I have had the worst week. Most of it was directly related to the worst student I've ever had. I have a student who has the worst attitude ever and is downright cruel to me. She refuses to speak to me in any tone other than one that is just absolutely downright mean. She doesn't like me (for no good reason as I am the easiest teacher to get along with) and she keeps me aware of it for two hours a day, five days a week. The funny thing is that she does all her work, has an A in my class, and doesn't have the kind of behavior problems associated with a typical problem child. I have been cussed out by students more times than I can count. I have some of the most dreaded students in the school, all in the same class, who do nothing but talk the whole two hours and don't do any work, but I don't even flinch with those kids. Those kids I can deal with, because it wasn't personal. They still liked me. They knew I was on their side, and they felt safe with me. This girl doesn't like me. It's personal with her and I"m not sure why. I've never, in my 3 years of teaching been disliked by a student and I'm not sure how to deal with it. I know this sounds really petty and wahwah. I don't want her to see me as a friend or anything. I just don't understand why she has such issues with me without having any reason to. I'm sure I'll never get an answer. I would be okay with the her not liking me thing, if she kept it to herself.
Even if I just ask them to open their books, she has some kind of comment to make under her breath, "Ugh! Oh my god! I hate this class!" All. The. Time. I had finally had enough of her the other day and wrote her a referral. Here is an example of everything she did in just ONE day:
Speaks to me in a disrespectful tone, daily.
Was asked to stop throwing paper balls from her seat into trash can. Twice. Didn't comply. Detention assigned.
Continued to yell across the room to friends.
After the bell rang for 7th period and she was supposed to be in class (not mine), she came in with another student, disrupted my class, and erased her name from the detention list and left.
After school, asked twice to clear the parking lot and she didn't listen. After the third time, she walked as slowly as possible.
So the assistant principal calls her in during my class the next day to issue the consequence (lunch detention till Xmas--HA!) and she comes back and wants to get into it with me about why I wrote her the referral in the first place. I told her it was because she was disrespectful to me every day and she barked back, "THEN DON'T TALK TO ME!" I told her that I'm her teacher and I have to talk to her, but that she needs to treat me with some respect. She rolled her eyes and did another "Oh my god!"
I seriously dread seeing her on a daily basis. That's how much she ruins my day. I'm so done with her. Thank god she's moving to a different English class after the Winter Break.
