I Guess I'm Mean

I have never really considered myself to be a mean spirited person. But, then when I stop and think about it, I realized most mean people do not consider themselves mean…selfish people don’t see themselves as selfish, and rude people never consider themselves rude…they are just honest, right? Haha…so I guess I am mean. In the eyes of 15-16 years old boys and girls, I am mean. Maybe to the rest of the world as well…sorry if I am mean to you. I guess I was extra harsh to my second period this morning. First, I wouldn’t let them work with partners for the vocabulary assignment. Here’s the thing, I am not anti-group work if it benefits the student. There is a time and place for it. But with vocabulary it is just a way for them to do less work. Therefore, I don’t allow it. Not allowing them what they want is mean. Then I would not let a girl go interrupt another teacher’s class in order to ask about the Sweetheart dance coming up. She could not understand…even though she was finished with her work, why I would not let her go. Shouldn’t the sweetheart dance be at the top of my list of priorities as well? That made me double mean. To top it off…a couple of them asked if they could listen to their Ipods, to which I responded no, those are not allowed at school. I mean, that may leave a few of you thinking, “wow, someone is a stickler for rules.” To which I reply, “I am.” I have to be…in their eyes at least. I don’t really care if they listen to their ipods and don’t really look for it…but if they ask, I have to say no. I mean what kind of example am I setting if I encourage them to break the rules? And, won’t that make them want to just push me more? Once they hear the word no enough they get a little cranky. I get questions like… “Are you this mean to everyone? To which I respond, “yes.” “Even your friends? Cause if you are, how do you have friends?” I then explain to them, that when I leave the school in the afternoon I stop being a teacher. My friends don’t normally ask me to go to the bathroom or whether or not they can listen to their ipods. I don’t know…maybe I am wrong. Maybe I am just mean. Till next time…