Midterms, name-calling, and fights in the hallway

Sometimes I think I'm too thin-skinned to be a teacher. I need to remember that there are much worse things in life than to be called "SuperFag."

The other highlight of the day was a near-fight between a very androgynous 9th grader (so out and proud that another teacher saw her smooching with her girlfriend in the hallway and was shocked after she walked away and she realized she was a female) and a troubled, but usually sweet, other 9th grader, this one male. At 12:35, still in the midst of my final, I heard screaming out in the hallway; one of my judgement-starved colleagues let the kids out early from another exam, and the kids were wandering and finding trouble. The boy was telling her something along the lines of, "I'm not going to hit you, you're a girl." She was screaming back at him, "No, hit me, hit me, if you're going to talk, hit me." And he was saying back to her, "You might think you're a N_______, but you're not a N_________, you're just a girl, and I'm not going to hit you." Whereas she replied and got closer into his face, "Naw, naw, you better fucking watch your back, and finish what you start." To which he replied, "You might think you're a N________ because we like the same thing but you're not a N_________ so I'm not going to hit you."

And I'm trying to break up the fight/shouting match and proctor my exam, and the class was already on my last nerve, and I drag the girl - who is gesticulating wildly and is revving for a fight - away, make her walk the other way, make sure the boy is gone, then try to rush back to my exam. The bell rings right before I get back to the room, making the classroom utter chaos when I return.

Both kids who were arguing are showing up at my room at 8:15 for their final. They're in the same class of mine. Should be fun. I've already referred them to Guidance, though I'm sure nothing is really going to happen during midterm week.

Not a great day. I have several very unpleasant students this year. There's a box on the report card for "Pleasure to Teach," and I often check it for almost every student. This year, I wish I had a box saying, "A complete displeasure to have in my classroom."

It's a night for music, nice and loud, and the song that is most doing it for me right now - among several other Lupe Fiasco compositions - is "Daydreamin'", featuring the amazing Jill Scott. This is an instant classic, hip-hop that is right up there with Kanye West's debut and The Low End Theory. I just get goosebumps every time: