When the Cops Are Called to Your Classroom....

In my fifth grade classroom I have a plethora of personalities. Mostly the usual kind, the quiet kids, the loud kids, the dumb kids, the smart kids....and then I have student #25 (I'm using a number to keep his identity private). #25 has severe ODD (Oppositional Defiance Disorder) and is a pathological liar. This means that he doesn't do anything you ask him to, lies aobut everything and is violent. At any given time he'll start to throw pencils at other children, tear up his books, smash his desk/chair into other kids, cry, slap other kids with pieces of paper, and make ridiculously loud farting noises. Anything can set him off...and I do mean anything. Sometimes it'll be that he just doesn't like what we're doing and other times we'll simply ask him to do something and he goes off the deep end. To give you a clearer picture of how he acts on a day to day basis, I'll give you a couple of examples. One day we were passing out math tests, some were purple and some were white (there was no difference between the two other than color). When we handed him a puple one, he took it, slashed it across his neighbors face and then proceeded to rip it up. Today, we read aloud a short book on fossils and then asked the students to write three things that they learned. He raised his hand, so I went over to his desk to presumably answer his question. He told me that he needed help because he didn't listen to the story so he didn't know what to write down. I told him that he should have been listening and I'm not going to just give him the answers. In response, he tore apart his reading book and started throwing things at other children. Most of the time we just ignore him, but as soon as he starts endangering other kids, we call the office. Well, last week he started throwing one of his fits. He didn't want to take his spelling test, so he started freaking out. When he threw a book at another child, we called the Assist. Principle to come down. She came down and tried to reason with him, which wasn't successful. Then the counselor came in to try to talk him down, and he still didn't care. Finally the Head Principle came in and gave him his choices. He refused to go down to the office and stop throwing things. The Principle then called the police....yes, she really called the cops. Apparently there is a special officer who deals directly with students, mostly middle school and high school but occasionally elementary students. We had to then evacuate the students out of the classroom and wait for the officer to remove #25. The officer "escorted" #25 to the office where his parents were called. I was shocked because I'd never even heard of a cop coming to an elementary school but it does make since when you think about it. #25 is bigger than me so there would be no possible way for me to ever subdue him. I guess though, its just another exciting day in grade school!

Breakeven

I was listening to the song "Breakeven" by The Script and it got me to thinking about love and how complicated it is. In my (little)experience of love, it seems that one person always has stronger feelings than the other and both people have different expectations. I'm very envious of the couples who have non-complicated relationships. Those people that just meet each other, like each other, date and end up married within a couple of years. How is it possible to have such an un-complicated relationship? It seems like something out of a movie, and if there's anything I don't believe in, its love like in the movies. I think its ridiculous to assume that you're going to meet your soul mate and everythings gong to work out perfectly. Perfect relationships don't exist and I think that most of society has unrealistic expectations of relationships. Prince Charming is from a fairytale and I think the sooner people realize that, the better off they'll be when it comes to love. When I was younger I couldn't wait to find Mr. Right, the boy who had all the qualities that I wanted and who would sweep me off my feet..well, now that thought has been shattered. I always knew that I would meet that guy in highschool..and it didn't happen. Then I knew that I would find him in college...and it didn't happen. Now I'm going to have to miraculously meet some guy at the grocery store(or a similarly odd place) and make such a good impression that he'll want to pursue me. What are the odds of that really happening? I feel like from this point on finding a guy will be like finding a needle in a haystack. Plus, I'm not particularly outgoing which won't exactly be a help on my search for Mr. Right. I think my real dissapoint comes from the fact that college is over and what do I really have to show for it? I've never had a boyfriend and every boy that I have had some sort of "relationship" with, kicks me to the curb with out a second thought. Knowing that not only was I not what they wanted, but that they don't even care enough about me to feel any kind of remorse or saddness as they tell me that I'm just not what they're looking for. I guess to sum it all up, I wish that at the end of my next "relationship" when we don't breakeven, that I'm on the side that does the breaking, not the one who recieves it.

My First Posting...

One of my best friends encouraged me to start a blog, so here I am, writing my first post. I guess I should start off by saying a little bit about myself and why I'm writing this blog. I'm a senior in college and I'm in the middle of my student teaching. I had to move back home to do my student teaching, so I'm living with my parents, desperately craving freedom. I love being around my students and I look forward to seeing them and (hopefully) inspiring them to do their best. Other than that, I like nothing about my life. I hate living with my parents, i hate being away from my friends, I hate being alone all the time and most of all I hate how I feel like my youth is passing me by. I should be going out living life to the fullest and instead I sit at home, working on lesson plans and wasting time on the computer. I have no idea if I'll get a job this next fall or where I'll get a job. I would like nothing better than to move away, live in my own apartment and try to pull my life back together. I need a change. I need to find a reason to be happy. By this time next year I hope to be content with life and ready to face its challenges.