So, twice a year we get Formal Observations. An administrator meets with you (Pre-observation conference) to discuss what you're going to teach, you both decide on a day and class period for them to come. They come and observe you (Formal Observation) and then within the next few days, you meet again (Post-observation conference) to discuss what was good and what was bad. You both sign it and it goes into your permanent file.
Last Tuesday, I got a note in my box from Principal that said she had forgotten all about Observations and didn't realize they were due April 1st. She said she would meet with us immediately to get them finished. She was then out of the building on Wednesday and Thursday.
Friday morning, I asked if I could speak with her. I told her that the lesson I had planned was necessary for the whole class to see and if attendance was low (it was the Friday before Spring Break, and raining) that I would have to do something else. I explained I didn't want her to come in on something like a game of Geography Bingo and be annoyed that I wasn't following curriculum.
At first, she insisted that she wasn't even the one who was supposed to observe me. I told her that I had received her note. "Well, I don't think it was me, but I'll check. Either way, don't worry about it. I've got so much stuff on my plate right now..." She then told me that if I wanted to be observed AFTER spring break, I could do that, but I would have to sign the form and pre-date it. I said that was fine.
I walked down to my classroom. I spoke with my classroom neighbor, Mrs. Allen. She said Principal had walked into her room yesterday, didn't say anything, and left after 10 minutes. She said, "I guess that was my observation?"
During 2nd period, Principal walked into my classroom with her official papers and sat down. My 7th graders were doing an AWESOME lesson, if I do say so myself. They were working in groups creating posters. When she walked in, they asked her questions and tried to include her in the activity. They explained to her what they were doing and why they were doing it. She laughed for a minute with them and then immediately asked for a lesson plan. I didn't have one. Yes, I am supposed to have them everyday. I don't. I'm not apologizing for it. It's a rule. I get it. However, had I known I was going to have my FORMAL OBSERVATION, I would have written one. She got angry. She left after 10 minutes.
After school, we had our Post-Observation Conference. She also invited Mrs. Allen in and we had ours together. She started with me. "Your kids were engaged, but you had no lesson plan. You didn't have IB stuff up on the walls and you didn't incorporate IB ideals into your lesson. Sign here.You can go, I'm done with you."
Mrs. Allen interjects and says, "No, I heard her evaluation, she can stay and hear mine."
Principal takes out Mrs. Allen's. "Your kids were engaged, you were teaching [some math terminology]. I have nothing negative to say about you."
Mrs. Allen: "Well, to be fair, I don't have any IB stuff up either."
Principal: "Oh, okay..."
Mrs. Allen: "...So, go ahead and put that down there."
Principal: "Well...okay."
She also didn't have a lesson plan, but that didn't matter because Principal didn't even ask her for one. She also stayed in my room for 10 whole minutes. How does she know if I included "IB ideals"? (I didn't, but she doesn't know that.)
This has been bothering me ever since Friday. Here's the thing. Nobody in the building knows that people are treated differently in the building better than I do. I'm one of the few that goes from favored to hated on a regular basis. Most people just stay in their assigned category forever. I've just never seen it done so completely obviously before. I mean, in the same room! And Mrs. Allen has been my classroom neighbor for 3 years now. Principal has to know we talk to each other ALL.THE.TIME. How could she think that kind of doublespeak was going to go over?
Several other teachers told me that I should go talk to her since it was upsetting me so much. This principal, while she is still a crazy administrator, wasn't so before she became principal. When she was an assistant principal last year, I used to talk to her all the time. We got along very well.
I didn't talk to her, but I did end up writing her an email (passive-aggressive, I know) saying that I know it's not some type of formal complaint, but I was really hurt by her actions. She wrote on my FORMAL OBSERVATION that goes in my PERMANENT FILE that I didn't have a lesson plan, and yet nowhere on there does it say that it was an unscheduled visit. That makes me look at best defiant and at worst incompetent.
