You don't always get what you think is your's.
Yesterday, a lot of the students were on the computers working on their resumes, and there weren't any available computers. This one student (Who I'll call "Tough Girl") starts to complain, "You people get a lot of money for us being in this program. You should have new computers here for us! I shouldn't have to wait for someone to finish." I try to explain that just because we get money for teaching her, it doesn't mean we can buy anything and everything. We have a budget we have to stick to. And that we don't all get a million dollars for just teaching.
Tough Girl is funny sometimes. She connects totally unrelated topics and expects you to see her point. For example, another teacher told her to go see the job counselor to work on her resume, but he had stepped out for a few minutes. So when he didn't answer his door, she got upset. "This is crazy. She's supposed to be our teacher, how she gonna send us to see someone who isn't here!" I told her, The counselor hasn't gone home yet, she just stepped out, and to just have a seat and wait. She replies, "But do you understand what I'm saying? She's supposed to be our teacher. How is she going to send us to see someone who isn't even here? What are we supposed to do now? I don't want to sit around all day. I got things to do." So I reiterated, "She just stepped out for a few minutes. I think she went to the bathroom. She'll be right back. Just hang on. You can't go home yet, you're supposed to be here anyway." She didn't seem to get it.
Thursday, September 18, 2003
Wednesday, September 17, 2003
Got caught once, shame on you. Got caught again, just give it up.
I have student (I'll call her Sneezy - she has HUGE nostrils and seems to blow her nose a lot), who always, ALWAYS, says she already knows whatever I'm trying to teach her. If I'm teaching Word, she'll say she already learned it. If I'm teaching Excel, she already learned it. The problem is, she doesn't. She always gets things wrong.
Yesterday, I was going over computer basics and she said already knew "all about the basics", but she tried to insert her floppy disk in backwards. When I asked everyone to open WordPad, she said "Oh, I know this program, it's like that other program... whatsitsname." So I decided to test her, "Windows?" I asked. "Yeah dats it!" she said. So said, "No, Windows is the operating system. This is nothing like Windows." She tried to cover, "No, no, I meant that other program. The one with the nice buttons." So I tested her again, "You mean, Excel?" "Yeah! that one.", she blurts out. "But this is totally different from Excel." I say. Again she tried to recover, "OH! I got confused, I know Excel. I meant that other program, you know." I go for one more test, "Internet Explorer?" "No, I got the internet at home. It's that one everyone uses." I say "PowerPoint?" "That's it!" she blurts out. So I decided to end our little sparring session. "No, that can't be it. You must mean Microsoft Word." "Yeah, yeah." she says. ("What...ever!" I say to myself)
She's also one of the students who goes online to sites she knows she shouldn't go on while in class. And then she gets caught because she always seems to end up at one of those sites with the neverending pop-ups, and she can't seem to get them all closed. So she moves to another computer, and she tries to be slick by saying "Excuse me, someone left the internet on over here. I don't know who, I just found it like this."
ANother day, another aspirin.
I have student (I'll call her Sneezy - she has HUGE nostrils and seems to blow her nose a lot), who always, ALWAYS, says she already knows whatever I'm trying to teach her. If I'm teaching Word, she'll say she already learned it. If I'm teaching Excel, she already learned it. The problem is, she doesn't. She always gets things wrong.
Yesterday, I was going over computer basics and she said already knew "all about the basics", but she tried to insert her floppy disk in backwards. When I asked everyone to open WordPad, she said "Oh, I know this program, it's like that other program... whatsitsname." So I decided to test her, "Windows?" I asked. "Yeah dats it!" she said. So said, "No, Windows is the operating system. This is nothing like Windows." She tried to cover, "No, no, I meant that other program. The one with the nice buttons." So I tested her again, "You mean, Excel?" "Yeah! that one.", she blurts out. "But this is totally different from Excel." I say. Again she tried to recover, "OH! I got confused, I know Excel. I meant that other program, you know." I go for one more test, "Internet Explorer?" "No, I got the internet at home. It's that one everyone uses." I say "PowerPoint?" "That's it!" she blurts out. So I decided to end our little sparring session. "No, that can't be it. You must mean Microsoft Word." "Yeah, yeah." she says. ("What...ever!" I say to myself)
She's also one of the students who goes online to sites she knows she shouldn't go on while in class. And then she gets caught because she always seems to end up at one of those sites with the neverending pop-ups, and she can't seem to get them all closed. So she moves to another computer, and she tries to be slick by saying "Excuse me, someone left the internet on over here. I don't know who, I just found it like this."
