It will be 4 weeks after this week. And the kids are starting to get out of hand. I had to start assigning detention today to my kids, cause honestly I was just getting fed up with them.

I guess it was long coming ... a few of my classes would from time to time not do their homework ... or forget to bring their vocabulary cards from day to day. Up until today, I had been pretty forgiving. But earlier this week, I decided that it was time to clamp down on the delinquency. I started issuing warnings on the homework sheets (No homework = Detention) ... and then I finally followed through on my threats today. Both my "New Track SAT" kids were ok with it (I mean, as ok as you can get with getting detention), and I handed out about 6 detentions between those two classes. I guess they're younger, so they're more used to authority figures telling them what to do.

But oh boy. Another story in my afternoon class. The two kids who got detention in my afternoon class were complaining left and right. They didn't understand why not bringing their vocabulary cards was enough to hold them 30 minutes after class. So I had to explain to them that it was more of their general malaise towards the subject material. The guy, I think, understood. He regularly forgets his vocabulary cards ... to the point that I just got fed up with it. The other girl hadn't been doing her homework for the past few weeks, and when she did it, it was pretty half-assed. She did about 2/3 of the homework today (and I found out later she did absolutely no work for Joseph's class, the other SAT class they take). So the no vocabulary cards for her was the breaking point.

But then she starts giving me this sob story after class about her having so much homework to do by 9pm and she couldn't serve a 30 minute detention. And of course, earlier she tells me the night before she went to see Spiderman and spent the night out with her friends.

So then I bring wonjangneem into it, and the girl starts crying about it to her. Eventually wonjangneem lets her go ... but seriously, I was so pissed at my her. She dicks around yesterday, then whines when she gets punished. I mean, seriously ... this girl is about to apply to colleges and she can't manage homework from SAT?

I think I'm a pretty forgiving teacher, but maybe that's my downfall. I know some of my students take advantage of this, but I'm aware of when they do, and I do punish them accordingly. One of my students came up to me after my morning class and said quite honestly that he couldn't handle the workload cause he has other classes. That's fine! Just talk to me! But some kids ... jeez.

And I'm very forgiving when it comes to homework and vocabulary cards ... if you forget every once in a while, that's fine. But with some of these kids, this has turned into a habit that must be stopped. When they make it a habit to not do their homework, they are not going to learn.

But jeez, look who's talking. If any of my Carolina people are reading this, you're probably asking yourself, "Who is Roy to say these things?!"

I've turned into the type of teacher I hated... but this is high school, not college. ;) In any case, most of these kids lack discipline. They just don't care. And discipline is not something I lack ... so ... SHUSH.

Tomorrow is going to be a lovely day ... let's see if "disciplinarian" Roy can pound some discipline...

But my advice to any future teachers: Start off strict. You can always walk away from the authoritarian line ... but it's so hard to go back. Joseph told me this golden nugget of advice last weekend ... wish someone had told me before I started teaching.

Oh, but the things you learn 8)