I've got the power

I wouldn't consider myself particularly power-hungry, but some days, the rush that comes with controlling 53 eight-year-olds is just too much to resist.

My first group or students was well-behaved for most of the morning. Walking back from P.E., they began playing, though. I stopped the line about three times, and their behavior never changed. Line behavior isn't stressed too heavily in this school, but I still prefer my students to walk quietly and without playing. When we got back to the classroom, I painted on my upset-teacher face and told the kids to sit down immediately. "Are you angry?" one girl asked. "Yes, sit down." I love teaching.

I sentenced them to "lunch detention." They eat in the classroom, and I usually allow them to talk and even get up and play when they are finished eating. During lunch detention, though, they eat in silence and they stay seated until the bell rings for recess. I told them that for each sound I heard, I would keep them in an extra minute after the bell. Four rebels ventured a word. Four minutes. The bell rang, classmates ran screaming past our door, and my students sat, looking miserable. After their minutes of imprisonment were completed, I sternly released them, table-by-table. When I finally closed the door behind the last repentant face, I couldn't help but grin. I love teaching.

My second group was in a talkative mood. I warned them that I was going to finish what I had planned, regardless of how long it took. The bell rang, and I told them to sit down. They still had to write definitions to their seven vocabulary words. 26 horrified students gaped at me. "But Miss, I have a celebration for my grandmother." "But Miss, I have to go to soccer practice." "Then you'd better get to work and stop wasting your time arguing," I said. I love teaching.

I told them that when they were finished they could just give me their books and I would put them back in numerical order for them, since "I'm the best teacher ever." They heartily agreed. "Miss Courtney, you're the /best/ teacher I ever had!"

Perhaps it's no coincidence that Snap's "The Power" has been stuck in my head all day.