Meanwhile, she has loaded me down with preps and responsibilities (which go against my contract) and I have continued to work hard under pressure that would make most people would just give up. She KNOWS me. She's known me for five years. She KNOWS that I will never give up on my kids and just because I didn't have a lesson plan doesn't mean that I haven't been doing awesome lessons.
Ugh, Thank you Jesus for this Spring Break and it's wonderful timing.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Saturday, March 27, 2010
Believe Me, The Teachers Are Not The Problem
So we had a community meeting yesterday to discuss the "outside partner" that will come in next year to take over the school. I think I said already that they are firing at least 50% of the staff, maybe more.
There were three companies to come in and make their presentations. They were allowed a twenty minute presentation time and then a ten minute question/answer period. If anything went over, this guy would cut them off because "we don't have time." Time for what exactly? To get all the answers we want out of these people that will take over our school? Oh, by the way, this meeting was yesterday afternoon from 3-5 on the FRIDAY BEFORE SPRING BREAK. We told the guy leading the whole thing that we would like to stay and continue asking questions but he said no.???.
We only had one parent in attendance. Granted, the only way anyone tried to advertise this meeting was through flyers sent home via students. But still. ONE. There was one parent and one other community member. He was there because the school is named after his father. No one else. Oh, except about 30 teachers. We're there to try and figure out what is best for the school, we have a vested interest, and yet half of us or more won't even be there next year.
All three presenters talked down to us like we're idiots who don't know how to do anything. Or that the answers are so simple and if we would just ENGAGE the parents and the students everything will work out. When we tried to ask for answers that weren't so politician-y, we got cut off because "time was up."
I don't know what people think goes on at these "failing schools" but somebody has seen Dangerous Minds one too many times. First of all, all the teachers in the building aren't apathetic losers that hand out worksheets everyday and then ignore the kids while playing solitaire on their computers. Second of all, we have tried our damnedest to get parents involved. Even on Parent Night, when we give away prizes and free food, play games and make crafts...only about 20 parents will show up. And of those twenty it's usually a couple of family groups, not 10 separate sets of people.
And finally, as one of the teachers pointed out last night: We have been a forgotten school. It has only been open four years. The first year we started out with no desks, chairs or money to buy those things. When we did finally get desks and chairs, they were from a school that had shut down and were covered in graffiti and gum and who knows what else. We didn't even have an ENTRANCE for the first year. That's right. There is another school that connects to ours and to get to our school you had to park in their parking lot, walk through their building and over into ours. Our principal will try to get long-term suspensions for students who hit teachers or set fires and half the time those suspensions won't be upheld and the kid comes right back. Our principal was fired last year and there's been no one to replace her (current principal doesn't even have the certification to BE a principal.) We lost an administrator to retirement and the City won't give us money in our budget to replace her. We have almost 30 kids per classroom and no money to hire more teachers. They froze the budget on March 18, so we don't have any money at all now. We're one of four remaining middle schools in the city and the only one on the east side. This means whenever a kid gets thrown out of another school (for any number of violations) they come right to us. I've had nine kids come to me this year who started out the year at an alternative school for bad behavior. (And that's just the 7th grade...I don't know about the school as a whole.) But despite all this, we have teachers who care and good, quality students who have been dealt a shit hand in life and we're trying to do what we can to help them succeed.
They beat us and beat us and beat us and then get mad when we have bruises.
There were three companies to come in and make their presentations. They were allowed a twenty minute presentation time and then a ten minute question/answer period. If anything went over, this guy would cut them off because "we don't have time." Time for what exactly? To get all the answers we want out of these people that will take over our school? Oh, by the way, this meeting was yesterday afternoon from 3-5 on the FRIDAY BEFORE SPRING BREAK. We told the guy leading the whole thing that we would like to stay and continue asking questions but he said no.???.
We only had one parent in attendance. Granted, the only way anyone tried to advertise this meeting was through flyers sent home via students. But still. ONE. There was one parent and one other community member. He was there because the school is named after his father. No one else. Oh, except about 30 teachers. We're there to try and figure out what is best for the school, we have a vested interest, and yet half of us or more won't even be there next year.
