Please Just Take a Nap!

ok, i'm finally at that point. normally, i don't allow students to sleep in my class, for obvious reasons. i even have a spray bottle used to wake up sleepy kids. (fun for everyone except the victim...) but at this point - a week from final exams - it's more effort than it's worth. the kids that can't be bothered officially gave up a few weeks ago; why bother trying anymore when it's too late to bring up your grade? so they do nothing but disrupt class and command the attention of those around them. lately they've started sleeping while we read Fahrenheit 451, and i've started letting them. i really hate admitting that, but sadly, it's the best solution for all involved. they don't have to find something to entertain themselves since they refuse to do work, the kids around them aren't distracted, and i don't have to deal with the outcome of both. it makes me feel a little ineffective, but you can't force a student to learn, especially in the last weeks of the year. if they set their minds against it, that's it. i can entice most of them, and what i need to remember is that about 85% of them make the effort and enjoy what they're doing. for the other 15%, well, if you can't get away with skipping school, at least catch a nap; that way i can teach the others without you interupting...