Day 20 - Oh. My. Goodness.

Okay, I am going to do my best to not make this post sound like a ranting, venting, complaining, whining fest. We'll see just how successful I can be.Get your popcorn, this could be a long post.

On Thursday all Carrie and I had to do was get through 1st period. I started class by giving them 15 to 20 minutes to finish their presidents charts from Tuesday. As I was circulating and helping students, two girls spoke with me about the way things had been going so far and the things about class that were frustrating them. I felt that all three of us talked honestly and openly and I thought several important issues were addressed. I was ready for a good day.

Know the phrase, "Don't count your chickens . . . "? Yeah, that one kind of smacked me in the face on Thursday. I collected the students' finished charts and began grading them as Carrie started her lesson, which she had already done the day before with periods 4 and 5. The lecture portion seemed to go alright and I graded papers while moving around the room. Because the girls I spoke to earlier had expressed being a little tired of all the group work we've done, so Carrie generously decided to give them the option of doing the activity individually or in groups. After a class vote, it was a group activity. The students got to choose their groups of 2 or 3 and because of the sheer size of that class there were many groups completing the same parts of the activity. They were working well, but we knew that we wouldn't have time for all the groups to present their work to the class. In an effort to be more productive, we turned on the document camera so that the rest of the class could see the group's notes. BAD move. Here is some of what happened as a result:
The student audience complained about the document camera: I can't see - - I can't read that handwriting - - the paper isn't straight - - can you turn off the lights - - what does that say . . . on and on and on.
We tried to explain that we had not yet figured out how to work the lamp on the document camera and so turning off the lights was not going to be an option. In response, one of the girls I had been speaking to before class loudly explained to us that Ms. So-and-so does it and blah blah blah. (and this isn't even all of the problems we had). Carrie and I never should have turned on the document camera and so we are partly to blame for the chaos during the group presentations, but the students' comments and reactions were so extreme and uncalled for that Carrie and I both found ourselves biting our tongues. I kept saying to myself, "Don't lose it. Calm down." I was sooo close to yelling at the class, but I kept it together.
Recognizing the hostile environment in the classroom, Carrie and I asked four girls to stay after class. One girl flat out told me she would not stay and only did because our supervising teacher asked her to. Well, talking to all four girls at once was a bad idea. I won't bore you with all the details, but there I think there are two main conclusions Carrie and I can draw from class on Thursday:
1. Three out of the four girls don't like us. They made it clear that they have no problems with their English intern, but for some reason they don't get along with us. We aren't taking it personally, because they don't like their normal teacher, either.
2. We will no longer be tolerating such disrespectful behavior in class. On Thursday our classroom was neither a healthy learning or teaching environment. The hardworking students are tired of it and we won't be bullied by our students.

The silver lining on Thursday was that we got to go to an African American History assembly right after and we saw many of the 11th graders make great contributions in art, singing, and theatrical performance. It is also so encouraging that our supervising teacher fully supports us and wants to help us do well. While Thursday was extremely trying and frustrating, Carrie and I are both still grateful to be having this experience now rather than later when we are on our own.