Dark forces at work...
Nov. 27th, 2004 04:10 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
the_vultureThursday evening, I had a very strange dream. As many of you know, the content of my dreams often takes the form of some sort of action and/or horror movie. This one was of the horror movie variety, but not the usual “Aliens” variety. It opens with a number of Catholic priests (identified by their topic of conversation) who are apparently just changing from a work out session that involved boxing.
Cut to: the exterior of a building where some person, wearing a very unusual cyclopean horned demonic helm snaps to alertness, his eyes casting about through the large, singular opening in the helm. While the helm would indicate otherwise, this man is a priest and guardian… and he knows something is up.
Cut to: a close-up of a brick wall, where a black mold-like stain grows through the gaps between the bricks. Something evil is penetrating the building.
Cut to: a high exterior shot of the building, where a lone, old priest stands on a wide ledge that circles the building. He, too, is a guardian (though not garbed as the other). He stands watch over a large, squat building that stands on a spit of land that stretches into the sea. The building is the headquarters of a Catholic organization that is at war with demonic forces.
The old man realizes that something very foul has come to do battle and realizes that he is in mortal danger. A supernaturally powerful wind suddenly knocks him forward, out along a large spar jutting out from the ledge. He knows he will likely die, but he is utterly calm; his struggles here maybe nearly be at an end, but he will be welcomed into the peace of Heaven. He begins reciting a rite reserved for the dying and those in mortal danger.
Cut to: a high shot over looking the bay. A person in a small sailing vessel is sailing within vicinity of the building.
Cut to: me swimming in the water. I can see both the boat and the man high above the water. I know that he is high enough that if he falls in, the impact with the water could easily snap his neck and kill him, but low enough that he will not have much time to correct his posture to enter the water cleanly. I can also see that the woman piloting the small craft is unaware of this. I begin trying to shout to the woman, alerting her to the plight of the old man.
Cut to: a triangular fin in the water. It’s, of course, coming for me. Seeing both the shark and I, the woman begins sailing towards me, hoping to get me into the boat before the shark gets to me.
No such luck. I offer the shark my arm (as if it was an attacking dog), but, at the last moment (complete with a dramatic pause), I pull away and grapple its head. While it’s trashing about and lacerating me with its skin (sharks have barbed scales), I pull out my pen (I usually carry a pen or pencil with me, but while swimming?) and begin stabbing it in the nose, hoping that the damage to its olfactory glands will drive it away.
Success! It swims off while I’m being rescued by the woman in the boat. Sadly, the Hell- sent shark has accomplished one of its objectives: there is no rescuer nearby when the spar, weakened by supernatural forces, gives way under the weight of the old priest.
As he begins to fall, again with utter calmness, he completes the rite and attempts to correct his diving position. He twists and turns, then enters the water perfectly…
…into the waiting jaws of the shark.
While the priest dies with the peace of knowing that he will enter the kingdom of Heaven, the forces of evil have won an important battle against the forces of good.
And then I awoke…
Normally, when I have a particularly vivid dream, it usually takes me a while to sort out the content of them and come to some understanding of the symbols involved.
But I knew the exact meaning of one symbol from this dream: I awoke thinking to myself “It’s time to kill a shark.”
Many of you have read of my struggles with the “Hell 9s” (yep, another symbol is becoming a lot clearer all of the sudden). There’s one particular lad in that class who has caused a great deal of trouble for me and cost both the rest of the class and myself an extraordinary amount of productivity. After school on Tuesday, I found both this fellow and another of the Hell 9s in the main room of the English department. They were there to serve a detention for the head of English, who was not about.
Ensuring that they served the detention in proper fashion turned into a struggle I really didn’t need that day. This lad was particularly rude to me, and he even tore up a detention slip I had given for his behaviour. Worse still, while I was doing some work in my room, I heard one of the boys making crude sex noises from the room next door to mine. Investigating, I discovered that the lad had wandered from where he was supposed to be to sexually harass one of the cleaning staff. I got a statement from the cleaning woman, which I promptly handed into the Head of English when she finally arrived.
Afterwards, I discussed the matter with another teacher. He said that this boy’s eyes looked completely blank to him; there was not a shred of morality to be found. To him, it was like looking into the eyes of a shark.
Sadly, as of yet, I haven’t yet had the time and energy to write out the appropriate concern slips for the incidences of that evening. But I do recognize that I can no longer afford to have this child in my class; he has cost both it and I far too much with far too little indication that he will ever change. The next day, I simply sat him outside with work to do. I was going to do the same on Friday, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had been excluded for the day. Perhaps I shouldn’t take such delight in his dilemma, but, frankly, I’m going to do my utmost to remove him from my class permanently. It will start this weekend with writing up the appropriate concern slips for the incidents of Tuesday.
Is this an unprofessional attitude? Maybe, but it’s clear I can’t help him and I no longer wish to try. I never thought, when I entered the teaching profession, that I would ever have such an active dislike for a kid, that I would actually give up on any of them, but then, I don’t think I really anticipated meeting any so devoid of conscience as this one. The sooner he is permanently excluded, the better for the rest of the school. Maybe elsewhere he'll find the support he needs to turn himself around; one can hope. But it's clear he isn't finding it here.
