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Re: mental adjustment period (cleaning up after middlers)

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From: Curt James (curt_james_at_TeacherArtExchange)
Date: Thu May 17 2001 - 18:43:56 PDT

I had scribbled:

<I wind up cleaning up after my middlers
every day for nearly three hours a pop.>

Meredith Noland wrote:

> As part of the
> daily routine i stop class
> 5 -10 minutes
> early(depending on the
> mess) and the kids have to clean up.
> They clean everything, if
> they spend their time goofing off,
> they still stay
> until they are
> finished.

I actually had a very bad relationship
with the one teacher who supervised
my student teaching.

It started out bad and got worse.
One snag was my comment that,

"I would make cleanup part of
the grading requirement."

This said while up to my elbows
in "her kids's" dirty brushes and
tempera paint slop.

Her comment was (paraphrased),
"You have to reclean whatever *they*
clean _anyway_."

I disagreed with her then, but I
see what she means now.

The students are wonderful. I enjoy
them all. They can be frustrating,
of course, but I truly love middle
school.

Having said that, they're
a sloppy but fussy bunch on the
whole. That is they'll make a mess,
overfill tempera palettes, but refuse
to clean the brushes or their
palettes for fear they'll get a spot
of paint on their t-shirt.

Paint shirts are supplied, but
I always hear their woeful cries,
"Does this come out???"

I do allow 10 minutes or more at the
end of each class for cleanup, but
I still find brushes "upside down"
in the brush containers, tempera
palettes tucked away, erasers on ledges,
paper towels next to (but never *in*)
the trash cans, colored pencils under
their desks, etc.

It's me. I know. I aspire to
your system, Meredith, but I haven't
perfected it in the least.

It's wonderful though when a student
helps out. And some do.

Thank you for reminding me that I don't
have to do it myself! 

-- 
Curt, soon-to-be no longer cleaning up
(last day is June 4)
http://pages.ivillage.com/mr_james/
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