Wednesday, October 31, 2007

Giving 'em the finger

Usually when I teach, my door is unlocked. Kids know that if they are running late, they should just walk in quietly, get to work, and I'll deal with it later.

Once in a while, I accidentally leave the door locked, and a late kid will just stand there. Eventually, someone will tell me, "There's someone at the door." When too busy to run over there, I say, "Give 'em the finger."

Invariably, three or four kids flip the bird, and I'm left shouting, "No! Wrong finger! The one-minute finger. Give 'em the one-minute finger!"

It's usually funny. The kids laugh. I pretend I was misunderstood. And life goes on. Unless ... if it's an adult at the door. Like today ... a very serious special-education teacher came knocking to check up on a student. Let's just say she was not amused about having the middle finger flashed at her by several of my kids. Of course I thought it was hilarious. But then it got me wondering:
  • Why are some adults so damn serious around teenagers? Is it even possible?
  • Why do special-ed teachers think they can barge in during the middle of class and expect me to answer their specific questions about one student when I have a whole class to deal with?
  • Will I ever get tired of telling my kids to "give 'em the finger"? Will I ever grow up?

4 comments:

Eric said...

Long time reader, first time commenter (actually not that long-time a reader).

As to the first question, it does make one wonder why some people take a job dealing with kids when they don't appear to like kids....

teacherman said...

thanks, eric,
I agree ... yet there are many like that. One of my favorite quotes from an incompetent teacher who was asked why his kids don't improve: "Garbage in, garbage out."

Anonymous said...

Why should you think you'll grow up when the lastest rage for baby boomers is Dr. Oz and his book, "You: Staying Young." If WE aren't planning to grow up, you have little choice in the matter...

Anonymous said...

funny post, just glad it wasn't a higher-up at your door. don't get me started about special ed teachers. Maybe you can do a future post about special ed teachers?