Reasons That I Would/Could/Should NOT Be A Middle School Teacher

Last night I helped chaperon a 7th grade sleepover at Thanksgiving Point. (My friend Susan was going and we thought it would be fun to go together, and just make it a good time.) It is a program called Dinosnorzz. The kids get to go and watch a IMAX 3D movie, go on a guided tour, do a scavenger hunt, have snacks, and sleep under the dinosaurs with their classmates. It sounds like a fun event. Right? Well about 45 students signed up and came. We had 2 parent chaperons (spouses) who stayed until 11pm, one parent chaperon stayed the night (a dad) and then 5 staff members. 4 middle school teachers and myself. The evening started out with a list of the rules. We then had some fun with snacks and the movie. Here is Gischin with his OH so stylish 3D glasses. He chose to wear the "adult" sized pair. The rest of us wore the "child" size glasses. They were darker and less... um, large. (BTW... Gischin was the only male teacher chaperon.) The movie was about the oceans and it was interesting.

After the movie was a tour and scavenger hunt. Susan and I left to go to my house to get our gear for the night; pillows, blankets, PJ's, blow up mattress and pump, computer and movies, treats and some dinner. When we got back they were finishing the scavenger hunt so we just talked with the other adults for a while. Then came the big talk from the security guy about the rules. He was very clear and very serious about the rules. Among others here were the very important rules:

1. No food in the exhibit rooms.

2. Boys stay in boy dorm and girls stay in girl dorm.

3. DO NOT climb on the exhibits.

If any of these 3 were broken the kids were threatened with having their parents called and they would have to go home, regardless of the time. (The parents had all signed a permission slip acknowledging this.) Easy enough to do right? HA!! So he gave us all 30 minutes to get our beds ready and then kids could run and play until midnight. At midnight girls had to go to their room, and boys had to go to their room. Again, simple right? HA! So at midnight we (4 women chaperons) go to our beds and get the first movie ready to go. Well we were in this huge room so we could not hear the sound on the computer, even at full blast. So we look at pictures and listen to my I-Tunes for a while. At about 1am "R" and "S" snuggle down to go to sleep and I restart the computer and hold it on my lap to watch the movie with Susan. We watch the movie (No Reservations) and it is dull, dull, dull! One of the students told us it was her favorite movie, and Gischen said that his wife LOVED it, so we thought that we had a winner. But no we were both suffering throughout the whole thing. When it was over at about 3am I read for a little bit by the light of my computer screen while listening to girls running around and giggling. They were so loud!! We could also hear the boys who were all the way on the other side of the museum. Finally I turned off my light and sat there for a while. Here is what my view looked like:

We were right under the dinosaur in the first room. Going between sleep and awake for the next 3 hours, yelling at the girls to HUSH and STOP IT, was not what I call a fun night. At 6:30 the security guard came in and said he needed help now. So "R" and "S" went out with him, and Susan and I followed about 5 minutes later. 3 girls had been sneaking into the boys dorm all night, they had 3 warnings and then the security guard caught them actually in the room with the guys. So he had them sitting waiting for us to decide what would happen to them. He also had 3 boys climbing on one of the exhibits, and shaving cream, pixie stick dust, and trash everywhere in the boys area, and boys in the girl's bathroom all night long. Nice, right? No. So we spent the next hour and a half calling interrogating students and calling parents to come and get their kids because of inappropriate behavior. Most of the parents were understanding but one or two thought it was really the adults fault and we should have done more to stop the naughtiness. Right because their child is never wrong, and never bad. One parent actually said that he understood his child was in the wrong but, "when I see that smile there is nothing I can do about it". WHAT??? Another parent interrogated the teacher about why were the adults not stopping the behavior, why did the security guard not stop them (he did 3 times!!), and on and on. And the best was a student. At least 5 other students said that he was among the group making the destruction and vandalizing the exhibits, and he claimed he had nothing to do with it. When we pointed out that at least 5 others had indicated he was in on it he told us, "Well, it won't matter because my mom will believe me anyway." Of course she will. Because she is a "Draper Mom" (http://whensmyvacation.blogspot.com/2008/03/draper.html) and will never believe her son could do wrong to spite the proof. Don't you LOVE these women?

This was about all of the "middle school" I can take. I love the kids and the girls were totally fun. They are all just figuring out who they are. They are figuring out love and life. And the majority of them were great. They did what they were supposed to and they were nice to be around. But it is always the few that ruin it for the many.