Well, for a Monday it wasn't so bad

I've figured out which class is my challenge.  The funny thing is that the challenging class isn't my lowest level class.  Usually, the worst behavior students are in the lowest classes.  And most of my IEPs are in that class, but my hard to control class is my regular class.  It is also my largest class.  Big surprise.    And it's not that they are evil or horrible, they are just unfocused.  They are up and down and talking all the time.  I find myself almost shouting to be heard over their talking.  I had a lab for them to do today, but had decided against it, since the lab is cluttered with PE equipment and I can't guarantee they will behave and not tear up stuff.  However, sucker that I am, I let them go in and look at newspaper under the microscope.  Shockingly, they were very well behaved.  One student told me going into the lab that he had taken this class last year and the old teacher had never let them come into the lab.  Made me feel good that I took them.  The only real problem that I had was with a girl who was mad that I wouldn't let her go to the bathroom.  Now, mind you, I had told the kids everyday last week that they could go before or after class, but that I did not want to have to stop teaching to go write up a pass to the bathroom.  She was aware of this.  I had let her go on Friday and had reminded her personally to go before class.  I even remind them when they walk in the door between bells to go to the bathroom if they need to.  So, she walks into the lab and stands in the middle of the room.  I tell her to find a workstation and get busy.  She stands there.  I again tell her she needs to hurry or she won't have time to finish the worksheet.  She says she can't walk to the workstation because she has to pee so bad she will wet herself if she walks over there.  Then, she says it is in her IEP that she can go to the bathroom whenever she wants because she has a small bladder.  I tell her that if that is true, I'll let her go to the bathroom today, but if she's lying to me, she won't leave my room again.  She goes to the bathroom, comes back and stands in the middle of the room.  I walk over to her and tell her that she needs to talk to me after class about a schedule change.  She asks why.  I tell her that she has a zero for today for not doing her work and if she is planning on doing this everyday, she needs to be in someone's class that will give her bookwork or some other way to do the class because I do not want her to fail this class.  She storms out saying she will talk to the counselor.  I later checked her IEP.  She has no learning disability, she has a behavior issue.  She doesn't know how to behave.  Apparently, she scored normally in all subjects, but if she doesn't like someone, she will bully them, make fun of them, and sometimes blow up.  To me, giving someone and IEP for being a bully is a bit ridiculous, but I'm not in charge.  If I were in charge, I would put kids like her in a boot camp type arrangement to teach them self discipline and teamwork.  I really hate that I'm not in charge.  However, if that's the worst thing to deal with all day, then I count today as a great day.  Of course, I'll probably have her grandmother or whoever keeps her screaming at me tomorrow.  Such is life.