One of my student-teacher mentors always told me that a new teacher will never forget their first class. That is definitely true in this case. There is so much uniqueness and chaos that is woven through this particular class that I have come to admire spending time with them each day.
Today was one of those days that I know I'll look back on and laugh at in the future.
Like I said, I have come to learn my students, and in retrospect, my students have come to learn me. They specifically have learned exactly what buttons to push before I am one step from pulling my hair out and two steps away from bashing my head against the wall. As annoying as it can be at the time, it definitely brings a huge smile to my face as I think about it moments later.
Today in library I was grading tests while my kids were reading silently around the room. Silence, pure silence - it was almost too good to be true. And then an explosion of sound occurred; but not just any sound, the sound of one of my naughtiest boys belting out the song that I hate most in this world. What song is that? "Whip My Hair" by Willow Smith - if you've never heard it, you should definitely look it up. The song is so annoying and gets stuck in your head like a fatal airborne disease.
Anyway, one of the girls in my class told Braven that I hate that song, and apparently he wanted confirmation. Randomly he stood up and dropped his book, belting out the song and pelvic thrusting like he was the son of Elvis. I dropped all my tests and covered my ears, screeching and breaking the rule of silence that should be instilled in the library. With Braven instigating chaos, the majority of my kids joined in and closed in around me, dancing and singing. Without the consent of my body, I began riveting with pain. Yes, pain. This song distresses me so much that I lose an incredible amount of pain tolerance.
The librarian just looked at me and my dancing students, and laughed. He knows by now that silence is something that simply cannot be attained by my class. Although, secretly I think he likes it because our presence tends to be more entertaining than the cinema.
By the time I got back to my classroom I was crabby. Yes, a simple, endless song definitely got the best of me. I then declared that "Ms. Marie was on holiday and her twin was going to be the teacher for the next three days." Spur of the moment I made a new alias: Loretta Einstein Van Kuiken aka Ms. Einstein. I made all my kids call me that and apparently the name stuck for three hours beyond that. They asked me all different kinds of questions and were totally roped in. Apparently Ms. Einstein was stricter and more non-negotiable than Ms. Marie.
Then the best part came around. As it was time to go home, Andrew came up to pray. He folded his hands and began. Just before he said 'amen' - he added "And please help Ms. Einstein turn back into Ms. Marie - we miss her already." Suffice it to say, there was no 'amen', but rather an outburst of laughter from both the students and teachers. Oh, it was priceless!
After all the kids yelled their goodbyes to Pak Budi and Ms. Einstein, I headed down to the drama room, only hear my students telling their nannies about their new teacher. They definitely thought it was epic.
I've learned to harness my irritability (perhaps after a minor outburst) into something that shifts the focus into something enjoyable and even humorous. Its not the easiest thing to do, but it definitely provides some of the best stories for everyone to reflect on.
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