Thursday I had to take a pen away from a student. He had been playing with it all day and when I finally took it away from him he was furious. First he cried for a few minutes, then he pouted, and finally he glared. If this had been my first year teaching I probably would have returned the pen to him. Not now, man. I'm a hard-hearted veteran. When he wouldn't work I told him that he not only wouldn't get his pen back but he would also get a 0% on his tests. Instead of getting to work he wrote on the back of the paper, in cute bold letters, "Geve me back my pen and then I'll work." He held the sign up in the air so that it faced me wherever I went in the room. I walked casually back to him, pointed to the word "geve" and said, "Please correct that word." He did and proceeded to picket. I proceeded to give him a 0% and still have his pen in my "June" box - it holds all confiscated toys until the last day of school.
Lesson: Don't mess with the teacher - she's got the upper hand.
I want to know how you did that with a straight face...
ReplyDeleteAs for the June box-- I once had a teacher who did that. It was like having a piece of you thrown in a dungeon with no key. You wondered if anyone ever actually got their contraband returned...woah! Scary! btw I never had anything taken away, just my name on the board occasionally for talking...no big surprise there.