Man, I ain't slept since Monday night and it's starting to catch up with me a bit. I very uncharacteristically left my keys in the faculty restroom door, and didn't realize it until I left an IEP meeting for a student I have never had in my class. I rushed upstairs only to find out that one of the students found my keys and turned them in. I'm quite lucky that my room wasn't opened, my laptop taken, and my car driven off the Bay Bridge.
Tomcat is an overly developed girl in my sixth grade class. Frequently I have to grab eighth grade boys by the neck and haul them out of my room last period like panting puppies as they try to "get with" her. She adores the attention she gets, and flaunts her sexuality like a weapon. The biggest difference, in fact, between middle school girls and boys in B'more and the middle school I grew up in is the comfort with frank sexuality at an early age. When I was in middle school we of course talked about sex and dreamed about it and spent hours wailing away, but even the most attractive and developed girls and boys were awkward and geeky about sex before high school. Kids in B'more don't go through any awkward confused stage, at least in my experience. They are unafraid of sexuality, and are quite open about using it to manipulate each other. Tomcat uses her wares to get what she wants, and tries to use it on male faculty too. I'm always telling her to back off, to keep her hands to herself, and to pull her pants up. Today she was shaking her ass at boys in the hall and she actually pulled her pants halfway down her butt in my classroom, exposing herself. (Some of the sixth grade boys in my class became the awkward, gawky boys with which I was familiar at the sight. One of them drew laughter by saying "gross!"). Now I'm going to go talk to a counselor and a social worker about her--I don't want to involve administrators because they'll punish her for something for which she likely needs a frank one-on-one discussion over. If the social worker decides to involve the administrators, then I'll inform them.
I think Tomcat is acting out because a new girl transferred into our class who is even prettier and who is even more well-endowed. I had no trouble from her until two days ago when the new girl started. Tomshay didn't do any work but she would take one of my Bluford books and sit in the corner reading. Now she jumps on tables, touches boys, exposes herself, and screams at the top of her lungs.
All this after not sleeping for days is quite surreal. I hope I sleep tonight, because I've got a beastly long day tomorrow, what with the Mick O'Shea's gig and all.
1 comment:
Do you get the Science channel? That show "how things are made" always gets me to sleep. I love to watch it, it's very relaxing and inevitably I fall asleep. It's hypnotic, but also interesting but comforting. I recommend trying it.
Post a Comment