I Will Not Miss Them

I know a teacher should not speak badly of their students, even outside of class, but I am extremely confident that none of the little ignoramuses will read this.  They do not have enough English to find my blog, nor enough English to read it, and if they did they still wouldn’t have enough curiosity to bother because their little peanut brains do not extend beyond their 12 year old world.  They know a handful of current pop stars, sports figures, and actors, but most of them have probably never read a book which didn’t have pictures in it, and do not have the wit to ask a question when they do not know the answer.  If they ever find themselves in a country where they do not speak the native language, i.e. anywhere outside of the Czech Republic, they will probably piss their pants because they don’t know how to ask directions to the toilet.

Today was my last day with my two 7th grade classes.  I am almost certain I will not be asked back next year. I think the school has been as dissatisfied with me as I have been with the school, so last means last.  They will have a different English teacher in 8th grade and, whoever it is, they have my sympathy.

I wasn’t sure what I would do with them today, I just knew I would like to have a class without conflict, without much screaming and yelling, and to end the year on some kind of a positive note.  I almost succeeded in fulfilling the first two criteria.

I walked to school, it was a lovely summer day, and I arrived in a fairly optimistic mood.  Got to the classroom and, not only were the students not there, but one wall was completely torn out.  Some kind of reconstruction that couldn’t even wait for school to end.  That’s not the students’ fault, but one thing that has pissed me off about the school (and all other Czech public schools where I have taught) is that I never, ever get informed about shit like that in advance.

So, I found out what room they were in and went there, just before the bell.  I opened by saying “Today is the last day.  What would you like to do?”  Several of them said “nothing”, which was fine by me, so I closed the door, took a seat and said “Fine.  I’ll be here, you can ask me any questions you like, or do whatever you want.”

They were surprised, but once they got over their shock, perfectly content to spend the rest of the hour playing with their electronic devices, talking in Czech, and ignoring me entirely.  It was sad but not bad.  I read a bit, and did some proofreading for my wife.  When the bell rang, they left.  One or two of them said good-bye, over their shoulders.

Well, what I’d done for that class, I figured I might as well do for the 2nd class.  “No violence,” I said.  “No destruction of property and please keep the noise level down so that no other teachers feel the need to intervene.”  A low enough standard, you would think.  You would think, as long as you don’t know these little shitheads.

Still, I finished the proofreading and only shouted at them once or twice.

There was a bit of a redemption at the end, but not from that group.  3 kids from the 6th grade class, who had come up to me on Monday and begged me to raise their grade to a 1 ( good kids, but their level of English warranted a 3 at best), came to check and see what grade I had given them.  I had, in fact, succumbed to their request, because at least they asked.  At least they cared a little bit.

So, I told them so, and one gave me a great big, spontaneous hug. That was nice.

Friday I’ll have my last class with the 5th graders, and then I hope to never set foot in that school again.