Well it took 4 months

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but most of my students no longer totally hate me and think I'm evil. It happens every year. Every year students get to biology and it is like they hit a wall. It is typically the first class in their educational careers where they have to actually WORK. I always tell them "you can't fake your way through biology--you have to put the time in!" I tell them that on Day 1 and then over and over again. They think I'm kidding and they try to do things their way and it rarely works out well for them. They get nasty and talk smack about me with their classmates, friends, and parents. It doesn't even faze me after 24 years of doing this. Over time *most* of them figure out that I am telling them the truth and that they need to pay attention and study. They also get to know me and my personality--I'm chill, I follow/enforce the rules, I have a dry/sarcastic sense of humor, and I am fair. Over the past week or so several students have said as much out loud. 2 students asked for pups from my Chinese money plant and were thrilled that I brought them in today. One student last week said "Ms. NJChicaa--I really like you as a person but no so much as a teacher." Today I told my 8th period class (the most rowdy but fun one) that today was just not the day to push me because I was exhausted. It took a couple of minutes for them to finally settle down but I heard several girls telling them to stop and to be quiet. One girl said "Ms. NJChicaa you've really grown on me." When I was interrupted by someone else a different girl said "NJChicaa we love you!" I guess she could see that I was just about to lose it. It is funny because the students I never had in class and that I just know from the hallway or cafeteria love me. They say they don't understand why some of my students hate me. I'm like "would you love the cop who pulled you over and arrested you? Would you give them a good review?" And then there are the former students who stop back in my classroom or who see me in the hallway to say hi. I always tell them that they don't have to love biology or love me but it is NJ state law that they have to pass it in order to graduate. Eventually most of them figure it out and a lot of them really like me. . . even if they don't love biology.