Can I say "ass?"

Summer school is over!!!! Yay!!!! Yesterday was the last day, and it was a doozy! We finished up with geometry (love it!!), and then spent the rest of the day making collages of geometric shapes. At least, that was the general idea. Partner Teacher and I were so ready for it all to be over that we let them do pretty much what they wanted. "As long as it includes shapes." Have to be somewhat teacher-ish, right?

Anyhow, as most classes do, we had three... um... challenging students. These three had terrible attitudes, they were rude, and they were disrespectful to everyone around them. By the end I had gotten through to them - somewhat - however, and let them know they couldn't pull any crap with me. I even met one mom yesterday. Yep, on the eve of the last day I called to let her know exactly how her son had been behaving. She showed up yesterday and made her son apologize and acknowledge his behavior. I was very impressed. He was furious. But I don't care. Later on I was shocked at the way he spoke about his mother. This is a 5th grader! It was awful. Even worse, he said his dad was "very cool." His dad is in jail for the 4th time. I fear for this child; I hope his wonderful mom's influence can overcome the path he is on.

Towards the middle of the morning, Partner Teacher had a discussion with one of the other three. She told him that if he did not amend the way he treated other kids, that older kids may not "react in a way that is very pleasant" for him. She is a lot nicer and proper than I am. I kept him in the classroom at the end of the day and gave it to him straight. "Partner Teacher is a lot nicer than I am. What she was trying to say is that if you continue to treat kids the way you do, eventually someone is going to kick your ass. And you're going to be very upset, but you're going to deserve it. You may laugh at what I just said, but it's true. Stop treating people the way you do. I do not want to see you get hurt; I am trying to save you from getting an ass kicking. It's up to you."

Later on, he told the other kids "Ms. Grumperini said 'ass'." God I hope he got more out of the conversation than that.