Of course the two biggest Divas lied on their questionnaires and pretended they did not do the things that were most offensive. (Like stealing from the charity.) And I handed back their sheets with red circles and "disagree" written on them, and I rescored their quizzes to show them that they were, in my books, total Divas who needed an action plan.
One of them pouted while I talked to the class about moving forward in a positive manner from here. And the other one snuck out during the clean up, allegedly to go to work (which is unacceptable as she receives credit for being in class). I expect that her father will be phoning me tomorrow to defend his Princess. I will bite my tongue to avoid telling him that his Princess acts this way because he encourages her to. I've attempted to pre-empt Dad by sending an email describing my concerns and my hope for a quick and positive resolution.
I also fired Charlie on the weekend, which was satisfying. I look forward to not seeing him ever again. I cannot help but feel that it was his influence that changed my formerly pleasant students into such prima donnas.
And of course, the nice ones felt terrible and apologized profusely for the actions of their idiot peers, and several of them paid for the water that was stolen by others. It is heartwarming that there are so many wonderful humans, and simultaneously maddening that those who really need to hear this absolutely will not hear it. Way of the world.
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5 comments:
I'm glad there are some good ones in the bunch. Those are the ones that keep me from despairing entirely.
wow, amazing, nice work
SAW: There really are some wonderful ones in the group, and even the middle group is salvageable when they have good role models. As for the ringleaders of the Diva team, they are just a couple out of the group, and I wish I could spend less time focused on them because they are a waste of time.
Paul: Thanks! I tried to cover my bases. I woke up to an email from the mother asking for a meeting with the Vice Principal. I do not know if she wants to come in to resolve the problem with her daughter or if she wants to complain to the Vice Principal I have been mean to her baby. I guess we will see which. I do not know the VP very well (he's new) so I have to hope he is going to support me.
Of course he will support you, you are part of the same team. I would of course make sure he supports you though and go to him and make small talk, and let him know first, you are who you are, awesome, and secondly, he understands what a complete Princess she is. If the mother supports her daughter, or the father, they also have the 'princess complex'. I used to meet it head on constantly being a low life seller of mobile phones. Although mostly middle aged men I couldn't help but view them in a pink tutu and tiara. Good luck, don't back down. What you did was try and teach these kids a life lesson, and one that they will hopefully be able to reflect on later. The mother should be thanking you, and if not, she's a fool. The vice principle, if he doesn't back you, he's an idiot. You though, go out of your way to help these kids through. Well done, you smashed this one out of the ball park ;o)
Thanks Paul, you'd make a great administrator. The parents were really brutal but I survived and the VP was pretty good. I would have liked it more if he had scruffed the parents and tossed them out the door, but failing that, he did alright. As for the parents thanking me, that's not going to happen. These are parents who are at the school on a semi-regular basis blaming the staff for her daughter's various problems with keeping up with her responsibilities. Maddening. But I still feel like I made a little headway, and I will have to take whatever small successes I can get in cases like this.
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