Kids today....

Attention: Please be aware that the following post is indeed a soap box the size of the Empire State Building. ...I just wanted to warn you. It gets ugly.

I have been teaching for 10 years now. I feel like I should have a handle on what happens in school. And yet... I am continually surprised at the lack of....what should I call it... the lack of self-awareness, respect, loyalty and the nerve that students have.

Since I am a teacher by profession and a story-teller by nature, I have a few examples:

One of my coworkers told me that the kids in her 5th grade class have started doing this thing where she asks them to do something and they answer, "I guess so," and of course the eye roll comes along with it. I GUESS SO!?!?!?!?!?!?!?! Man-O-man! If my mother even caught me thinking that response to a teacher when I was in school, I woulda been in HUGE trouble!!!

Today in class I had to tell a student three times to put all four legs of the chair on the floor. The third time, I told him to move his magnet. (That is our behavior system.) I asked him to move his magnet which would have put him in time out. He proceeded to give me a stare-down (still leaning back in his chair), chuckled once, and then bounced up and yelled "Man! I swear!" as he stomped up to the board to move his magnet. And I mean stomped. When he turned around from the board, he had a smirk on his face. .........seriously?

And for the final story, and the grand finale.... Yesterday we finished ISTEP (our state tests). I had been testing 4 5th graders. They are kids that I have in class on a daily basis. When they got done, I sent them back to class and secretly put a bag of goodies in their lockers. I wrote a note that said I was proud of them, I'm glad they did so well, and told them I would see them tomorrow in class. At the end of the day, one of them opened their locker, looked at the bag and said, "It's about time. She needed to stop being greedy with all that candy!" ...yes. You read that correctly.

So, I say all of this with this thought in mind. Nothing that has happened this year with any of my students has surprised God. He knows the hearts and minds of both my students... and mine too. He has a plan for each one of my kiddos. My job? My job has to be not only to teach them, but more importantly, to pray for them. I have to be on my knees for these kids. I have to intercede. I have to be willing to go to war for them. On days like today, when I want to throw my hands up and give up... that is when I need to pray with more gusto! God may have an awesome plan for them but if they keep choosing evil, ....eek! That is just scary to think about. I want to be Moses and stand in the gap for these kids.