April 07, 2004
6th graders
…Charming what can I say… We’re most likely to be teaching there. I was observing them for 4 lessons today, felt like a scientist who was watching the behavior of some new species.
When I came into class, they were throwing erasers into each other… I sat quietly in the corner and tried to stay away from the danger zone. Somebody suggested getting more erasers… Then I was saved by the bell. The teacher walked into class along with some more students.
One of them is Dima – he is the first one to notice – always jumping, spinning around, saying something and just loves attention. This time he came in with his face covered in green marker… The first thing I heard from him when he sat down was: «Да, Морис, такая ты дура…» (Yeah, Moris, you are a fuck up) – he said that to his friend who said he couldn’t find his pencil!
Suddenly the teacher had to leave for a bit… and objects began to fly around the room. Dima was the one who started the whole thing…of course. I understood that the whole show was made especially for me but the situation was getting out of control and I didn’t have a single idea about what to do. Finally when I was about to open my mouth and say something to prevent World War III, the teacher came back in class.
Dimochka lacks discipline – true, but at the same time his hand is always up in the air. Seems like he knows all the answers to all the questions. But his other hand at the same time would be pinching his friend or drawing something on the desk. The teacher’s behavior was weird too. It was hard not to notice that the class was getting out of control because of him. And for some time I thought she actually didn’t. But then I realized that she did – she just didn’t say anything and made pretend that everything was alright. It was hard to say what was going through her head. She waited for a while until she told him that she should speak to his grandma again about his behavior. Then he kept quiet for the remaining 2 minutes of the class.
I used to think that teaching 10th graders would be more difficult than teaching 6th graders but I think I was wrong. Getting a kid like Dimochka focused – takes a lot. But I think I’ve made my choice – I’m staying with this group, cause this puzzle looks more complicated than the rest…