The students complain that I treat them like kindergarteners, and I retort, “I highly doubt kindergarteners read stories about the Irish civil war and analyze them for theme.” They don’t seem to get my sarcasm. In fact, not only do they complain that sitting in a circle reading a story is juvenile, they claim I have no sense of humor. Absurd! If only they could see my daily witty, sarcastic, brilliant humor at work in my (normal) daily life…
But for now they just think I’m a stuck up old person without the ability to laugh. They’re so funny though! I wish they could realize that I think so, and that I really like them, despite their reluctance to do any work, inability to bring their homework to class, complete disrespect, and obnoxiousness. But seriously, I like them! I swear!
Anyways, today we’re doing a reading circle for the story “ The Sniper,” and it soon becomes clear that some people are simply refusing to read, faking ill, going to the bathroom, any number of routine excuses. It also becomes clear that four students can’t read, and that I’m not a first grade teacher, and I have no clue how to teach kids how to read.
It takes them years to calm down, we have to reread certain sections because the noise level is off the charts, plus some kids are just sitting there drawing pot leaves on their papers. Eventually, after some serious nagging, we make some progress with the story, but asking them questions is pointless because not only are they not listening to me, when I do talk they purposely talk louder over me.
Then a miracle occurs. Learning occurs. Without them even realizing it, and I’m so happy I could literally cry. Thinking about it now actually brings tears of joy and pride to my eyes! Javier, the loudest student, and also one of the smart kids, becomes very interested in a certain situation in the story involving the Sniper shooting an old woman who informs the enemy of his location. I remark that I think this is a wrong thing to do, and Javier immediately disputes my statement, excitedly shouting that “He did it for a good reason, that old lady was a snitch!” He then proceeds to go around the circle polling each student about what he or she would do if put in a similar situation. Can you believe this?! They all gave their input, gave some reasons why or why not, and were, like, engaging their minds.
I just didn’t have the heart to tell them they were learning.
