God save us from Montessori kids! ... and Nathan, too. :-p

Well, the new job has started, as you may have gathered from my last update. The first week went really well, considering I was just starting, didn't know what to expect, and was having plenty of issues personally that I had to deal with. But my second week... oh, goodness.

First big difference: we had 22 kids, the maximum, instead of last week's much-more-manageable 14. Second big difference: these kids were crybabies. Third: they wouldn't listen to anyone.

So, the first issue: too many kids. Quite a challenge to keep everybody listening and together. Plus, it was next-to-impossible to have everyone doing the same thing at once, because there isn't enough space. After-care was impossible -- all I could do was just keep floating from one group to another to make sure everyone was okay and occupied without killing each other.

The second issue: crybabies. Man, I never realized how often kids feel like the rules just shouldn't apply to them. Was I like that? I like to think I wasn't. That when teachers or counselors asked me to "freeze!" or "listen up!" or "be quiet and listen for directions," I actually did it. These kids sure as hell didn't. Well, most did, but the ones who didn't just boggled my mind. And whenever we tried to play a game, fuggeddaboudit. Certain kids... it's like they don't expect the rules to apply to them individually -- just to everyone else, so that they can be the winner all the time. A good example: they like to play "Statues" a lot. You know, where all the kids hold still and pretend to be statues while one kid plays "curator?" Anyway, the statues are supposed to move when the curator isn't looking -- if they're seen, the curator calls them on it and they're out. Well, with our kids, they say that's not fair -- the curator could be cheating (never mind the fact that a cheating curator would NOT be calling people out, and so prolong their time as curator!). Therefore, they agreed that it's more fair to have a second chance -- if the curator calls you out and you honestly don't think they could have seen you, you can stay in -- but the next time you're called, you're done.

You can probably see where this is going. Kids use their "second chance" even when it's painfully obvious that the curator saw them, then they get called again. So they're out. By the very rules they agreed on. And they still burst into tears and say, "but that's not FAIR!" Geez, kid, what WOULD be fair -- you to win all the time? That certainly isn't fair by any definition.

Sigh.

To the third problem: they don't listen. The worst example of this problem was our little Montessori student. Now, I really do like the Montessori philosophy: learning should be self-directed, facilitated by a teacher. Cover everything, but let the kid set the priority. If they really love history, let them study history. Nice system. Except that it overflows into EVERY ASPECT of the kid's life. This little girl thought I existed solely to tend to her every whim. She wanted a piggy-back ride, I was supposed to just drop everything and give her one. She wanted to go to the bathroom, even if she'd JUST GONE FIVE MINUTES AGO, and I was supposed to take her there. Then, she'd run away from the group to get someplace ahead of everyone else and wouldn't listen to us telling her not to run. If the entire group was doing something together, she didn't feel obligated in any way to do that. Which is a cool, individualistic thing... but a pain in the arse when everyone's supposed to be doing things together. She was also disrespectful. She'd be doing something inappropriate, like laying her chair on it's back and laying on it in the middle of a hallway, and we'd tell her not to do that and to sit up with the chair on all four legs. She'd look right at us and say, "No. I don't want to."

Kids like that make me realize that parents need to spank their children occasionally. Not often; I'm certainly opposed to child abuse. But a good whack on the backside when the kid's being cheeky like that may not be such a bad thing.

Overall, though... I think it's going well. I feel like I'm doing better every day, the kids like me, and I'm making a difference there. I also had a few events that really showed that people are appreciating what I do there, which makes a lot of difference. Things are looking up. Now, if I could just figure out what I'm doing when camp's over... :-p

Nathan Thomas, an old friend from freshman and sophomore years at IC, came to visit this weekend, which was great. He transferred away from IC and went to Moody Bible Institue in Chicago, and now has a degree in Church Music. Basically, he's fully trained and quailified to run a church's music program. Pretty cool gig, I'd think. But he's got an even more amazing gig in store for next year: missionary work as a music teacher at a Christian school in Bangladesh. His visit to Ithaca was part of a fundraising tour, which put him up to 80% of his total fundraising goal. I couldn't afford to give him money, but the least I could do was put him up for a couple nights and feed him. We went out to Glenwood Pines the one night, so he could have his first Pinesburger. A sandwich that really makes me wish I hadn't given up beef. But it was really good to see him again, as well as to just sit and chat. He's such a great guy, and he was very supportive of what I'm dealing with lately. I wish him the best of luck -- he'll be a great example to those kids in Bangladesh.