So the kid who beat another student unconscious the other day is out of jail. I know because I saw him outside the school when I left today. Rumor has it he was packing weapons when they arrested him two days ago. He didn't look too concerned about his arrest. A group of goofballs was hanging around my car when I walked to the parking lot. One of them is perhaps the biggest asshole student in the whole school. He asked me if he could have a "juice." I told him to get away from me.
Fortunately the beating victim was back in school today and seemed fine. The swelling was down and he even participated in class discussion for the first time.
I need to work on my "teacher tones." I speak in a monotone, rarely lose my cool, and simply increase volume when displeased. On rare occasions I can bust out an angry/scary tone, but I dislike doing so because I have to go to a Bad Place in my spirit to channel those energies. I hate to adopt an "are we going to have a problem here?" bar fight tone with young teenagers. I've used it a couple times and had success, jarring kids into wide-eyed compliance. But I need to reserve those tactics for special occasions, and find better ways to manage the class. Right now they are managing me; I know it, and they know it. Poor Lukie has to sit and observe her tightly-run ship being grounded by a rookie--I'm sure that's the hardest part of mentoring a new teacher. But this is why we do student teaching.
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