Ms. O(mg)

News from the classroom this week: A sixth grader decided I shouldn't be Ms.O but instead, I should be Ms.OMG- I love it!

Today I worked with 2nd graders. Second graders are normally cool. It's kind of funny to see them interact with friends because some of the time you get glimpses of them, and some of the time they become their parents. Today I had a second grader whose parents I probably wouldn't like- because I sure as heck couldn't bring myself to like her- not even one iota. I tried- I usually can find good in anyone and I usually end up adoring even the most difficult children. Not this one. I couldn't see any redeeming quality in her.

She was bossy. She was pushy. She was the chunky puppy in the litter that steals all the food. She was ogre or troll, and here I was without my troll cross! She was whiney. She knew everything. She had no qualms about telling you that she knew everything. She expected immediate obedience or she sighed a big sigh. She expected pity for a tiny dot of a boo boo. I can't pity a troll who isn't really hurt.

One child was in charge of the heater. I was his job to turn the switch on or off according to my direction. I asked that kid to turn off the heater. He got up and walked over to the switch. Trollgirl jumped out of her chair, flew across the room, pushed him to the side, and tried to turn off the switch herself. He said "It's my job, I was getting it." She said (with a big troll sigh) "you were taking too long, hurrumph.".

I can see how her parents must talk to her. They must push her aside if she doeesn't immediately get what they are asking, or do things quickly enough. They must berate her for her slowness. They must stomp through life with their big green troll feet smashing everything in the pathway.

I'm not one to always blame the parents, though we are very much a product of our environment. Home is the environment in which we spend the greatest amount of shaping time. We might be at school more often, but we change teachers and don't care what they think as much as we care what our parents think.

In this instance, I can clearly see her mimicking her parents. They have to be the ones that modeled impatience and bullying. Or, at the very least, they allow (and therefore propogate) this behavior from her thinking it is cute. It's not. She was quite ugly on the inside already. In second grade (7 years old!)- how sad.