Veteran's Day Adventures

After my first week of solo teaching at College Park I can sum my feelings up into one word: frustrated. I am doing the best I can but it doesn't seem to be cutting it.  7th graders frustrate me.  Most of them are sweet kids and I really like them, but some of them are awful to have in class.  My classroom management skills have evolved to where I am no longer a pushover, but even being really mean has absolutely no effect on these students.  All it does is make me feel terrible.  


I think the reason Thursday was so rough was because it was the last day of school for the week and we had a substitute teacher in for Mrs. Pulaski.  The kids were so crazy all day and would not listen when I told them to be quiet.  I will never understand that.  Whenever a teacher told me to be quiet in school, I listened.  I was so angry by the end of the day that one of the students told me that my veins were popping out.  I couldn't see myself, but I believe it.  


I have to start teaching Latin American independence movements on Monday.  I have the big activity for Wednesday and Thursday already planned, but I have no idea what to do for Monday and Tuesday.  I have racked my brain over and over again and I just can't think of something fun and engaging for them to do.  I never had this problem with 5th grade language arts.  This is another reason why I am so frustrated. I know that everything can't be easy, but it should not be this hard. 



Maybe God is trying to make me realize that as much as I love history, I shouldn't teach it to 7th graders.  If I get a social studies job, I would love for American history to be in the standards.  I just can't make myself get excited about the unification of Germany and Italy or the Haitian revolution so how am I supposed to make them excited.


I keep telling myself that no one can be good at everything, but I still feel like I am failing at my job if I can't figure out how to teach them the information they need to pass the PACT test (kind of like the OAA except for South Carolina).  


Perhaps I should just acknowledge the fact that I had a bad day on Thursday and then move on.  Nobody has told me that I am doing a bad job.  I have received good feedback from Mrs. Pulaski.  I have no reason to be this hard on myself.  I need to relax and then retackle the problem tomorrow.  


On a lighter note, I took this much needed day off and relaxed.  


I went to lunch with a few girls I met at church, which may not sound like much, but it was such a blessing to hang out with people and talk since I am alone here most of the time.  

Then I decided to just drive towards downtown Charleston and see what happened.  I ended up at Patriot's Point where the battleship the USS Yorktown has been turned into a museum.  It was really cool to see, but kind of creepy to walk through alone.  I had to fit through small spaces and the path of the tour consisted of plenty of twists and turns.  I think the main reason it was so creepy because it was so empty and quiet.  There were all those beds the men slept in and all the sinks where they washed at and the tables they ate at and all the dental chairs and medical rooms.  It was just sort of eerie to be there alone.  Whenever I came across another person I jumped.  

I ended up talker to an older man who was a veteran.  He said being on the ship brought back a lot of memories.  He said they were good ones.  He told me a few stories, I said thank you for serving and then we parted ways.  A few minutes later he came back to me and said thank you for saying that.  I hope that I made his day by letting him know that he is appreciated.  After that whole situation I started getting emotional.  The Medal of Honor part of the museum made me even more emotional.


I don't even want to think about what my life would be like if there weren't men and women who chose to go above and beyond in serving our country.  I don't think I could ever have the guts to do some of the things veterans have done.  I watched a video about a man who threw himself on top of a grenade to absorb the impact so that the rest of his comrades could defeat the enemy.  I cannot even fathom that kind of sacrifice.  I would do a lot for the people that I love, but knowingly throwing myself on a grenade that's about to explode!? Would you do that? I was seriously about to cry while hearing about all the heroes who risked their lives for our freedom.

*As an afterthought, I would like to say that I do not condone going to these types of places alone.  It is not safe, I repeat, not safe for a young women to be wandering around by herself.  However, if you can tell me the last time I complied to a rule like that I will give you a million bucks.  I am not going to sit around miserable just because I have no one to walk around Charleston with.  

Anyways, I was terrified towards the end of the day and I will explain why.  I got off the Yorktown and decided to check out the submarine next to it.  Submarine=even smaller, cramped, couldn't escape from a kidnapper if you tried, space.

Long story short, a man with a 10 year old son gave me the creeps.  First he said something about me being 12.  When he finally believed I was 21 he said oh good because I thought I was creepy for thinking a 12 year old was cute but now its okay.  

What!!!??? No, Mister.  It is NOT okay.  Leave me alone.  I am no longer going to be nice and start chats with strangers.  I thought a man with a kid was safe! What is this world coming to??? 

Alright, so that's my horror story.  

The lesson here is: If you're smart you'll always take a buddy to a battleship.