kids who jumped out the window could have been the thief. I knew I was about to lose it so I let the kids go and told them that this is so not over and it will be dealt with tomorrow!!

I told the VP about the whole thing asking for advice. He told me to write-up an incident sheet about the kids who jumped and they would be suspended (they weren't, by the way, they just got a lecture ... hmmph!). He suggested I threaten to fail the whole class on the assignment if the egg were not returned. I agreed.

The next day I told the kids about the failing and, of course they were pissed, but again, the vocal ones were pissed that I was unfair and it was just a stupid egg. Just shows that sometimes the vocal ones in a group don't get the point.

As I was explaining this, one kid kept talking over me. After I said, everyone would fail, every time I tried to talk, he'd start yelling. I kicked him out and told him to get some manners. He was one of the jumpers.

Three minutes later, I get a knock on the door, and I open it to find the missing egg on the ground in a Dixie cup. Hmm, I wonder who took it!!!

This whole situation was so frustrating! Another issue is that only two kids handed in the full assignment out of 13 in the class. This class in general just astounds me sometimes.

It's been a while

It's been a while since I've blogged. Yes, I know. It's not that I don't have material, I do. It was just that I'm busy.

The funny thing is that I'm busier now than I have been but I decided to blog for the procrastination aspect. I find blogging almost therapeutic. Over the last few weeks, I've composed incredible witty entries with insight about teaching and being in this small town. It's just that I haven't typed them out yet.

So you may be asking, why am I so busy, and more specifically, why are you so busy now. Well, let me answer that.

Starting next week, there is a college trip for senior students (grade 10 to 12) who want to visit some of the colleges that are "around" here. These student had to apply for the trip and usually only students who want to go to college go. Usually, these are students who are doing well in their classes. Anyway, what does this mean for me?

I have four students who are going ... from 3 different classes. The kids are going for 10 days (7 instructional days). And all of them have asked for work they will miss when they are gone. Fair enough. Haha! Here is my problem.

As a first year teacher, I have never taught these classes before. I have no resources that I have made before (and the resources left for me are not that great, to be honest). So I have to plan for each class for everyday. Now as the "lazy" person I am, I usually don't plan a class until either the day before I teach the material or, if I'm really on top of things, two days before I teach it. I use to get into a little trouble for this during my student teaching days. But come on! Ask any university student and you'll probably get results that say something like 90% of them are working on a paper/project/assignment the night before it is due.

Before you start yelling at me, I do have year plans, and chapter plans and I always know where I'm going. It's the specifics I have to plan for.

So now my students have requested that I plan for seven lessons in three classes (that's 21 classes ... yes, I am a math teacher) before they go on a trip in a week. Uhh, that will be fun to try to do. Especially if they want them designed so that they can understand them without me there answering questions.

Oh, it gets worse.

All of the students have requested that I get the work to them before the weekend so they have 5 days to do it before they leave so they won't have to bring work with them.

HAHAHAHA! As if! The topper, is that I found this all out on Monday.

I told the kids I would try my best ... but for them not to hold their breath. They'll be very lucky that they have it before they leave in a week.

So my student are coming the way o some of my readers. So if you, reader, see a group of Native kids with two tired looking white adults, those are my kids!!!!!!

How to Gross Out a Teenage Boy

Another Health and Career Education story.

For all four of my HCE classes, I've shown a video where I've managed to gross out all the teenage boys. The minimum reaction I've gotten is chairs scraping in the room and the guys going, "Ahhh!" The biggest reaction was from a real touch kid who got out of his seat, said, "This video is sick!" And stormed out of the room.

How did I accomplish this? I was showing a video on road safety and what could happen to you if you get into a car with a drunk driver or a driver who speeds for fun. The ER doctor in the video described what would happen if you came in in serious condition. He explained how the doctors would have to cut your clothes off and tie you down and how they would have to get you breathing and how they would have to empty your stomach and bladder.

The doctor on the video asked all the gentlemen in the room to hold up their pinkie finger. That is the width of the tube that the ER doctors would insert into your penis to empty your bladder.

And that piece of information has grossed out 100% of the teenage boys I've shown the video to.

Just some photos

I'm pooped today ... not that it was a hard day ... it was just busy. So here are some photos of the last two days.


Here is the moon last night rising while the sun was setting. This is another picture off my deck that faces East. Imagine what the sunset would look like facing West!




Every year around this time the students gather on the field to pick up things ... you may think I was going to say Easter Eggs. But now, they pick up rocks. They get to clear the field of rocks. Fun.





One of the teacher's throwing a rock off the field. Why wasn't I helping? Because I was taking pictures from my deck. I have my prep block so I choose to "prep" by snapping pictures. Haha!





The kid in the I heart NY shirt is pretty funny. His fashion statement today was "tacky tourist". I'm not kidding! His hat today said, "#1 Dad". This kid is too much. I've blogged about him a few times already.