Mrs. Meanie

In starting (and in naming) this blog, I wanted to keep the theme that my life is a constant series of lessons. Whether I'm teaching them in the classroom, or learning them from my everyday experiences, I am all too aware that seemingly mundane happenings have a huge impact on my life and, ultimately, who I am as a person.

I've touched upon this before in a previous post, but, today, I've finally accepted that, on a very basic level, I get a strange thrill out of being a goody-two-shoes and getting people in trouble ...

The occupation of "teacher" obviously involves some amount of being in charge and leading a classroom full of students along the path of knowledge ... And when those students choose to ignore the rules, consequences must follow. While I certainly don't enjoy confrontation and (many days) would much rather ignore the problems in my classroom than deal with them head-on, there is just something about having that power and authority that can be intoxicating.

For instance, today, I confiscated three cell phones from three students over the course of the day. At first, I was surprised that these kids actually listened to me and handed over their precious phones. Next, I was somewhat saddened by the dramatic reactions that each student displayed. Then, finally, after some thought, I realized that each student was breaking school rules and, therefore, they all deserved whatever consequences came from their actions. Upon processing that revelation, I became almost giddy ... So much so that, before leaving for the day, I happily announced my accomplishment and was promptly congratulated by my peers.

Teachers need to stick together, you know.

Later, as I recounted the story to my husband, he looked at me and said: "You know, you've always been a little like that. Finding pleasure in getting rule-breakers in trouble."

My first instinct was to stick up for myself and say,"No! I'm so much nicer than that!" but, the truth is, I'm really not ... My husband is absolutely, one hundred percent right: I do like getting rule-breakers in trouble!

I have a long history of it.

On one occasion during my late high school/early college years, I ratted out my own sister because she had her friends and their boyfriends spend the night while my parents were out of town. Yes, this caused my sister to despise me and seek revenge for many years, but never once did I regret it. I did the right thing. I told the truth. My parents deserved that much ... I deserved that much for being a good daughter for many, many years and following the rules!

So, call me Mrs. Meanie from now on ... I can take it. I think I'm finally coming to terms with my goody-goody nature and actually embracing it. It's funny that I come home some days and wonder why I ever decided to be a teacher, and others I get the eerie realization that maybe it's a much better fit that I think it is.

Maybe my student from last year (we'll call him Casper) was right.

Subconsciously, I became a teacher so that I could write detentions.