Mr. Big Stuff

Maybe I didn't really have to kick the kid out of class today, but he picked the wrong day to throw any passive-aggressive garbage my way. In twenty-plus years of teaching, I've told a student to leave my class only about four times. Two that I remember specifically were a pair who just would not shut up. I had told them repeatedly to stop talking while I was going over the material. The other cases I don't remember in detail, only that they happened. Today I had assigned my students an in-class writing, which they had the remainder of the period to complete. I have told them over and over that for any work they turn in, they must include prewriting. About five minutes in, one student turned in his paper. I asked where his prewriting was. He said, "This is just how I do it." For clarification I asked, "So this is your essay and your prewriting in one?" When he said it was, I asked him to sit back down and at the very least copy it over, making changing and revising as he went along. I had even put at the bottom of the assignment paper that they should spend ten minutes prewriting, thirty minutes writing, and ten minutes proofreading/revising!

So the student was mad, but he sat back down to finish his work. I said to the entire class, "I want to remind you that you need to turn in prewriting for every essay you write, whether in-class or out-of-class. I can't make you prewrite after this class, but for now I want you to get in the habit." From the young man who had just sat back down, I heard a quiet, "Fuck that!" At first I said, "I'm sorry that upsets you." I have learned to let a lot roll off my back, and don't usually take it personally. After a moment's consideration, I said, "Just give me your paper and leave." He tried to protest and held his paper, saying, "I'll do it! I'll do it!" I sternly told him again to leave. I thought he was going to cry; he gathered his belongings and went on and on about being sorry. He did leave, and I looked at the rest of the class and said, "Anybody else have a problem with prewriting?" Some students murmered, "No, ma'am," while others kept their heads down and finished their work. I may have been over-exerting my power a bit, but I can't think of any reason I should put up with that kind of disrespect, and if I let one student get away with it, what's to keep others from pushing me? And can I remind you that this is college?! No one is making these students attend. I think I handled it the right way, and the student may or may not return on Wednesday, my observation day (in that class). Either way, it makes a good story, and the whole situation makes me seem much more Machiavellian than I really am. Make an example of one, and the rest will stay in line. Not my usual style, but it seemed (and still seems) like the right way to handle it.