Yesterday I had to cover a geography lesson period 5. It was horrible for several reasons, the first being the timing. The second is there there were several what I shall euphamistically call characters in the class. And by virtue of the fact that the class were year 10s and I'd never done a GCSE in geography they actually had a greater education then me in the subject. Added to this the work was dreary and uninspiring and you have a recipe for a nightmare.
I had to take one boy outside because he was being a nuiscane and when I came back in everyone had turned their chairs so that they were sat facing the back of the room. It's such a cliche, doing daft things like that to wind up a cover teacher. So I broke it by smiling at them, because let's be honest it's not a bad gag, and calmly pointing out that every minute they spent facing the wrong way they would make up at the end of the day. They decided that it probably wasn't worth it and moved to face the right way.
It's weird. I struggle alot sometimes with basic things like making sure everyone's listening or getting the pupils to do enough work but when it's the big moments where you could so easily lose it in a massive way and swear at them or run out of the classroom in tears I feel completely serene.
After the chair incident they calmed down because I think they realised that they weren't going to get to me and we cruised through to the end.
This happened to a friend of mine and her response was spot on.
She went to her bag, pulled out a dairy milk bar and a magazine, walked to the back of the room, sat on the work top and began to read the magazine and eat the chocolate. When the buzz of silence and eyes staring at her had gone on for a few seconds longer than was comfortable for the children (I think they were year 10 too) she looked up at them and said "Oh, sorry, I thought this was a free period."
They were so stunned she had them eating out her hand for the rest of the lesson!!!!
XxX