Everybody has that one class. The one that drives them insane. The one that makes them want to quit teaching. The one that makes them want to kill themselves. I have found that one.
One of my Spanish 1 classes sucks soooo badly! It's way too early in the school year for me to feel this way, but they are just so ridiculous. It's a class mixed with new freshmen, repeating freshmen, needy sophomores, and one junior. You can imagine that the junior also wants to kill herself, but she refrains and has permission to read another book when she finishes her work ahead of the rest.
I really shouldn't blame the class on the whole. It's mostly the repeaters that are completely out of control. They're late for class, they're unprepared, they're shouting across the room to one another, they're completely obnoxious. They don't care to be in school much less Spanish class. They think it's funny to get a zero as a test grade for not turning in a notebook. They think it's funny to fail a quiz that everyone who put any effort at all into passed. Honestly, I think most of them are just waiting until their 16th birthday so they can drop out of school. With the exception of one, they don't listen to reason. They skip my detentions after school and get away with it because their vice principal is a newbie and has not set a good tone in terms of discipline, but I won't elaborate on that.
One of the troublemakers, who is actually a repeating sophomore, seems to be getting it. His girlfriend is a former student of mine, and together, we have been trying to get him on the right path. She comes after school with him when he needs extra help or to make up a quiz and even to help him get his notebook organized and turned in. He's done well on the last few assignments, which is great considering he failed Spanish 1 just last year. I think he's starting to understand that the people that distract him during class and help him to get into trouble could care less about anything, but that with a little bit of focus and self-control, he could do well and finish high school. He's well on his way.
Can't say as much for the others. I just think many of them will end up repeating their freshman or sophomore year again until they realize that they need to get their acts together.
I just hope to never have to teach Spanish 1 again. (My ONE class is always in Spanish 1. I ask every year NOT to teach Spanish 1, but somehow I always get stuck with it. Lucky me.)
3 comments:
Last year I had a Spanish 1 class from hell also--full of gangsters who couldn't sit still and didn't care a bit about points, assignments or passing tests. This year my group is marvelous; I think we have a better group of sophomores. If you are turning one kid around, that might have to be your consolation for that class. It's tough to survive emotionally when you can't teach because the class won't let you. Buena suerte.
Although I totally agree with you about the immaturity and apathy of most Spanish I classes, I have to say I like having them because I like the idea of getting them right at the beginning... of being able to mold them how I want them... (er, when they let me teach the class, that is...)
I teach levels 1 and 3, and right now my 3s are worse than my 1s: we have a bunch of native speakers that placed into Spanish III, because our district is too racist to offer a class for native speakers (even though we have such a large population). So I have these kids in a pre-AP class who have never taken a language class and don't really care about doing any sort of work.
My Spanish 1 class last year was a total freak show, and now that I'm teaching 2 and 4, my 2s are my ONE class. I totally understand not wanting to teach the 1s. Our department has a policy now that everyone needs to have a balanced schedule, that is so that our most senior member and pain in the butt doesn't get excused from teaching them.
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