Teenagers aren't renowned for their high levels of tact. If they think something it's more than likely that two seconds later they will say it. It's all part of the richy tapestry that makes life in the classroom so entertaining.
My year nine class aren't about to set any records for achievement so they have a Teaching Assistant attached to them, which is just as well as even though they're a nice bunch of kids - for the most part - they're not always easy to control. Especially as I'm a bit of a soft touch so need all the help I can get.
Yesterday afternoon the TA was supporting a pupil doing a GCSE exam so couldn't be in the lesson. At the end of the hour one of the girls says to me, 'I think we've been really good today... seeing as Miss wasn't here'. It's not the sort of comment that does wonders for my self-esteem but she had a point. I always try to keep a sense of perspective about things. If before I'd started teaching I'd been told to expect a low-ability year nine class to behave so well on a Friday afternoon I'd have been ecstatic.
I'm not above being blunt myself. My year elevens all have these books they're getting their friends and teachers to sign and Friday was my turn. In some cases it was easy to think of things to write: 'thanks for all your hard work', 'you make me laugh', 'it's been a pleasure to teach you' and lots of other cliches. In some cases it was harder. One girl had been sent to my class from another group because she'd had a catastrophic falling out with her previous teacher so I'd put 'you were much nicer than I expected. I'm glad you joined this class.'
The hardest was trying to find something nice to write about a girl who'd been nothing but trouble ever since I started teaching her. I put something ambiguous like 'it's been entertaining. Good luck in the future.' She looked disappointed that I hadn't written more. I think she has the delusion that even though she's a pain I have a bit of a soft spot for her. I really don't. She was lucky I wasn't completely honest with her because then I'd have just written 'you're fat and I don't like you.' Believe me, it was tempting.
