Countdown to the End: Day 12

A student in my first hour today said this is the land of the free, so I can do what I want. I normally would have replied to that student with just a simple no, but instead I just started laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh because he continued to argue his point even after another student commented that you can’t do whatever you want because you will go to jail. I just kept thinking that the cocky attitude that they can do what they want is so typical of high schoolers. It’s better to learn in high school that you can not do what you want instead of fighting the system throughout their lives once they graduate high school. 

I know that when I see people that I graduated high school with, and we reminisce, they still talk about a certain teacher that was a stickler for the rules. I’ve thought about this a lot lately because I wonder if I’m going to be the teacher that my former students will talk about. My good students will think of how hard I pushed them, and my not so good students will remember what a stickler I am. I always tell my students that I don’t make the rules I just enforce them. Once students are reaching the upperclassmen level I feel that they should know the reasoning behind the rules, so I explain the reasoning if I think it will be valid to them. Most times after I explain it I’ve wasted my breath because they are arguing for their cause. As adults I hope that these students realize that rules are in place for reasons. It would make their lives so much easier if they followed the rules. I don’t ever regret being a stickler of a teacher. I do regret that students will remember me like that. 

My first year of teaching was to focus on surviving, and the only way I could survive was to be a hard ass. Students expected girl Ag teachers to be soft and emotional. My goal was never to cry in front of any students, and to be a hard ass. In those days I turned kids in for chewing tobacco in the shop, mooning me, and for flipping me the bird in class. The student with the chew was turned over to the police and ticketed. The student that mooned me was given an in-school suspension and was threatened with sexual harassment. The student that gave me the finger was a staff member's son and received an in-school suspension. Those were all in my first year of teaching. Now students know how to act around me. I look back and think that if I could make it through those days I could make it through anything that these kids bring to me.

One of the pigs that my student showed at the
Iowa State Fair, the hand biter. 

After school I went to my student’s farm to tag his state fair pigs. I took my oldest son with me, who is 3. I realized as we were leaving that my 3 year old was exposed to some unpleasantness that I'm not sure he was ready for. I know I can’t shelter him, but he was startled when the pigs were cornered and squealing. He didn’t understand why I had to pull the pigs hair out. I had to collect DNA, which is pulling hair. In some cases to keep the animals from moving we had to hold them down or snare them. When I was pulling hair on one of the pigs it turned it’s head and bit my hand. It didn’t break the skin, but it did leave a pretty good bruise. That was a first, and it was my fault because I wasn't paying attention. That is a prime example why needle teeth are clipped at birth. While I was in the pig pen with my student and his father, my son was taken away to play with the baby animals. My student's mom was happy to show him around. My son did like playing with the baby kitties and the baby calf. He fed the baby calf from his hand. It was really cute. This will be something I miss, going to my student’s farms to see their projects. On occasion some of my students would show me something unique like some baby raccoons they found and were raising, or the peacock that was roosting on top of their house.

I know I made the right decision because I won’t have to discipline other people’s children.