Sunday, April 14, 2013

Qanuqpiviñ imña! | My goodness! Why are you carrying on so?


Well, I found a wheel that squeaks and squeals
And I left it on your doorstep
Because I heard that you might be broken too
And I thought it'd keep you company
["Homesick" by Radical Face --> Listen here. It's good!]

Five weeks till summer vacation, or as some of my more trendy students might say "vacay."

The trendy kids are obsessed with the following catchphrases:

"Shpanks" for "thanks."
A sarcastic "Yer welcome" after everything.
"Awkward" after everything.
"K, bye" after everything.
and...
referring to people as a "hot mess"

I can handle the catchphrases. However, the two pet peeves that are most unbearable to me are and ever shall be:

1. repetitive noises or movements of any sort (rolling pencils on table, swinging arms back and forth, tapping of any sort, moving paper back and forth on a desk, clicking pen repeatedly, etc.)
2. affected lisps or accents for the purpose of entertainment

Qanuqpiviñ imña! My goodness, why are you carrying on so?

Beats me.

But the good news is that if my students make noises, all I have to do is give them my classic death stare, and within seconds they stop. I don't even have to stress my vocal cords by asking them to stop tapping, knocking, rapping, beat-boxing (do they still call it that?), and/or other illicit shenanigans.

As for lisps, I can't get them to stop. As for accents, there's only a few students that imitate an accent of a culture to which they do not belong. I try to stop the nonsense by saying, "______, you are not from inner city Atlanta. Use your normal speaking voice."

It's a good thing my death stare is fairly effective because I am going to be teaching these same students next year too. I'll be teaching 9th-grade English next year at Barrow High. I don't think the students are too excited about it because I am beloved as much as a dentist is. I'm learning not to care whether my students like me or not. I've got to get thicker skin. The truth is: kids need tough teachers with uncompromising standards just like they need dentists who tell them to floss. Besides, dentists save lives...kind of. So, teachers do too...kind of.

Anyway, I already checked out my new classroom. I've got windows on two walls.

Other than that, today's weather is brought to you by the letter C, which stands for cabin fever.

Current Stats:
Sunrise: 6:26 a.m.
Sunset: 10:33 p.m. (still light out closer to midnight now though)
Temperature: 4
Windspeed: 8 mph
Wind Chill: -9
Quyanapak, Father, for...
good Victorian Brit lit
saying good night to Lucy
teacher's grant for St. John's
first free Saturday in months

4 comments :

Suzassippi said...

Love it! I'm counting days myself. :)

Anonymous said...

I feel the same way about repetitive noises...tapping, clicking, scraping etc....it grates at my nerves to no end!! The positive about this is that you have mastered the 'death stare' which is not only effective in a classroom but also when you have children! Thank you for sharing your life with me, I enjoy your pictures and stories so much. God bless, and don't let those kids drive you 'cray cray'..K-thanks! LOL -Cristi Craig

allcedars said...

Oh my gosh! "Cray-cray" should be added to the list. They also have been saying "This is so fetch."

I'm glad I'm not the only one who can't stand repetitive noises, Cristi!

Christiana said...

I'm catching up on some of your previous posts - loved this one! You will be a life saver to some students. You may never have the privilege of knowing which ones, but you ARE making a difference.