Day 87: I Yelled

And it killed my mood for the day.

I hate yelling.  It's not effective, productive or helpful.  I yelled because my frustration got to a breaking point.

It's one thing for students to be rude by putting their heads down  and quite another to constantly be talking over the teacher.

I had had enough today.

So I yelled.

And they laughed.

Not all of them, but the ones whom I really needed to be quiet, the ones whose parents I am unable to reach, the ones who need to pass my class in order to graduate high school.

I managed not to scream profanity or try to shame them into less rude behavior.

I ran through the list of option that I had to reassert order, or at least to remove them from the class without seeming like a petty child stamping his feet.  I came up empty.

I am powerless.

While I don't ENJOY being powerless, I don't really mind it as much with these kids as they are making their choices.  By junior or senior year, I can provide them with support, but I am fairly realistic about being able to change the habits of people who don't see the need to change.

What saddens me is the group of students who are genuinely interested in the subject and WANT to learn it and do well.  The rest of the students seem intent on sabotaging that, not out of malice, but out of genuine lack of understanding that their actions have an effect on the class as a whole.

I consoled myself with organizing my hexagons.  It was very soothing.

Each column pair contains 50