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Most, (not all mind you but the majority of them), of my seniors I would adopt--you can have every one of my freshmen and sophomores! I have to remind myself each day that it is just a phase and (most of them anyway) will soon grow into responsible citizens but I admit to plenty times of thinking that a good old fashioned "pistol whipping" (a la Wyatt Earp) would do them a lot of good!

Yeah...I fully understand. It used to help me when I taught freshmen and juniors to write the letters ips in a corner of my board prior to the bad classes. My private little joke: Means Institute for Primate Studies. I teach mostly seniors and I teach the cream of the crop: Advanced Placement Government. Also Psychology and Sociology. Honors Economics. When I taught World History (Freshmen) I almost reverted to a state of pure army officer. That's a fairly large step. On my first day in the inner city some punk pops out of his chair and says: Hey Teach! What would you do if I just popped you in the face? I started laughing. The whole class is dead quiet...watching. The kid is stunned. I say: Well you'll take three trips. #1 is to the emergency room for multiple contusions and broken bones. #2 is to JAIL 'cause after I finish defending myself according to law and policy, I'll swear out a warrant. The last trip really isn't for you. It's your parents. See...I'll sue 'em for YOUR actions. I'll cost them 20K a year in legal fees for at least three years and they'll beat you every night of that time. NOW SIT DOWN! By this time the whole class is laughing so hard the tears are flowing. The punk sits and not another word is heard the rest of the year. He failed, but I knew that when he opened his mouth.

Yeah...I fully understand. It used to help me when I taught freshmen and juniors to write the letters ips in a corner of my board prior to the bad classes. My private little joke: Means Institute for Primate Studies. I teach mostly seniors and I teach the cream of the crop: Advanced Placement Government. Also Psychology and Sociology. Honors Economics. When I taught World History (Freshmen) I almost reverted to a state of pure army officer. That's a fairly large step. On my first day in the inner city some punk pops out of his chair and says: Hey Teach! What would you do if I just popped you in the face? I started laughing. The whole class is dead quiet...watching. The kid is stunned. I say: Well you'll take three trips. #1 is to the emergency room for multiple contusions and broken bones. #2 is to JAIL 'cause after I finish defending myself according to law and policy, I'll swear out a warrant. The last trip really isn't for you. It's your parents. See...I'll sue 'em for YOUR actions. I'll cost them 20K a year in legal fees for at least three years and they'll beat you every night of that time. NOW SIT DOWN! By this time the whole class is laughing so hard the tears are flowing. The punk sits and not another word is heard the rest of the year. He failed, but I knew that when he opened his mouth.

I teach social studies and have had similar incidences with freshmen and sophomores...I have stemmed a lot of the insubordination by reminding my students that, should the reason occur, that i WON'T opt for OSS (out of school suspensions) but that they'll go right to the resource officer (County Deputy) to be taken to jail. Just about all of my detention notices and their trips to the assnt. principal have been to 14 and 15-year-olds...I just cannot seem to get a handle on that age grouping. Their academic records are equally as bad--I recently taught a section on the European Enlightenment with a plethora of mnemonic devices to help them remember (such as Rousseau sounding like Roo-social for social contract) but the usual suspects were determined to fail and, naturally, did so.