The Eliminator That Broke Me

Today was the last run of the Eliminator and the last block of old classes before I move into the new next week. The finality of the situation would not make things easier. Due to this school’s parents, over others, knowing that I was leaving (one even brought me the gift of microwave popcorn…if only I had a microwave) I believe that the students also were privy to this information. Here a child with a soon to be vacating teacher has two choices: a) see them on their way with respect and thank them for the time you spent trying to educate them or b) become demons from hell because the last day merits little in ramifications for behavior. Most of the kids actually chose A. This was surprising. I wouldn’t have done it. I recall a teacher retiring back in highschool. We all got wind of it and made the final weeks terrible. Of course we considered it a gift. Our actions would pretty ensure that this teacher would never come back. Perchance it was the same way with the final class of the Eliminator today. The end. Fin. It was over. Only one hour to go. This is normally the toughest class of the entire block. You will recall my last post about Spawn of Lucifer and there is also the child that is bordering on retardation. This class capping off a five class run is a toll, I tell you. Yes, I do only five hours of work that day but it feels like twenty. It only takes a pebble to start an avalanche and today Spawn of Lucifer would be that pebble. Him and I had been getting along so well and by so well I mean he wasn’t trying to send me into convulsions of rage. My lessons with him during summer school were great. He was a totally different kid. Prior to teaching summer school he was still sporting attitude but nothing as bad as the first few lessons. He was no present in the last lesson but notes about him from the Japanese teacher state that he was doing well and not causing aneurysms. Today it would not be so. Today Spawn of Lucifer as reborn.

It was an exact duplication of my first encounter with him. He came into the classroom, threw his bag against a wall and started walking around in a circle shooting grins at me that said: “What you going to do about this?” There is no confusing certain looks, folks, even when on the faces of children. I would ask him, as I did the first time, for his cards and he would continue his walking in a circle only this time with a little sly grin and laugh. I did not shout at him as I had the first time we engaged in this battle. I ignored him and moved on to other kids. In came the girls. The girls are usually alright but today they chose to ignore me and chat amongst themselves. Next walked in the protégé. Spawn of Lucifer, in recent months, has acquired a friend in class that he has turned to the Dark Side. This student was never an angel or anything but he would at least go through with lesson objectives and games. He’d even smile a few time. Spawn of Lucifer seduced him with whatever evil powers he has and now the two are as thick as thieves and both are terrors. The protégé tosses his bag on the floor and also opts to not show his homework and such. He joins Spawn of Lucifer by the wall and together they loudly engage in conversation. Next comes the kid who is picked on by the other two boys. He also doesn’t like the girls. He sits against the far wall away from everybody. Finally, the kid with ADHD/slight retardation comes makes her presence known by kicking at the front door. I let her in.

And so it begins… I tried, honest I tried. I tried to teach the lesson while the demon kids tossed blocks at us, while the girls ignored me, while the boys wrestled and kicked, while one of them smacked the scared kid upside the head. I tried to teach while the ADHD girl screamed and ran around the room, while she grabbed objects out of my hand and even while she tried to attack me with a stapler. I braved forward under adversity. I watched the clock. It was only an hour. One more hour. But I would fail. This was the Eliminator that broke me. I told the students to close their books and said the lesson was finished. I pulled up a chair and sat down. This was all a ruse, of course. I was hoping this tactic, used on me back in highschool, would work and five minutes later we’d be back into it. No dice. The kids just continued with this chaotic behavior. Spawn of Lucifer even tossed a hearty laugh in my direction as I sat their stern faced. “No talking, please,” I say in a normal tone. No change. The switch is flipped. “NO TALKING PLEASE!” The shout would make my voice horse come the end of the day. Everything freezes. The kids do not move. Spawn of Lucifer laughs nervously. “FUNNY!?” I rage at him. He looks at the ground. The ADHD girl stands up. “SIT DOWN!” She sits. Everybody is silent. The thing is I was not really angry. I knew that I would not be seeing them again and thus quelled a lot of frustrations. However, at this point, I knew there was no other way to get this class back on track outside of some elevated tones. I also knew that another teacher was on the way and this group needed a talking to about their behavior.

I took the rules sheet off the wall and stood in front of the class. For about eight minutes they were given a stern lecture on what and what is not acceptable in our classroom. The rules are written in both English and Japanese so there was no option to not understand what I was saying. I had the students each read a rule. All the while I was amazed at how things had changed instantaneously. Everybody was acting perfectly. For whatever reasons this was working. After the rules were explained I asked each kid if they understood. They said “hi, Sensei”. I ended the lecture explaining that I was leaving and a new teacher was coming in and they have to follow these rules with her. Again they said “hi, Sensei”. I then was able to continue the lesson and for the final twenty minutes I had some of the best behaved kids I have ever taught. Megs, I know you told me that shouting at kids is the wrong course of action but more and more I think that in a situation that I am in sometimes there is no other recourse. Normally I feel bad after shouting. Today I did not. Seeing the transformation in behavior lead me to believe that I had broken through where I hadn’t before. Maybe they were just waiting it out. Maybe the next time they will be the same. However, for 20 minutes they were kids respecting a teacher, listening and, with a little lucky, learning. At the end of the lesson two of the girls offered me a very low bow and said “thank you”. No kid has done this to me before. I was shocked. I bowed back and said goodbye.

The door was closed on the old and this week we begin the new. Like when I first arrived here I am going into a new block of students with a game plan only one drastically different then my first one. I know have accumulated some form and a little wisdom from my experiences. I’ve been able to gauge for the most part what works and what doesn’t, what the kids enjoy and what they don’t. Sure, all kids are different but there have been patterns. Certain games go over better then others, for example. There is a nice freshness on the horizon and I look forward to the new breed.