ANother day, another aspirin.
Tuesday, September 16, 2003
Same old, same old.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. I have this one student (the loud sidekick from a previous post, let's call her "sidekick girl"), who just doesn't want to learn, and is always getting caught doing something else. I personally think she's on something. Maybe crack.
Anyway, I always catch her doing something else when I'm teaching. If we're doing word processing, she's on the internet. If we're on the internet, she's playing a game. If we're in Excel, she's "practicing" her typing while reading a magazine. She didn't do any of the assignments I gave out to be done over the break. It doesn't really bother me because she doesn't get credit for that time and loses out on any benefits (daycare, car fare, etc..).
But it's funny to see her try to avoid answering why she doesn't have it. I asked her for her work, and she said "Oh.... isn't it on your desk?" I replied "No. Did you do it?" She said "Um.... (LONG pause) lemme see if I saved it." And she starts checking her floppy disk. Mind you, this is the floppy disk all the students keep in the lab, so unless she snuck into the lab sometime in the last two weeks, there's ABSOLUTELY, NO WAY it's going to be on that diskette. She then keeps this charade up until she thinks I lost interest.
In the middle of class (actually well before the middle of class), she gets up and mumbles something about "bathroom" and leaves the classroom. She never comes back. At the end of class, I have the students sign out like they ALWAYS do. Another student that was sitting next to "sidekick girl" says "Oh, you have us sign out too? I guess someone is in trouble." Yep. I had to put her down as absent from the whole class. That more class time she's missing.
What do you do when you're a toadie and no longer have anyone to cling to? You say your little comments, but they just come across as pathetic. It's just a sad sight to see. Like a sidekick without a main character.
The more things change, the more they stay the same. I have this one student (the loud sidekick from a previous post, let's call her "sidekick girl"), who just doesn't want to learn, and is always getting caught doing something else. I personally think she's on something. Maybe crack.
Anyway, I always catch her doing something else when I'm teaching. If we're doing word processing, she's on the internet. If we're on the internet, she's playing a game. If we're in Excel, she's "practicing" her typing while reading a magazine. She didn't do any of the assignments I gave out to be done over the break. It doesn't really bother me because she doesn't get credit for that time and loses out on any benefits (daycare, car fare, etc..).
But it's funny to see her try to avoid answering why she doesn't have it. I asked her for her work, and she said "Oh.... isn't it on your desk?" I replied "No. Did you do it?" She said "Um.... (LONG pause) lemme see if I saved it." And she starts checking her floppy disk. Mind you, this is the floppy disk all the students keep in the lab, so unless she snuck into the lab sometime in the last two weeks, there's ABSOLUTELY, NO WAY it's going to be on that diskette. She then keeps this charade up until she thinks I lost interest.
In the middle of class (actually well before the middle of class), she gets up and mumbles something about "bathroom" and leaves the classroom. She never comes back. At the end of class, I have the students sign out like they ALWAYS do. Another student that was sitting next to "sidekick girl" says "Oh, you have us sign out too? I guess someone is in trouble." Yep. I had to put her down as absent from the whole class. That more class time she's missing.
What do you do when you're a toadie and no longer have anyone to cling to? You say your little comments, but they just come across as pathetic. It's just a sad sight to see. Like a sidekick without a main character.
Monday, September 15, 2003
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