When students take over my life...

I need a life. Seriously.
This is only the fourth day of school and already my day -- no my life -- is completely consumed by high schoolers. I roll out of bed and make it to school by 7:30am, and then don't get home until 6pm. Now I really don't mind the long hours; I only teach three classes after all. But then comes soccer until 5:45. And even if I'm not with students, I'm planning their lessons, or worrying that I won't get through to them and completely destroy their education, or analyzing what they said or did earlier in the day.
I am going insane.
Maybe this isn't supposed to be my career path. Perhaps student teaching is just meant to show me that I would actually make a terrible teacher. All the aspirations I was striving towards is out the window. I really don't know more than them (except for how to write complete sentences), and now that they're covering parts of speech I'm thinking......let's review since I can't even name all the parts of speech anymore. How pathetic.
Why do I need to do more work than students -- and in my off-hours no less! They are sapping the life out of me.
And don't get me started on how students purposefully try to embarrass, humiliate, or openly challenge the teacher. And yes, this is all by the fourth day of the new school year and all from one class. This is what stresses me out more than anything. There's always a new hill to climb every single day. I am not cut out for mental hiking.
Now that this rant is over, I'm going to finish up lesson plans and hit the hay.
Goodnight.

Is it just me, or are kids these days getting younger and younger? I started my full-time student teaching earlier this week; and although I have a lot of sophomores, they look like they're thirteen. What's worse is they act like they're nine the majority of time. I really feel caught in the middle of the kids I teach and the teachers I work under. Do I belong anywhere? Sometimes I feel like I relate more to the kids (technically I am closer to their age), but then again, I am supposed to be a professional and I understand the English department, just not some of their methods. I understand the kids' reluctance to learn -- I am doubting why some of these things need to be taught to them....I don't want to waste their time, but sometimes I take for granted what they know or should already know.

And then there's the other thing: did I ever act this way in high school? I observe how these kids act and I honestly don't believe I was ever this.......immature. Ok, so maybe I was immature, but I certainly didn't show it in the classroom. I was a bit of a teacher's pet. I wouldn't dare do anything to make them upset. And yet these students so callously disregard the word of the teacher. It's amazing. This may be the only thing that will make me quit teaching. Forget the fact that I want to teach them how to read and write well. If they don't wan to learn, why would I want to teach them? This is why I should teach college. My professors were right -- college is the way to go.

When I can't take it anymore, I just sleep.

Nap time should be enforced here in the states. It's recognized in half the world, so why not in the US? People needing sleep (or just wanting a break) in the middle of the day cause a complete halt in the economy for two to three hours everyday. Can't we be stubborn like that and refuse to work in the afternoon? The answer is yes. It's called getting fired. But if Spain, Mexico, and all our southern neighbors can get away with it, why can't Americans? We all get suddenly sleepy and droopy-eyed right after lunch and don't actually snap awake again until four, so why not cut out the lack of economical productivity and rejuvenate our senses with a nap? We would wake up feeling refreshed and focused, and be ready to jump back to work with more vigor than if we slummed it out for a couple of hours, knowing we wouldn't actually get any work done anyway.

Therefore, for the reasons stated above, I declare the hours of 2-4 pm to be official nap hours. Don't expect to do any work during this time; I sure won't. If you want me I'll be in slumber land.