And I'll not have him drag the rest of my class down any further.
UPDATE: Near the beginning of March, 'the shark' was permanently excluded on a number of grounds. Yay!
Cut to: the exterior of a building where some person, wearing a very unusual cyclopean horned demonic helm snaps to alertness, his eyes casting about through the large, singular opening in the helm. While the helm would indicate otherwise, this man is a priest and guardian… and he knows something is up.
Cut to: a close-up of a brick wall, where a black mold-like stain grows through the gaps between the bricks. Something evil is penetrating the building.
Cut to: a high exterior shot of the building, where a lone, old priest stands on a wide ledge that circles the building. He, too, is a guardian (though not garbed as the other). He stands watch over a large, squat building that stands on a spit of land that stretches into the sea. The building is the headquarters of a Catholic organization that is at war with demonic forces.
The old man realizes that something very foul has come to do battle and realizes that he is in mortal danger. A supernaturally powerful wind suddenly knocks him forward, out along a large spar jutting out from the ledge. He knows he will likely die, but he is utterly calm; his struggles here maybe nearly be at an end, but he will be welcomed into the peace of Heaven. He begins reciting a rite reserved for the dying and those in mortal danger.
Cut to: a high shot over looking the bay. A person in a small sailing vessel is sailing within vicinity of the building.
Cut to: me swimming in the water. I can see both the boat and the man high above the water. I know that he is high enough that if he falls in, the impact with the water could easily snap his neck and kill him, but low enough that he will not have much time to correct his posture to enter the water cleanly. I can also see that the woman piloting the small craft is unaware of this. I begin trying to shout to the woman, alerting her to the plight of the old man.
Cut to: a triangular fin in the water. It’s, of course, coming for me. Seeing both the shark and I, the woman begins sailing towards me, hoping to get me into the boat before the shark gets to me.
No such luck. I offer the shark my arm (as if it was an attacking dog), but, at the last moment (complete with a dramatic pause), I pull away and grapple its head. While it’s trashing about and lacerating me with its skin (sharks have barbed scales), I pull out my pen (I usually carry a pen or pencil with me, but while swimming?) and begin stabbing it in the nose, hoping that the damage to its olfactory glands will drive it away.
Success! It swims off while I’m being rescued by the woman in the boat. Sadly, the Hell- sent shark has accomplished one of its objectives: there is no rescuer nearby when the spar, weakened by supernatural forces, gives way under the weight of the old priest.
As he begins to fall, again with utter calmness, he completes the rite and attempts to correct his diving position. He twists and turns, then enters the water perfectly…
…into the waiting jaws of the shark.
While the priest dies with the peace of knowing that he will enter the kingdom of Heaven, the forces of evil have won an important battle against the forces of good.
And then I awoke…
Normally, when I have a particularly vivid dream, it usually takes me a while to sort out the content of them and come to some understanding of the symbols involved.
But I knew the exact meaning of one symbol from this dream: I awoke thinking to myself “It’s time to kill a shark.”
Many of you have read of my struggles with the “Hell 9s” (yep, another symbol is becoming a lot clearer all of the sudden). There’s one particular lad in that class who has caused a great deal of trouble for me and cost both the rest of the class and myself an extraordinary amount of productivity. After school on Tuesday, I found both this fellow and another of the Hell 9s in the main room of the English department. They were there to serve a detention for the head of English, who was not about.
Ensuring that they served the detention in proper fashion turned into a struggle I really didn’t need that day. This lad was particularly rude to me, and he even tore up a detention slip I had given for his behaviour. Worse still, while I was doing some work in my room, I heard one of the boys making crude sex noises from the room next door to mine. Investigating, I discovered that the lad had wandered from where he was supposed to be to sexually harass one of the cleaning staff. I got a statement from the cleaning woman, which I promptly handed into the Head of English when she finally arrived.
Afterwards, I discussed the matter with another teacher. He said that this boy’s eyes looked completely blank to him; there was not a shred of morality to be found. To him, it was like looking into the eyes of a shark.
Sadly, as of yet, I haven’t yet had the time and energy to write out the appropriate concern slips for the incidences of that evening. But I do recognize that I can no longer afford to have this child in my class; he has cost both it and I far too much with far too little indication that he will ever change. The next day, I simply sat him outside with work to do. I was going to do the same on Friday, but I was pleasantly surprised to learn that he had been excluded for the day. Perhaps I shouldn’t take such delight in his dilemma, but, frankly, I’m going to do my utmost to remove him from my class permanently. It will start this weekend with writing up the appropriate concern slips for the incidents of Tuesday.
Is this an unprofessional attitude? Maybe, but it’s clear I can’t help him and I no longer wish to try. I never thought, when I entered the teaching profession, that I would ever have such an active dislike for a kid, that I would actually give up on any of them, but then, I don’t think I really anticipated meeting any so devoid of conscience as this one. The sooner he is permanently excluded, the better for the rest of the school. Maybe elsewhere he'll find the support he needs to turn himself around; one can hope. But it's clear he isn't finding it here.
And I'll not have him drag the rest of my class down any further.
UPDATE: Near the beginning of March, 'the shark' was permanently excluded on a number of grounds. Yay!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-11-27 04:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2004-11-27 11:30 pm (UTC)