It Goes Without Saying...

...yet it was was quite inappropriate for Kandace (name changed to protect the, um, innocent) to call me a bitch in choir rehearsal today.

First, let me state one thing: I don't take it personally. I actually find it kind of funny, because did she honestly think she'd get away with calling a teacher a bitch?? Kids! They just don't think. That's why I'm there--to teach them to use their heads. Yeah, that lump two feet above their butt.

On a funny note, I told one of the other sixth grade teachers about it and he laughed and said, "Well, she once called me a faggot. Hey, we're special...we should start a club!"

Anyway, Kandace is one of those students that has a lot of problems. The first, and biggest, is that her parents have taught her to be an angry, self-serving snot who has learned that there are no consequences at home for bad behavior at school and that she is entitled to do whatever she likes. I had to write her up earlier this week when she left my room without permission (truancy) because, "I HAVE A SUNBURN AND IT HURTS!!!!!"

Another problem she faces is that she is on the fringes of the "in crowd" at CMS. One day she is in with the Queen Bee (and don't get me started on her...), the next, the Queen Bee is siccing all of her minions on Kandace. I'm not a psychologist, but I could almost write a book about the low, low self-esteem of these girls and how it is going to have long-lasting repercussions on their lives.

So yes, Kandace is a very stressed-out little girl. I can sympathize, but it does not excuse her for being such a snot. Every teacher who deals with her agrees that she is unpleasant, whiny, and unmotivated (she has a slight learning disability and has decided that this is her get-out-of-schoolwork-free pass for the rest of her education). The elementary music teacher booted her out of his class last year. She is constantly coming up with an ache, pain, cramp, twitch or major illness to get out of class. This week alone she has had the above-mentioned sunburn (the office would not be able to do anything for it, and it would have stopped hurting if she hadn't been pressing her hands all over herself in the first place), a bout of nausea (I told her to take the trash can back to her seat and whaddaya know, 5 minutes later, she was miraculously cured) and today's desperate need to pee.

What happened today?

I have a certain bathroom procedure in my class. As I monitor student behavior, I mark on the seating plan with little dots (red = bad, green = good). Once a student has a red mark (this can be for refusing to sing, being rude to me or other students, talking when not supposed to, etc.), they will not be dismissed to use the bathroom when I let people go. The way I put it is, "You waste my time, I'll waste yours." Also, I only start letting them go halfway through my class, as they have lunch right before.

For the record, my boss and fellow teachers back me up on this.

Anyway, Kandace had her hand raised to go to the bathroom for much of the rehearsal, as well as two or three red dots on her name on the seating chart. I reminded the class that I would only call on kids who were behaving and participating. Well, this steamed her. Finally, with about 15 minutes to go in the lesson, she marched up to me (out of seat without permission), got right in front of me, waved her hand (two fingers for "I need to go to the bathroom") in my face and yelled, "Can't you see this?!?!? I have to go REALLY BAD."

"Sit down, Kandace."

"I have to go!!"

"Sit down, Kandace."

She turned around and stomped to her seat, and muttered, "bitch..." as she did so.

So Kandace got a referral...and starting today, any referrals a student gets mean no dance on June 2nd. I left a message with her dad, and if previous contacts I and others have made are any indication, he won't call back. The vicious circle that is Kandace's education at CMS will continue to spiral down.

And that, my friends, is the saddest part of this story.