Is This Thing On?

September 13, 2012

All day yesterday, I felt like I was talking to a wall.  You know, just not getting through to my kids.  It happened over and over again.

"Okay guys, you should have two handouts.  Make sure you've got them both."

"Mrs. L--are we supposed to have two of these?"  Yes.  I believe I just said that.

"So let's take a look at the first handout.  This one is for brainstorming.  It's pre-writing for the essay you'll be writing, so it won't be graded, but you'll be turning it in with your essay."

"So you're grading both of them?"  No.  Not the brainstorming.  I just said that.  I did say that out loud, right?

"Hey Mrs. L--do we need to put our names on these?"  Were you just in the room 30 seconds ago?  How did you not hear me?

At the end of the period:  "When you're finished, please turn in your essay and brainstorming right here on this chair."  (Pointing, showing.)

"Where do we turn these in, Mrs. L?"  Seriously??

And so on and so on, all day long.  No, it was not loud and noisy in the classroom so that the kids couldn't hear.  I ask that the kids all look at me as I'm speaking, especially when I'm giving initial instructions on something. These are high school kids, by the way, not elementary kids.  On a normal day, there might be one or two kids who spaced out on a direction or misheard a step.  It happens.  Yesterday, though, was almost comical in the frequency of missed information, except it wasn't comical.  I was ready to pull my hair out.  I was exhausted by the end of the day.

Today I had the other half of my block classes, and let me tell you, I was not looking forward to a repeat.  Same assignment, same kinds of classes.  But my seniors today restored my faith.  Students were given the same instructions and directions, and they got it.  They listened, they heard me, and they followed through.  What a relief!

What happened yesterday?  I have no idea, but I'm so glad we were back on track today!