Loosing my cool

Yep, I lost my cool a little bit today. My 5th hour study hall is a large group and my only break of the day between 9 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. comes with a short 22-minute (at best) lunch at which time some days I have to choose between heating up my lunch and eating it as fast as possible, or getting to go to the restroom and eat my lunch throughout the afternoon-eventually cold, or just not finish it. But my 5th period group is something else. It is not a quiet, well behaved group like most of the other sections are. This group of upperclassmen is filled with ornery, sometimes obnoxious, I'm "special" teenagers who think they can do what they want, when they want. Each day they do their best to wreak havoc before I shut them down. And today when I walked in I'd had enough of their shenanigans and behavior. I gave them their first, last and only warning as a group for being late-after this if they come strolling in without a note or pass they will be spending a 15 minute detention with me WORKING. And not on homework. Work work.

I know teenagers will be teenagers. I deal with a wide variety of 5th through 12th graders everyday of the school year. You get to know some pretty well. You get to know their habits and behaviors. Some need attention constantly. Some like to fly under the radar and do their thing. Some need to sit with people, while others gravitate to a table away from everyone and everything. Some kids talk constantly and never realize they are, even after being told to stop talking. Others come in, sit down and get right to work, never uttering a word. Some like to keep everything in a neat order while others spread the stuff all over and it takes them forever to settle in and pack up! Some think rules don't apply to them while others follow the rules to the letter. Everyone is different.

But why today did I loose my cool? What made me snap after over four weeks of school? Was it the total chaos or the missing or moved furniture that they managed to hide or move in the brief time they were in the room before I got there? My solution, other than eat my lunch everyday in my office is locking all the doors when I leave. They can wait out in the hallway until I get here to let them in. And they will wait. It takes away from my time and means more work for me but I'm tired of this group and the ones who thing they can do as they please and run the school, we are suppose to follow their rules-not on my watch. I have a few stragglers, who do no harm, but who come up each day early to get into the room and find their spot. These early arrivals are no problems but it cuts what little time I get for a break down even more. They are often times up to the library 10 minutes after I start my lunch break. They are the quiet kids who march to their own beat I've noticed and I often wonder what .

I honestly have no answer as to why I lost my cool slightly, other than the personality of this group. I always looked forward to this group last year-that group was a relaxed and laid back group. Not this year! It's like this group is fed sugar and pop while at lunch each day, and told no rules apply to them!

So after playing "babysitter" to this group again today and sitting them down they were pretty well behaved. They knew they had pushed the envelope to the limit and not to push it any farther. I don't have this red hair for nothing! But I'm sure tomorrow it will be the same old thing, but they will figure out that I don't trust them nor will they walk all over me when they are standing outside the room waiting to get it!

We all loose our cool at times and it might be triggered by bad timing or the straw that breaks the camel's back or it just happens. Regardless today it was probably a combination of all, the final straw and stress from the week and it just happened! So my method of dealing-writing! And some chocolate. And finding a way to deal with this group. With kids it feels like I have to always be one step ahead of them or a day or too, and always on your toes-kids will do this! As well as small animals!!

Positive thought of the day: It is what it is. Tomorrow is a new day!