What is your classroom pet peeve

Prison-sized windows.

 

Whining, and when I tell a student to please pick up some piece of trash by their desk and they say "but it's not mine!!!"

 

I must say, this annoys me. One of the most annoying things about it... as a sub, I knew how to s-t-r-e-t-c-h things out accordingly. And if you didn't get to something, no teacher would really mind (unless they said something about it). There are so many times where I ask the kids, and they tell me "they finished" something and just spent the rest of the time doing nothing, because the sub apparently just handed them something and had them do it.

Use a bit of common sense!

 

"I DIDN'T DO IT!" - even though I watched/heard you. I just tell them I'll check the cameras with the principal later. That usually gets them to confess.

Crying. Do not cry in my class. If they get hurt that's one thing of course, but usually it's over something silly and they're just making noises because they got in trouble and are upset.

Getting new students - now let me clarify. I don't mind new students in the middle of the year. I got THREE new students between the middle of May and the end of the year. I got one on May 31st and we let out for the summer June 2nd. I'm just babysitting your foster child that you don't want to take care of for 2.5 days. I got one the week before, and one the week before that.

Foster kids. There's a woman with 6 foster kids at our campus alone, along with some in middle school. This would be fine if she actually cared about the kids and didn't use them as a paycheck. One got adopted and 2 days later she had a new one to replace him. It's really heartbreaking, and she gets the at-risk kiddos because the state gives her more money, so they often come with behavioral issues.

 

Mine is.....Didn't you read the email?
The admin sent it at 9:00 a.m. and I don't have a break until 11:30. No I didn't read the email -- I was teaching!

 

1. When I give fool-proof instructions with visual aids, etc and some kid STILL asks what to do.
2. When subs don't follow my (incredible detailed and EASY) sub plans.
3. When kids ask if they can get a drink of water when they have been told 2,349,828,209,348,019,472,309,752,035,720,938,470,928,409,834 times that if I'm not in the middle of teaching and talking to the class they can, and don't need to ask.
4. When students get a drink of water or ask to use the restroom DURING a lesson when I've told them 2,349,828,209,348,019,472,309,752,035,720,938,470,928,409,834 times the answer is ALWAYS no.
5. When I tell students to line up and they ask "In line order?" because it's ALWAYS in line order.
6. When other teachers don't show up for yard duty so the Rover has to cover and no one gets to use the restroom.

 

Neither are high schoolers. I had some juniors set a jar of rubber cement ON FIRE many years ago when they were working on a poster project in class. I was in the hall checking on a group and when I came back into the classroom (I was out literally 10 seconds), there was a foot high flame and the genius decided the best way to put it out was to KICK IT, which sent pieces of flaming rubber cement spraying across the classroom floor towards book bags and notebooks.

Thankfully someone with a water bottle finally doused the fire(s).

That was my second year of teaching.

Anyway...peeves.

My biggest is being asked, "What are we doing today?" It's irritating enough, but more irritating because I literally have, in big letters: WHAT ARE WE DOING TODAY? on my front board and I have written out a very clear agenda underneath that lists every single thing we're doing that day. And I STILL have at least one kid per period that asks. I just turn and point to the board, and give them a glare while they act like it's a huge inconvenience for them to have to READ a few things off the board.

Grrrrr!!

Shooting trash into the wastebasket (Trashketball) is also a peeve. If the ding-a-lings had worked as hard on the actual assignment as they do on trying to shoot it into the trashcan from across the room, they might have gotten a decent grade on it.

And the ever popular, "Is this for a grade?" I've just started saying, "I haven't decided yet, but if you don't do it, I'm definitely taking it for a grade."

Coming to class without paper, pencil, notebook, textbook. "I left my book bag at home." Really?? Where did you think you were going this morning when you left your house???

"Can I do any extra credit to bring my grade up?" after they've spent the entire semester sleeping, goofing off, and laughing about failing quizzes and tests. Ummm...how 'bout NO!

And just the general attempt at a power grab. Some of them you can count on to challenge whatever rule or instruction you give them that day.
"Okay, no more than four in a group."
*hand goes up*
"FOUR. PERIOD."
"But...can we have fi.."
"FOUR! Five equals a group of two and a group of three."
"But..."
"Nope. Done."
Or the ones you can count on to immediately buck the seating chart right from the start. "Can I sit over there instead?" or "Can I move back a seat?" Not because they seriously need to move seats, but because they want to challenge my authority. Nope. If I tell you to sit on the windowsill, that's where you'll sit! (Actually, they'd love that!)

*sigh* This is therapeutic. I could go on and on and on and on and...

 

Yeah, seriously. Happens to me all the time. Also, sometimes it happens when a phone call could have been made instead of an email that I might/might not get within the next 3 hours.

