Saddest Day Yet in SLPS

Well, we almost made it through the day without a major hitch. The last day before Spring Break. The atmosphere felt a little tense all day, but at 5th period nothing yet had happened. However, at the end of 5th period, the fire alarm went off. Ms. Small and I (Ms. Morton's student teacher) exchanged a glance that said everything, "This fire alarm is not for a fire, it is for a fight." My suspicions were confirmed as soon as I step outside and see a very large fight break out on the football field. It was quickly squelched by our principal and crew, but two minutes later another fight broke out, this time on the bleachers. (I'm not sure who developed the contingency plan for a fire, but to have the kids sit in the bleachers while waiting to go back in is just asking for a 'show' of some sort.) In the fifteen minutes that we were outside, 5 more fights broke out. They finally let the students back in the school, my guess in hopes that the fights would stay outside and the kids not participating would go back to class. Fat chance. What ensued once the kids were inside will not soon leave my memory. Yes, I have seen dozens of fights this year, but this was a riot. Teachers were in the hall frantically trying to get kids to head to class, but each time it seemed like the violence was going to cease, the mob just sprinted to another hallway and went at it again, and again. Finally, some of the kids were apprehended and the hallways cleared. I went to my classroom and heard a knock at my door. I was worried that it was going to be a student trying to keep from getting in trouble, but it was Ms. Morton, in tears. She shared with me that she's been here for 10 years and never seen anything like this. As I was trying to fight back my own tears to console Ms. Morton, my mind was just racing with questions and concerns. Once I hear the full story (or what we'll be able to get of it) I promise to write more. For now, it is 2:30, and spring break has begun - time to decompress.

Cue the Circus Music...

Eight times in the past two weeks we have had to evacuate the building. Three times because students pulled the fire alarm, twice because teachers burned food in the microwave, once because a student put their hair brush on a hot plate in the science lab, and twice because students set fire to bathroom trash cans. Our evacuation today will certainly have us on the news again for how poor it was. We had students fighting, rallying, and running away from school once we stepped outside. This is due in part to the extreme cold and that it was difficult to identify students in their winter gear, but it is also because our school does not have a fire drill plan! We know that we're supposed to leave the school ''in an expeditious manner'', but once outside it's a free-for-all...

Perspective

On Monday and Tuesday of this week I was recruiting for TFA at IU. I was thrilled to be able to share my experiences, and recruit new corps members for our movement. One our new slogans is "In two years you won't recognize yourself", and I found myself in a similar situation on Monday night. Sarah King and I attended a joint meeting of the Fraternity and Sorority presidents to talk about our TFA experiences. Having both served as Panehellenic presidents we were saddened by the converstaions we overheard. The group was arguing about 'serenades', a similar argument to one that has been going on for years. Sarah leaned over and whispered to me, "Can you believe this used to matter?"

Having done and seen what I have over the past several months, I have gained quite a new perspective, and I would like to be able to help others see it as well. For example, on my first day back at work from recruting, Makala, one of my senior girls asked to talk to me in the hallway. She shared with me that over the weekend she was in a bad car accident and lost her unborn baby. Makala was devastated but relieved at the same time because her parents were going to kick her out of the house if she had the baby. As difficult as it is to hear my students' stories and share in their pain, it motivates me even more to continue working to improve their lives, and the lives of children born in low-income communities after them.

"These Are a Few of My Favorite Things..."

* Johnny's new lime green hoodie - wears it EVERYDAY.
* Jarrett's latest movie obsession - Passion of the Christ! He won't stop talking about it, and how he thinks we should watch it in class next time we have a class celebration.
* David "Big D" sucks his thumb, and no one makes fun of him :)
* Bryan and JuJuanna - they are an item, and they carry each other's school pictures with them wherever they go, always placing them in the corners of their desks.
* Shamice - everyday for months straight in computer class looked up 'rolly back packs. She got one for Christmas, and rolls in up and down those hallways with pride!
* Timmisha got moved out of my class, but comes everyday during my planning period to 'take care of me'. She straightens up the desks while I grade, and we have girl talk.

I could go on, but I need to get back to class!

Who's Running this Joint?

We got an email over winter break from our principal informing us that she decided to quit...

Fortunately, one of our assistant principals stepped up and took over for her. We've still had several fights but we are no longer having them each and every day. I sincerely hope that our school will be able to turn itself around this semester.

