Course, all this fun made it that much harder to go back to work today. And what a work day it was. I had to cover for a fellow teacher during my lunch hour, and boy oh boy did I have no idea what I was getting into. MOST of the kids were alright, but this one boy was just completely beyond my ability to cope with.
I hadn't even said a single word when this kid got up and started throwing books around, trashed the teacher's bookshelf, then took off with another student's worksheet book and began eating the pages. I was in total shock for a good thirty seconds. When I snapped out enough to attempt to recover the book, the boy tried to kick me in the face: not once, not twice, but three times. Fortunately, I saw it coming and had my arm up for the block.
I finally got the kid to sit at his desk, where he proceeded to try and rip out a tooth that wasn't loose. The other kids informed me that last week, he actually succeeded in a similar attempt. They also informed me not to get too close, unless I wanted a face full of spit.
Or a beating with the umbrella his mother refuses to let anyone take away from him.
Or an elbow in the boob, like he gave to his regular teacher.
I sat down, completely flabbergasted, to try and figure out what the heck I should do... which was a mistake, because the second my full attention wasn't on the boy, he came up behind me and tried to shove me out of my chair.
I mean, for real?!
In the end I got him calmed down by talking to him about my favorite brand of markers. (Random, but it worked.) His teacher suspended him, and I'm thankful for her support, but I heard through the grapevine that I am about to have some issues with administration over the whole thing. I really don't know how I should have handled things... I did the best I could, and if I end up in trouble over this, I can say with a good conscience that I am proud of the fact I didn't even come close to losing my temper, and managed not to get a broken nose.
