I was given an additional teaching assignment last year, perhaps making me the only educator in the state whose hours were extended rather than slashed. I was asked if I would like to work with one other teacher and an aide in a new middle school alternative ed program, giving kids "art therapy" for one period each day. The quotes around "art therapy" indicate that I'm not sure that what I'm doing lives up to that rather lofty term. A more accurate term for what I do might be "referee." You see, the class consists of: 1/2 Oppositional Personalities and 1/2 Passive-Aggressive types. This makes for some absurd and unproductive encounters between the students.
I suppose my struggles with high blood pressure could be partially due to the daily exposure that I have in the middle of these two groups, but actually that one period a day can be quite funny. The following Monty Python video perfectly illustrates what this classroom often sounds like.
It's a good news to have additional units of teaching but I can imagine the bad news as you stated and watched the video. But I believe, you can handle it. goodluck.
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