The Great Schedule Change

Guess what... my classes changed AGAIN! I was moved out of teaching my first period class and placed into a new seventh period class. Seventh period used to be my planning time, and not only did I lose that, but I now have 24 special education students in one computer lab for the very last period of the day. Mr. Bhattacharyya and I have come up with a new curriculum that will hopefully work for keeping so many special education students in one classroom on track - keep your fingers crossed!

(Oh, and the reason some classes got switched is because our department head decided she didn't like her assistant anymore and had to pick another teacher to help her instead... hmm)

New Year's Resolutions

The first week back to school I taught a mini-lesson on the background of New Year's Resolutions, as well as tips for being successful with their own planning and execution. I had them write to me about their goals, and here are a few of my favorites:

ed - "My goal is to get straigth A's. Because I what to see my mom proud of me. I am going to work hard on my Quiz. Study hard and ever day."

chris - "My goal is to be a football playing. Why I like to football I what to paly foot ball of the st. Louis Rams tem. to get two years in high school."

bryan - "My goal is to treat my girlfriend JuJuanna will and nice. Because she loves me more then every one, and she wants to take relationship serous - exampel: like get marry! She and I plan on getting married, and have bebe's kids or some Three Stooges running around the house. like rats."

mike - "My goal in life for this year is to graduate from high school. I have this goal in mind because I first wanna prove first for myself that I can accomplish gettin out of school. I need to be happy an successful, and hopefully have a family that I can support and will love me an be proud of me."

william - "My life goal is to get a job as a chemist or as an inventor. I like science. Research."

I hope they will all be happy and successful!

The Good with the Bad

Last night my cat passed away, and I was still pretty shaken this morning. My students could tell that I was visibly tired and upset and were sincerely concerned. I saw a bunch of them whispering during silent reading so I went over to go address the issue and get them on task. It turns out they were trying to come up with a way to get me a new cat! They then proceeded to tell me that I need a big strong man in my life to take care of me when I'm sad haha. How could that not cheer me up!?

The Return of Tyronica

Last week Tyronic returned to my class after having been in 'juvie' since the 2nd week of school. This young girl is one of the angriest people I have ever met, but is one of my most capable learners. Her first day back I was sitting in the back at my desk grading papers while my students had their silent reading time. I heard a little muttering and saw that Tyronica was staring down Brandon, and she was visibly getting tenser. Right as she started to explode I got to the two of them and brought them out into the hallway. Tyronica was furious at Brandon because he moves his lips while he reads! Apparently she told him to shut the f*^$ up and he then told her that she was an ugly a$$ skank. (So much love, right?) After I calmed Brandon down I sent him back in because I knew Tyronica was the issue - I had never heard Brandon talk like that. I told Tyronica that I was sincerely glad to have her back in my class, but that I would not put up with that kind of behavior. I told her that her explosive anger is exactly why she was out of school for nearly 3 months, and that we need to find a way for her to cope. After telling her that she is one of my best readers and I need her positive leadership in class, I sent her back in as well. I really didn't think she was listening because she stood there with her arms folded and rolled her eyes. However, for the rest of the class period each time I asked for a volunteer she was the first one to raise her hand! She did very well for the next couple days, but she hasn't been to school since last Tuesday. I called home but no one answered. Hopefully she'll return soon, because this girl needs some serious help.

"Not My Job..."

My mom sent me a forwarded email today. They're always very humorous, but this one really hit me...

Wow. This is SO relatable to my experiences here in the St. Louis Public School System. I had a meeting today for one of the students on my caseload. Steven is an 18 year old senior with ADHD. Steven is not going to graduate on time because he has continually failed his classes. I sat down with him and his mother at our meeting to talk about how we can improve the educational experience he is having here. After just a few short minutes we realized that Steven does not understand punctuation! His teachers had been complaining that Steven had poor grammar and wasn't trying on their assignments. I decided to do a little experiment and have him write a simple paragraph - something that every high school senior should be able to do. After TEN minutes he handed me a sentence that lasted the length of a page. I asked him to add punctuation and he stared at me blankly. I then asked him to show me where his sentences end and what mark he should put there. He put one question mark at the end of the entire 'paragraph'.

After the meeting I shared what I had learned with his teachers. Both his writing teachers shared the same sentiment - "He should know this by now, it's not my job to teach him how to use punctuation."

THEN whose JOB IS IT!?! This poor young man has been so blatantly neglected that his diagnosis of ADHD, which many people are given the tools to cope with, has made even high school graduation a nearly impossible feat.