The joys of middle school.... the saga continues....

Let's see.... where oh where should I begin??

Tootie Frootie projects? Sure, why not... They had 6 days in class to make 2 bar graphs, 2 circle graphs, show how they calculated the degrees of their circle graphs, and answer a short group of questions about the project. A reasonable student, who worked faithfully, was easily done in 4 days. However, out of the kindness of my teacher heart... and in an effort to get everyone to turn in every project.... I gave them over Christmas break to finish up, and even 2 days beyond break, outside of class, to complete this project. YET.... I still have kids who need "one more day", "just need to color it", or "can't I glue it on the poster board".... Yes, I know they NEED to do the assignment in order to have met those standards, I know they should be allowed to complete things at their own pace... I know all the buzzwords and philosophical reasons to give them one more day.... BUT NO!!! At what point is a deadline a deadline, and you have to take things home and work on them if you are not going to make good use of your classtime??? At what point do students have to be held accountable for their effort or lack thereof??

Moving on....
MP drove me nuts today. He needed to take an AR test. fine.. grab a laptop with the AR sticker on it and take the test. no.. not for MP! Once he unplugged that particular laptop, it would not work. Instead of simply plugging it into the power cord ON THE TABLE IN FRONT OF HIM... DUH... he takes the battery out to do lord only knows what. He went over to the tub of batteries waiting for the tech person to recalibrate and tried one of those. Of course, it didn't work either. For crying out loud... it is the middle of the school year, you are a 7th grader, PROBLEM SOLVE!

In prealgebra, MP couldn't find his paper, which he swore he turned into the basket. I have no idea where it is, but I am not holding up the other 20 kids in class to help him look for it. But after class, I did find it.. in the SOCIAL STUDIES basket. No, it is not next to the prealgebra basket so it is easily mistaken, it is on a different shelf, and even metal instead of plastic, and it is brown instead of blue! Again, it is the middle of the school year. Why are these things so complicated??

During social studies, he comes to me for a pencil. I point to the cup on my desk. He grabs one, but it is not sharpened. "What do you want me to do?" he asks quizzically. Trying desperately not to strangle him, I point calmly to the pencil sharpener.....

Sitting now at my desk, at least half the laptops are unplugged. Why? Is it so difficult to not unplug it to begin with, or at the very least, plug it back in when you are done with it???

Maybe I am getting old and impatient.. I don't know... but it seems this year, I have large numbers of students who are unwilling, or unable, to be independent about anything. They need handholding for every simple thing, from what to bring to class (even when it is written on the board by the door) to how to answer a problem on their homework (which if they just read the directions and gave it a minute bit of thought, they could solve on their own) to constantly forgetting to bring paper, pencil, book, to class. Usually by this time in the year, they are getting into the routine of school and maturing. This year... no...