As teachers, we are big on sharing. We help each other out for the sake of our students. I saw this post on Facebook and just had to put it on my whiteboard. It is at the front of my classroom with a big SAVE on it so my janitors don’t erase it.

It is sad that I even have to put this on my board. And, as you might expect, only the good kids have read it and have told me, “Thank you for writing that!” We have 2 more months of school to go and I am truly nervous about what the attitudes of our are going to be.

The first year I taught middle school I wondered if I made a good choice moving from teaching elementary students to teaching middle school students. I had some tough kids in my eighth-grade class. These same kids made one of my teachers, who is a good friend of mine, have an emotional breakdown.

I was able to get through that year and over a short amount of time, had my students’ respect. It has been smooth sailing since then until this year. None of the tricks up my sleeve are working. I try to reward the good students with a treat and the difficult students say, “I don’t care. I can buy candy on my way home.” This year is the first time I have ever yelled “Shut Up!” to my students. At times I have lost my cool which is totally uncharacteristic of me.

I even confronted one student about his attitude saying that I was going to email his parents. I showed him the email I was going to send and he told me, “So what. They don’t read their email and won’t do anything.”

What am I supposed to do with that?!?!

This student has totally “checked out”. He doesn’t take notes in class. He doesn’t care he has a D in my class. He just goes through the motions when doing his assignments. I have lost touch with him and cannot reach him anymore. It’s disheartening to watch because he has so much potential to do great things in his life.

Our students know the game. They know that even though they are failing their classes, they will be moving on to the next grade. They know that even when they misbehave, it is a slap on the wrist and they are back in the same classroom they disrupted.

I had an insightful conversation with our Behavior Manager. She said that these 7th and 8th-grade students were born around the time of the recession in 2008 and 2009. Families were struggling and working more than ever to support their families. They were dropped off at daycare and by the time they were picked up and taken home, it was time for supper and bed. And because the parents didn’t see them often, the children were often spoiled.

Children learned that if they cried hard enough, their needs would be met. They were rewarded for doing very little.

Time-out chairs took the place of spanking. Arguing and negotiating took the place of learning that No means No. Once these kids are out in the real world, they are in for a big surprise.

It’s time for a reality check for these kiddos. Unfortunately, these lessons are placed upon teachers. As their teacher, all I can do is be the best role model (even though they don’t know what that is) I can be. Then, once they leave, our school, get their first job, have some more responsibilities, life will be giving them the lessons. And those lessons are going to be tougher than my lessons. I truly do wish them all the best in their lives.

Aside: Next week will be my 2nd Covid shot. I will update my readers on how my progress with the 2nd shot turned out.