Starting a new semester means getting new students. This is difficult for me since I worked so hard to establish my classroom policies and procedures with rigor all year long. Now, I have at least 5 new students in each class who do not know me, do not know my class, and do not know how things are done in my classroom.
Our school has a MASSIVE issue with Tardies. All teachers have been asked to stand in the hallway and "shoo" students to class when the scamper song starts to play alerting students they have 1 minute to get to class. I have been doing my due diligence and standing in the hallway and out at the landing of the outside stairs to holler at tardy students. Before 5th period, I am standing on the landing and I see 2 of my students calmly walking to the bottom of the stairs during the scamper song. I holler, "Hey, light a fire under those feet and move it!" Now, one of my students (who I had last year) hustled up and hurried up the stairs to class. I did not consider her late because as she was walking up, she explained she was just getting to school. The other student, (who I did not have last year) took her sweet time walking. As I was becoming more stern, she rolled her eyes and said, "Miz, you trippin." Excuse me? You are sauntering to class when 31 other students have made it on time and you have the nerve to tell me I am "tripping?"
I hurried her along and began class. Students had homework due that day. I asked them to get out their homework and if they didn't have homework, my students know I expect a note from them signed by them explaining why they do not have their homework. I do this so when I have a parent/teacher conference, I have it in their handwriting their reasons why they do not have their homework. When my late student said out loud that she didn't have her homework, I calmly explained to her she needed to write me a note and tell me why. She rolled her eyes and loudly explained, "This is crazy, what she be talkin' 'bout write a letter, Miz, you wastin' paper."
I was all the way across the room and I heard this. I marched straight over to her and said as sternly and calmly as humanly possible, "Miss ____, I need to see you outside in the hallway right NOW please." She again rolled her eyes and walked out. I had to give myself some time to calm down before I went out to speak with her.
When I got outside, I told her, "Look, I do not know how things were done in your last Physical Science class, but here in my class, you have choices and you have consequences for the choices you make. You chose not to do your homework. Therefore, the consequence is to write me a letter telling me why. You chose to be late today. Therefore, the consequence is to serve a 30 minute detention with me today. You may serve it at lunch, or after school. If you choose not to serve it today, you may serve it with the Dean of Students. Am I clear? Do you have any questions?"
This was followed by more rolling of the eyes and scoffing. I excused her back in to the classroom and I didn't hear another word from her all class period. Until the end of school......
The final bell rings at 3:05. My detention begins at 3:10. Students stay in my room cleaning desks, or working on homework since the majority of them who are late typically don't have their homework done. This student walks in at 3:15 with her entourage of friends. I am talking 5 of them. She is chewing like a cow on some hot & spicy chips and tells me, "Miz, I can only do 10 minutes of your time today" as she points her finger in my face.
Well, since I do not know this student and I am by myself in school now (all other teachers are long gone on a Friday), I calmly told her; "That's fine, but you will have to serve 30 minutes with the Dean of Students." She scoffed at me and said, "Whys that?" I explained to her that detention was non-negotiable. She can either serve 30 minutes with me, or serve it with the Dean, her choice - but not 10 minutes. She asked me if she could serve 10 with me and 20 with the Dean, I said; "No."
Finally, after this stand-off, her friend tells her, "Girl, letz just git it done, we here already." Now my students at the end of the day stack their chairs on top of the desks. I had her serve her detention cleaning desks. She had to remove all the chairs, and spray & wipe the desks, then put the chairs back on the desks. She proceeded to show comfort in her friend serving her detention for her. Due to this reason, I then happily added on cleaning the lab as another detention chore for her to complete. She did not finish cleaning until 4:00pm and after she left with her posse, the other students I had serving detention by completing their homework told me they wished I would have just kicked her out. I wish I would have too.
Today however, I did not hear one word out of her all class period and she showed up on time.
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