"a loud bell was ringing..." ~ Jane Eyre
It is going to take three cups of coffee, two advils, and a partridge in a pear tree to get me through my work day today.
Whilst I understand the percentages of me receiving any kind of sympathy from any person outside the world of academia are exceptionally low, especially after my being off for a week and a half, I must admit that going back to work this morning is one of the worst moments of the work year.
It isn't the incomplete Hemingway assignments which will go down in my grade book in red inked zeros today that are bothering me. Its not the chalk that is going to cover every inch of my trousers, nor is it the terrible coffee in the English Resource Center. Its not the groans I will get from my seniors when they sit through the BBC version of Hamlet on DVD (excuse me, Derek Jacobi is a great Hamlet and Patrick Stewart is the best Claudius ever). Its not seeing the faces of colleagues I loathe, and its not having to retrain myself to work in 42 minute intervals.
I can take all of that.
What I can't take is the noise.
The high shrills of cackling teenage girls who feel the need to greet one another with screams is worse than the opening scene in The Crucible. Its not that the boys are any better. They might as well be killing the beast on Castle Rock in The Lord of the Flies. There is absolutely no decorum in the hallways. Sometimes I purposely wait to leave my classroom until the hallways have quieted down. Perhaps it would be slightly better if the words coming out of the mouths of the students were pleasant, buy the reality of it is they all seem to think they are stars in a gangster rap video. I wish I could say that changing classes was a great time for productive social interaction, but that is usually the time when most fights in the school occur. No child left behind? Ha! Some dont WANT to leave the hallways! They just want to gab in the hallways and scream over their new Juicy outfits.
Honestly, the noise is the only aspect of a job I truly love that I truly hate.
I think that noise has so much to do with a person's behavior and attitude. The cacophony in the halls leads to hyperactivity in the classroom. I think that the hallways should be designated quiet areas. In my dreams, there would be classical music playing as students change classes, absorbing calming violin sounds that would perhaps center them more.
I know, I know.
But the reason why the school walls are made of brick is because the noise would make glass shatter!
posted by ThursdayNext | 5:06 AM
12 Comments:
Good luck with the little monsters! ha ha-- at the beginning of the post I thought you were going to work with a hangover.
think of the peace on the beach at dinnertime in just a few short days! :)
Kels ~ I wish. :) Sunday nights are fairly tame here...except in the summertime!
Chaz ~ What are you making for dinner, Chef Chaz? ;)
You have my sympathy! I was a youth minister for several years and yes, I absolutely loved it, and was passionate about the age (Jr. High), but there were times when it was just too much. Then my oldest daughter grew up and I remember looking at her thinking, "Oh no. Don't tell me you've beome ONE OF THEM!!" :)
Gotta love 'em.
Teenage cackle is like nails through the eyeballs for me.
I'm getting old.
My 15 year old neice and her friend were in town earlier this month and I was about to scream because of all of the whispering that was going on.
Whispering to their mothers, whispering and giggling at the dinnertable, whispering, whispering, whispering!!!!
AHHHH!!!!!!!!!
Perhaps they do all of their screaming in school and have to whisper while they're around their families.
What I hated about the hallways?? People everywhere making out.. No lie.. it was gross!!!
Steph ~ Junior High? Wow you have my respect! I couldn't handle junior high!
Buffy ~ I don't mind being old. Its better than being young and naive and cackling in a hallway all whilst being totally dependent on your parents!
Heather ~ Ok whispering is even WORSE. There is a senior girl, Caitlin, who I think doesnt even have a regular speaking voice. She whispers all the time when I am teaching! GRRRRRRRRRRRR!
BeachGirl ~ The makeouts are so gross that even writing this is making my stomach turn. A few times we catch them doing more than kissing, too. Blech.
Okay, so you know you're getting old. I realized it when I had to leave a clothing store because the music was too loud
I couldn't help but wonder, was it always that loud, or have I turned into my mother?
Were the hallways that loud when we attended school, or are kids nowadays worse?
Will we ever know the answers to these deap and meaningful questions which I pose to you? :-)
And...AMEN to being a grownup who has survived adolescence. I would NOT want to experience that again
one of my girlfriends is a high school p.e. teacher and honestly, i don't know how she does it. those kids are rude and loud and they cuss like crazy. now we're not prudes, but we NEVER cussed in front of our teachers when we were young. it's so different now.
I dont know how you do it. I would throw those lil...well I couldn't handle it.
Hunny...the shrill screams are in full force at 11, trust me. I just experienced it on my way home from Costco. It really begins in the toddler years. The shrill is there..so different from the boys. :)
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