FRUSTRATION

Three day weekends still seem to be my least favorite type, even though I have more time off.  I'd rather come to school all five days, and have less time, then let the kids think this week doesn't matter and struggle through four days from Hell.

Forgetting how it was last time, I went in with a pretty good mood.  I went back to the room we worship in, but only find 2 out of the 5 that I teach.  This is typical as one comes halfway through worship, one comes sporadically through worship and the other always comes 2 hours late to school.  Even though it is all chopped up in different time zones that they come in, I have gotten used to it and accepted it into my schedule.  I do what I can and evolve my teaching around it.  I finally am learning how.  Until today.  After worship, they all come to my room where the principal surprised us all, waiting for them.  She makes the ones that are late call their parents demanding they be taken home until they can learn to come to school on time.  Now, once my schedule is accepted, it is being demolished by sudden organization and strict administration.  I am no complaining about their choices at all, or how they are fairly acting on everyone coming late, but I am just tired of finally getting in schedule, then they change.  It is starting to look like life is just one big schedule change, and I will have to get on board or get left behind.  But how can the train leave the engineer behind?  No one is going anywhere without him, and neither are those boys!

Two weeks from yesterday marks the first marking or grading term.  We send final grades out to parents.  A few weeks ago, progress reports were handed out at parent teacher meetings for the parents to look over and show their students.  We do not mail them out, because we want to know that the parents actually see them and understand the grades.  Well, out of 5 families, I spoke with 0; and still have spoke with 0.  Do people down here just not care about schooling or their children, or is this a nation and world wide problem?  This is a huge problem.  Come two weeks from now, when all my boys are handed out F's, I figure I will have 5 families to explain to.  But will I really?  Another frustrating thing.  

With the two students I was allowed to have in class today, I talked with them about this, and their grades.  It sparked a fire for the morning, but soon, them trying to improve died out, just like every fire eventually will.  Where is the gas when you need it?  With two students, you would think the day would be easy.  Follow your plans,  but only feed 2 mouths instead of 5.  Thats less than half a days work really!  But when it is to a class which is failing as a whole, it is hard to teach.  Do I go ahead with these two boys, which happen to be the best students I have as far as grades, and just leave the others, giving them no chance to do well at a test, which will eventually slaughter their grades even more?  Or do I mess around all day with these two, making it look like I don't care about my job to everyone in the office?  It is a hard predicament to actually find a good answer to.  It is tough.  Real tough!

They made up the decision for me, however.  They decided to be bad students all day, which made it easy for me to just load on the homework and punishment lines that they have to write, which is now a ticket into my room.  The lines not done, they will just join their buddies at home tomorrow.  Sounds fun for me right?  Well, how do I then try to help improve these grades?  They don't care if they have to stay home, because it is a day off.  However, I'm still at school, dropping their grades, looking like the bad guy that is out to get them.  (You may be saying, but it is the child's fault.  Exactly.  You are correct.  That is, until it is your child in my classroom, then, this story becomes hogwash and I'm the bad guy! Exactly!)  This is what I am worried about!  Which then gets the administration involved, making me have meetings in which I show them all the work these boys have turned in, which is nothing.  I have nothing to show for it, which means I haven't assigned homework, making it look like I have not been taking the job seriously!  Gotta love the domino effect.  

But I must remember, on the fourth day, God separated the night from the day, and it was good.  And it IS good!  The nights let us get these bad thoughts of failure out of your mind, and let the sunlight, or day, be a new beginning.  Tomorrow is a new day!  (Now, I just wish that God would have spent that seventh day creating a remote control that could control children.  My life would be perfect then!)