Exhuasted Drunk

So, work yesterday was frustrating and exhausting and I was not looking forward to the return today. I had to keep reminding myself that it was only the one class that was horrible and I would only have to endure them for 50 minutes of my workday. So with that in mind, I went to it!

The first two classes were amazing!! No problems whatsoever. No outbursts, no fighting, no swearing, nothing. The listened and were very well behaved. And actually many of them were extremely helpful to me throughout the class period.

Then came THE class. The one I was DREADING! The kids grabbed their flags and went for their warm-up run. In the meantime, the teacher stays to talk to me. She tells me that one of the students will no longer be attending PE. This is the child I sent to the principal yesterday and I guess this incident was the final straw. This child is the one who instigated quite a bit of the troubles I was having with the class. Anyhow, he is no longer attending PE for the rest of the school year. During the PE instruction, he is sent to the library for the entire period. With this child no longer a part of the class, I was pretty excited (mean and sad, I know…but it relieved a lot of my stress) and thought the class may do better today. I didn’t however forget about the many others who had outbursts and wasn’t about to think it would be easy. I was just excited to have one less instigator. Anyhow, the class gets all settled in and I start instructing the class and I can’t even begin to explain how much easier today was! There were still a couple of children who were disrupting the class and myself, but I was quick to quiet them and let them know outbursts and misbehavior will not be tolerated. The class went smoothly with no fights, or complete defiance. I know have the one child removed from the class helped, but I also think that letting them know yesterday I was not accepting their behavior was helpful as well. Today when they came to class, they knew what to expect from me (Touch somebody in a harmful manner= principal- No exceptions, disrespect the class or myself= reprimanded- no exceptions) and made the decision to behave appropriately. Now, it wasn’t the best, easiest class I have ever taught, but it was a HUGE improvement from yesterday.

My next to classes were AMAZING!! They were all very well behaved, helpful and put forth 100% effort. It was a great way to end the school day.

Now the only thing I have to get use to is my increased hours. I went from working 10 hours a week to 30 hours a week. And also waking up at 6:45am instead of 9:15am. This is something I use to do all the time. My previous job was 45 hours a week and I was up at 6:30am but the amount of energy this job takes because of the poor discipline and defiance just DRAINS me. I am just absolutely 100% drained at the end of the day and that is only 2:20pm!! And to top it off, I am out in the sun all day so that just wipes me out! (I need to buy a hat to wear!! I am already pink with a sunburn and I put sunscreen on this morning!) My brain, body, soul just shuts down….and wants to rest. And when I want to rest, I am CRABBY!! I hate being crabby as I am generally a very happy person. So, I am just hoping I can adjust soon so that I can be my very happy self when work comes to and end each day.

But all in all, today was SO much better than yesterday and that definitely puts a smile on my face. As I sit here with that smile on my face, I probably look like an exhausted happy drunk in need of desperate sleep.