The Worst Kind of Teacher

I had a bad day last Thursday. I don't mention these all that often because they tend to be minor blips on a much grander screen, not-to-mention the fact that there's something to be said for being positive. Still, I came into school really exhausted from a late night at class and a variety of responsibilities and concerns, beyond teaching, looming over my head.

The morning went well enough. My buddy Tim, who teaches next door, stopped by to talk with us about a favorite book of his that we had just finished reading and loved as well. There were visitors who enjoyed hearing the new Revolutionary War song we are writing and watching the kids discuss and reflect on their reading.

Our day is broken up into two instructional halves by a break in the middle that includes lunch, a special area (such as art or pe), and recess. When we returned from recess the next two hours included: a broken ruler, someone calling a friend "a jerk", another person completely tuning out all of a math demonstration, a group that refused to work with one another, a number of people who didn't listen to directions, and a loud outburst immediately following a small talk about our expectations for one another when working on a particular project.

These types of days are inevitable when working with humans, not to mention the nine-year-old variety. Not so surprisingly these days often occur on the very day when I've not had enough sleep, I'm beginning to feel sick, or I'm feeling a bit anxious about something outside of school. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that the thirty-six year old variety is to blame as well. It happens. Fortunately, though, only about three or four days a year.

Perhaps for Natalie Munroe, though, it happened much more often. If you've not heard of her she's a high school teacher in Central Buck, Pennsylvania who, like me, keeps a blog for her friends and family to enjoy. Recently this blog has gotten her into a whole heap of trouble. It seems she took her bad day at school and made it public. Very public.

"They are disobedient, disrespectful oafs. Noisy, crazy, sloppy lazy, LOAFERS."

Ouch.

"[They] are out of control," she wrote. "They curse, discuss drugs, talk back, argue for grades, complain about everything, fancy themselves entitled to whatever they desire, and are just generally annoying."

That seems a bit inappropriate.

Listing comments she'd like to write on report cards, she wrote "I hear the trash company is hiring"; "I called out sick a couple of days just to avoid your son"; and "Just as bad as his sibling. Don't you know how to raise kids?"

Now she's gone completely overboard. Oddly enough I shared an article about her blog with my class on Thursday morning, before our problems.

"Maybe the kids are bored because of her," Jillian suggested. "You have to be interesting."

This, by the way, is very true.

"You can't talk about kids that way," argued Brandon.

"Yeah," said Patton. "That's really insulting."

"High schoolers are sometimes...well, they don't listen," suggested Atira. "She looks interesting and fun in the picture but they're all talking. She has the right to share this but not be all insulting."

"Yeah," said Skyler. "She could have not said it in a bad way."

"I don't know," I said. "Do you think sharing this helped to solve a problem or just make it worse?"

Skyler later asked a great question, "Why would she even teach them and then insult them?"

"We were discussing that too," said Jenna. "Why is she even a teacher if she feels like that?"

Why is she even a teacher if she feels like that? I'd love for someone to ask her. Sadly there are droves of people who support her. There are websites being erected praising her for "tough love" and holding the kids accountable.

As for our bad day, we had a twenty minute talk before going home to see if maybe we couldn't find a solution that would ensure a better tomorrow. A few kids talked about consequences but many others suggested helping one another by letting them know when they are starting to head down the wrong path. This made sense.

I finished the day by warning the kids that I would be blasting them on my blog. I tried to dream up some well chosen words that might spark an uproar from students, parents, and community members. They laughed knowing I'd never do such a thing. Perhaps that was the best medicine for the day. Laughter.