I can't wait to hear about how Beth's day went today, after all the excitement of yesterday when the English teacher spent the entire day telling the students how angry she was with them.

For what?

Because they did not write their FCAT practice essay when they had a substitute teacher the day before. In the students' defense, the substitute, I'm told by my daughter, didn't find the correct "prompt" -- the question that they were supposed to write about -- until halfway through the class.

These eighth-graders, all honors students who have been subjected to non-stop FCAT writing prep since August, decided not to write the essay in the remaining 20 minutes of class.

The next day, which was yesterday, the teacher was "livid" with them. She accused one child of hiding the prompt from the substitute teacher. She grilled several students about the behavior of others.

When some of these kids felt enough remorse to write an apology card and enclose their finished essays with it, the teacher TORE UP the essays and the card in front of them. Or, that's what I'm told she did.

It sounds so awful. The poor woman is over the edge.

As far as I can tell -- and I'll admit I'm likely not getting the whole story -- the kids weren't all that bad for the substitute teacher. They were just acting like 13-year-olds do when they don't want to do something.

I guess that is enough to make a middle-school teacher livid. Think about how often she encounters 13-year-olds who don't want to do what she asks. That would be daily, I'm guessing.

It would be enough to drive anyone crazy.

Still, wouldn't it be better to give these students a break? Let them read and discuss some short stories or write some poetry or read a play out loud, or do something other than writing FCAT essays three times a week?

Maybe they wouldn't be such a challenge if their teacher let them enjoy English class for a change.