 

Lately, mine has been, "You should know all about this procedure / practice that has never come up in conversation and nobody trained you on. It's no excuse that you weren't informed, let alone trained." Yes, I've been at my school for almost a year now, but everyone else has been here TWO (I'm the only replacement hire since we opened). The training I've received has been completely on the fly and nowhere near comprehensive. Thankfully, after a confrontation with my principal, the ASSISTANT principal and I are going to co-write a training manual for the school. Considering I was hired to be the teacher mentor as well as ELA teacher, this is perfect.

 

My students are dirtier than my guinea pig. So, there is that. Keep the kids out. Bring in more guinea pigs.

 

I used to have a pet guinea pig...his name was Peeve.

 

Ew.

 

My pet peeve is when my students ask if they can use a calculator on my exams. The only problem is that I write at all the top of ALL of my exams, “The use of a calculator is permitted/prohibited on this exam.”

If they just took two seconds to READ the instructions, then they would know.

 

You have a problem with guinea pigs???
Technically, she and her sisters are virtual pets because I don't want to bring them from our hutch to school, so I show my students my webcam of their lives.

 

If I could keep a class pet, a guinea pig would be my first choice. Friendly, talkative, and inquisitive. On top of all that, they are fun to have around and easy to keep clean. Yes, we have been the proud owners of piggies over the years, with many fond memories of each of them.

 

We had a guinea pig as a class pet in 6th grade. Unbeknownst to my teacher, she was pregnant when she got her, so we ended up with several class guinea pigs! They were super cute, but one time one of the babies peed on me while I was holding it!

 

Well, I bet that was an early real life teachable moment about why we put diapers on human babies!

 

I have a few students I have to harp on daily about hygiene. It is a shame.

 

I've got to remember that next time we get a new pet! LOL

 

The only "pet" peeve that I have with the teacher who has a guinea pig down the hall is when they don't clean the cage and you can smell it all the way to the other hallway

 

When a student opens a bag of chips. OH MY GOD...

 

I have a poster in my room:
"Don't Peck Me" . with a woodpecker on it.
I cannot stand being poked or tapped with a finger to get my attention because I am ignoring the rude student's constant verbal interruption to start with. It usually occurs when I'm busy with a student. These students will get out of their chair, stalk me, and once they tap me I whip around and say, "Do not touch me like that."
I continue to tell them why that behavior is wrong.

 

I know adults who do that. So annoying.

 

agreee huh

 

You can't smell my cage!!! I'm in a different state than you! HAHAHA!

 

My biggest pet peeve is when children who are extremely sick come to school. They tell me that they want perfect attendance. I have more respect for the kid who stays home and doesn't get the rest of us sick, than the one with perfect attendance.
Another pet peeve of mine is eating in the classroom. Especially when they have just come from lunch.

 

On subs not following directions, a sub and I were literally just talking about this yesterday. How hard is it to just follow the teacher directions?!
My biggest pet peeve is not being able to keep them completely quiet during a test. The ones who are done always try to start whispering.
Another is kids who never fail to ask me, "Can I listen to music during the test?" even though I've explained, like, 150 times that this is not allowed in any universe! (I teach high school.)

 

Did you consider improving your "jar" thing by taking out balls out when the kid does something not decent.

 

I am not a fan of the whole "perfect attendance" thing for this reason. Illness happens. Doctor's appointments happen. Family emergencies happen. Perhaps we should celebrate the kids with say fewer than 3 absences in a quarter or something, or just let go of the whole thing. Kids who are chronically absent likely have bigger issues going on behind the scenes. Perfect attendance recognition is NOT what they are worried about.

 

I'm going to add constant interruptions from the intercom to my pet peeve list. Once to call a child to the office is OK. Doing morning announcements then coming back to more times to remind teachers about the meeting after school and then tell everyone that kindergarten has a field trip drives me nuts. It's worse than kids interrupting me because adults are doing this!

 

DITTO THIS! Our interruptions come through the phone system so I do a lot of hanging up on whoever is talking.

 

chips, spitting, subs who can't handle the class and don't leave the note I always ask for, cell phones glowing from student lap after I have just said to other kid I sure do hope that's a cell phone glowing in your lap, ...oh, the list is long. And I really really love my classes at the moment! Oh yes, the constant interruptions...the forgotten homework, notebook, book,...the sick kids who insist on coming in and the healthy kids who never quite get to school...top 3? must I choose? ...today it's the crinkle of chip bags, the kids with loose papers that float in their backpacks even when I GIVE them a notebook, and the biohazard with the perfect attendance. This is fun!

 

YES!!! Even when I was in school, especially HS! Perfect attendance meant no final exam. We had a MAJOR flu epidemic in 10th grade. My cousin would come, stayed long enough to be counted there, then would check out. She was sick as all get out! She would sleep in the floor until she could check out. She did that for about a week.