The Class I Fear: Jupiter

I have two horrendous classes. One of the classes is named Jupiter. They are the youngest kids and they understand very little. They are 4 and 5. They are months behind the other class their age. They are active, loud, stubborn, and not eager to learn. Things can get pretty ugly in that class. The children who aren’t screaming at the top of their lungs are covering their ears or crying. The ones that are screaming are covering their ears and running around. They sit on each other, fall on the floor, smash each other, tear things off the wall, punch, grab my legs, tip over tables, pull off my clothes, kick each other, and cut their own clothes. It is horrifying.

When I can actually get them to settle down enough to interact, the two or three kids in the class who can actually speak English voice how boring it is. I feel bad for them, but the rest of the kids are so nuts that there is no way to do anything more than make animal sounds and count to 15.

I will tell you something though: Never turn your back on a child with scissors. Even safety scissors. They will cut everything. They will open the scissors, put the metal part in their mouth, and start licking. They will cut holes in their dresses and ask you to tape it back together. They will make sudden, sharp movements toward your eyes if you bend down to give them direction. They will also jab them in your butt-crack.

I don’t really worry or care if they learn anything. My goal each day is to keep them in the classroom, have no one bleed, and keep them quiet enough that you all cannot hear them in America.