Why?

Why do people have to be so mean to each other? Why am I in a profession that requires me to be a constant authority figure? I don't like having to police the students every 2 seconds. I don't enjoy confiscating every little thing from the students (e.g., today the students started folding paper into sturdy slinghots for rubber bands... they've been declared "weapons" by the vice principal).

I don't like that the kids are mean to each other, sass me, are disrespectful, messy, rude, and so forth. Of course, that's not all my kids. But there are a healthy number of students who just piss me off for kicks. I try not to let it get to me (they're eleven years old!!), but sometimes a full day of that gets draining.

Invariably, when I get a few peaceful moments in the classroom (with a class there), it's interrupted minutes later by a student who HAS to shout out something insipid. Then they go and say stuff like, "I'm bored," or, "This is stupid!" I should take it as a challenge to be a better teacher, but right now, I'm still pretty overwhelmed and tired. I'm just tired. And when the kids don't appreciate the efforts I take, it's incredibly frustrating. Bleh.

Aaaaanyway, that's it for now.