Buh-Byeee!

So, the last day of teaching came and went. Another 40 or so faces that I'll be more or less happy to forget. Seriously, there' s probably five people total I'll give a crap to remember for the rest of my life. Most of them are complete slack-asses, as I'm sure their portfolios will demonstrate. I'd love to be pleasantly surprised. This was so not the group to test my civics/community learning gig on. But it turned out relatively OK in spite of them. I think with a decent group of people, the idea could work out even better. For whatever unknown reasons, they like me. Some of them way too much. Oddly, I still don't like them; normally I warm up to them after a few weeks. A fellow GTA said the reason they liked me so much was probably because they felt like they really got something out of this class. I appreciated the mad props, yo, but I'm still not convinced. It's really hard to shake kids out of being super absorbed. I think a few of them did honestly have a big jolt from what we did. The rest stayed in their weed and beer induced haze and tried not to drool on the desks. Jesus, this was a "bad batch." I have enough experience now to look back and say that with confidence--if this had been my first semester, I'd have thought I totally screwed up.

We did evaluations today--not that they have any idea what they're actually evaluating--and I fed them treats. I do this at the end of all my classes, and I've discovered that they actually love Capri Suns, for whatever reason, so that's my stock drink. They always "ooh" on cue whenever I pull the boxes out of my bag. It's funny and incredibly predictable. So, I gave my little announcement about how I don't change grades, ever, but that I would help them figure out how to file an appeal if they really felt justified in doing so. They signed off on permission for me to use their work as examples. They turned in their portfolios with few incidents, and then they filled out the evaluation, for which I have to leave the room, so as not to be considered as influencing them.

Several of them said they were sad that this was the last class. I told them they had to be fucking kidding, and nobody was as glad to be done with this as I was. They laughed. This has been the way it's been all semester. I tell them point blank I don't like them, my delivery makes them think I'm bonding with them. No, seriously, I told them, there' s only really five of you that I give a crap about. They thought that was even funnier. They tell me I'm a good teacher, and that's what they're going to write down. I always tell them I don't care, that they should write whatever they feel, that I never see these anyway for months. I don't think I've ever gotten less than a five out of five on my evaluations. I'll have to go back and check. Maybe they're all scared?

Several weird &/or appreciative things happened after class, as I was standing out in the hallway waiting for them to finish so I could pack up:

* The girl who argued that everybody on welfare should have their tubes tied by force because they didn't deserve to bring children into the world (!!!) came up to me and said she really appreciated the class and thought she got a lot out of it. I was fairly shocked, but I guess "got a lot out of it" is in the eye of the beholder?

* My army student came up and shook my hand and said that he had really liked the class; I told him I was really proud of him and all that he was doing, and that if he ever needed help for whatever reason, to look me up. And I meant it. He was a hell of a person.

* My ultimate waste of space came up and handed me his portfolio personally and said "Yea, so, I pretty much failed." Then he hung around waiting for me to contradict him. I shrugged and said I'd take a look. He walked off. I guess that's 39 portfolios to grade and not 40?

* Three students stayed after class just to tell me that the people in this class deserved whatever grade they got. That's exactly what they said. I assume they included themselves in this.

* I had two students tell me they had a life changing experience. I think I believe them.

* A student who has never missed class before missed class today and told me that he didn't come because the snow "confused" him. Seriously. Having taught this guy all semester, I believed him instantly.

* One student expressed incredible sadness at this being the last class. I told him if he was that hard up, he could come and sit in on my class next semester. He politely declined.

* As usual, there appeared to be one love connection made through class. It'll probably last through the weekend.

* My only (known) gay student came up to tell me that my class had been great and that he was glad I was in it (where else would I have been?? I assume he meant that I was the teacher of it). He used to come in and flop down and roll his eyes, just like a 16 year old. It was pretty funny to watch. He was also bitingly sarcastic, which I found funny as hell. He was also the reason I went to Safe Zone training, and while we never talked about being gay, he probably taught me just as much about gay students as I taught him about writing.

* After class, three girls came squealing up to me with arms out--I think they probably had too many of the sweets I brought--yelling, "We love you, Mrs. Virgil!" What is this, the 3rd grade? WTF? I keep forgetting they're closer to being little kids than they are to being genuine adults. I patted them and said "You girls be good." They went squealing away, saying thank you and we love you every third breath. Two female students who were waiting to get into the room (not my own kids) looked at me and said, "What class is that?" I told them it was English 101. "Damn, I hated my 101 teacher." Me too, I told them, it was probably just final exam stress.

And I shrugged and went away.

As my buddy BatMite!, the human countdown clock, would say, five months and 21 days left. Of course, for me, it starts again in 24 days. I've already seen the roster of new people. Sigh. Bring on the next 44.

-- Virgil