Catch phrase of the year

Two days into school and I feel like Jack from Lord of the flies when he went hunting for the wild boar. The blood fresh and hot flowing from my aorta into my brain that has significantly increased thanks to the new batch and returning students and colleagues in my life. Maybe that is why my hair has become maroon brown. Though my brother thinks it looks like a dead cockroach on my head and he never forgets to remind me everyday, to me, I think it is a red mane of a lion on a prowl.

I am a lion on a prowl. Why wouldn't I be? After two years I am teaching lower sec classes and my Express graduating classes.  I hate teaching lower sec classes. It is not them, it is me. After 2 years of teaching graduating classes, I am so used to nasty, bimbotic attitude and the continuous mind games I play with them. Words have an implied meaning to them. With lower secondary, I am like Arnold Schwarzenegger in Kindergarten cop. I have to install discipline in them and the worst is I forgot how their brains function.

Take the day before for instance, I was informing my thirteen year olds (who apparently went home and told their parents, how ferocious I am. Another reputation for the new year and apparently parents like me for that, what a sadist world we live in) important dates and things they have to bring to class next week. I had given out their organizers and it was carefully placed on their tables. As I spoke in a pace 2x slower than normal, I realised they were staring at me as if I was telling them a story.

"Hello children! You see the organizer on the table (I took the organizer), can you please turn to the date 6 Jan and now take a pen, you have a pen right  (lifted a pen)? Write down this on the box provided (I pointed to the board)." Suddenly, as if a light falling between a crack wall, my kids' eyes brighten and they opened the organizer and copied the information. I just realised I had to basically give specific instructions to the kids. It was not like my graduating class where even if I made a spelling mistake, they would copy it without thinking cause they are so busy copying. What a drastic change. I need to consciously remind myself to slow down.

On the hind side, I had a great time unleashing the grizzly bear to my current Secondary three Cadets in NPCC. Being a TO for them, I could not resist welcoming them to my territory. I was waiting for them to join the Upper secondary range which is now my territory. They had a shock when they suddenly saw Ms Lingehs, the cool, come- down to- check on them change into the a huge grizzly bear with a sore head. I had no intention at first to come down on them so hard. But yesterday I had to deal with two lower sec classes with no discipline and the evolution had already started and my sore in my head was growing. Not to mention coupling with meet -the-parents session and campfire last night which ended at 9.30pm. If you had to work for 14 hours plus, anyone who tries to be funny with you, must as well go and jump into a volcano. The pain is short. My cadets did not understand, the phrase 'at ease' and I had to unleash the grizzly bear. I had no idea what I was saying because my mouth was lecturing faster than my brains. And all I could see was their faces turning black. Like charcoal black. Well, someone had to tell them that the world does not revolve around them and they can't create havoc in school, not especially when I am around. I am the bitch in school and I am working towards being God-bitch (a term my ex- student coined two years ago). No one messes with Lucifer's daughter (a nickname that came about because one of my students thought I was a Satan worshipper).  

In the midst of all this nonsense, I discovered my catch phrase for the year. "Never piss me off". I found myself using it so many times, with my students in one day. Maybe, it is just because, I am tired. I have a lot of work and the last thing I want to deal with is idiosyncrasies in my classrooms and my CCA.  

Well, at the end of two days, I realised I am still evolving despite having 409 graduate (oh, they came back to see me last night in school) and this is something not in my control.