class, and no class

i don't want to put limitations on anyone. i may draw conclusions about you based on your behavior, but i am more than ready to be surprised by you.
on friday my second period theatre class challenged me. they challenged me all week by not doing their assignment, the conflict-objective monologue, which was due monday. i think only six of them did it on time. on wednesday quite a few more monologues trickled in, for partial credit. on friday there were six to eight more. one of them was david, a classic case of ADHD, who in one of his journals hypothesized that i must be on drugs ("no one is that calm"), and in his conflict-objective monologue not only pointed out one student's jewishness in a semi-offensive way, but also inferred that i was gay. i took it with a grain of salt and gave a little speech about having a classroom where it is safe to be exactly who you are, regardless of color, disability, religion, or sexual orientation-- but the dynamic in that class is complicated. a lot of apathy, a lot of chaotic energy, some good students who are mostly quiet. it could be an amazing class if i could figure out how to orchestrate it. a bit after david's monologue, i saw that joe was listening to his ipod. when i asked him to hand it over, he was resistant and questioned me. i said, "i'm the teacher, you're the student, it's the rules, hand it over." he eventualy gave it to me, muttering "fucking asshole" under his breath. i don't think anyone else heard it. my way of dealing with that was to open up a discussion about our class and to ask them for comments on what was going on. i quickly learned that this was a mistake on my part, as the critical comments began to fly. "why are we spending so much time on these monologues?" "you're too uptight." "why can't we sit where we want to?" "why can't we chew gum?" "you're not strict enough." tons of conflicting messages began to soar through the air like arrows carelessly aimed at my heart. i eventually called the conversation to a halt, in order to get back to the business at hand. toward the end of class i talked to joe about his comment and how unfair and damaging it was. he apologized, and i will be semi-interested to see if he changes at all.
it took me a while to detox after class. maybe my willingness to hear their critiques (as misguided and infuriating as most of them were) will have some positive effect on those in the class who actually do care. one kid john gave me a letter stating that he thought the way i was running the class was perfect just as it was. that was appreciated.
how will i handle them on tuesday? i have some ideas-- a time at the beginning of class to let out hidden aggressions physically-- to engage these emotions and express them through bodies and voices. maybe some music during warm-ups would help, though i've found that music usually just opens up more possibilities for offensive critiques. maybe i can relate more personal stories, things that happened to me when i was their age that they'll be able to relate to. as always, i relucantly accept the challenge.
i want to be surprised by them. i find myself in that difficult place between severity and submission. i have already drawn judgments on the ones who have shown resistance in the mask of apathy. but god, how i would love it if something in my class allowed them to drop that mask and they just surprised the hell out of me.