All three presenters talked down to us like we're idiots who don't know how to do anything. Or that the answers are so simple and if we would just ENGAGE the parents and the students everything will work out. When we tried to ask for answers that weren't so politician-y, we got cut off because "time was up."
I don't know what people think goes on at these "failing schools" but somebody has seen Dangerous Minds one too many times. First of all, all the teachers in the building aren't apathetic losers that hand out worksheets everyday and then ignore the kids while playing solitaire on their computers. Second of all, we have tried our damnedest to get parents involved. Even on Parent Night, when we give away prizes and free food, play games and make crafts...only about 20 parents will show up. And of those twenty it's usually a couple of family groups, not 10 separate sets of people.
And finally, as one of the teachers pointed out last night: We have been a forgotten school. It has only been open four years. The first year we started out with no desks, chairs or money to buy those things. When we did finally get desks and chairs, they were from a school that had shut down and were covered in graffiti and gum and who knows what else. We didn't even have an ENTRANCE for the first year. That's right. There is another school that connects to ours and to get to our school you had to park in their parking lot, walk through their building and over into ours. Our principal will try to get long-term suspensions for students who hit teachers or set fires and half the time those suspensions won't be upheld and the kid comes right back. Our principal was fired last year and there's been no one to replace her (current principal doesn't even have the certification to BE a principal.) We lost an administrator to retirement and the City won't give us money in our budget to replace her. We have almost 30 kids per classroom and no money to hire more teachers. They froze the budget on March 18, so we don't have any money at all now. We're one of four remaining middle schools in the city and the only one on the east side. This means whenever a kid gets thrown out of another school (for any number of violations) they come right to us. I've had nine kids come to me this year who started out the year at an alternative school for bad behavior. (And that's just the 7th grade...I don't know about the school as a whole.) But despite all this, we have teachers who care and good, quality students who have been dealt a shit hand in life and we're trying to do what we can to help them succeed.
They beat us and beat us and beat us and then get mad when we have bruises.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Nothing Else To Say...
Today an eighth grader AND HER MOTHER tried to fight another eighth grader (over some argument on myspace about a boy) and both of them got beat up.
yeah.
yeah.
Monday, March 22, 2010
You Can Never Be TOO Clear
Sometimes I worry that the way I'm teaching something is too simple of a concept for my "advanced" kids. And then there's days like today.
1. 7th graders. We're learning about basic economics concepts. I shudder at the thought of economics. So we're going over the definition and whatnot. I've decided to read them that little kid book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" to demonstrate the endless cycle of needs/wants of goods/services. They also have to make their own short book with 3 needs, 3 wants, 3 goods, 3 services. It can be about anything. My example was "If you give Ms. Vinson a red pen" (she'll want to grade papers) <-----service! Quick and simple lesson, no? NO! This took the whole period. I mean, they got it and all but it was definitely not too simple. Now excuse me while I go read, "If You Give Tywon Some Deoderant" and "If You Give Ty'keria Some Proactiv."
2. I had to explain to eighth graders that when you double space a paper you are not spacing twice in between each word.
1. 7th graders. We're learning about basic economics concepts. I shudder at the thought of economics. So we're going over the definition and whatnot. I've decided to read them that little kid book "If You Give A Mouse A Cookie" to demonstrate the endless cycle of needs/wants of goods/services. They also have to make their own short book with 3 needs, 3 wants, 3 goods, 3 services. It can be about anything. My example was "If you give Ms. Vinson a red pen" (she'll want to grade papers) <-----service! Quick and simple lesson, no? NO! This took the whole period. I mean, they got it and all but it was definitely not too simple. Now excuse me while I go read, "If You Give Tywon Some Deoderant" and "If You Give Ty'keria Some Proactiv."
2. I had to explain to eighth graders that when you double space a paper you are not spacing twice in between each word.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Thursday, March 18, 2010
La, La, La, Strolling Along....
I walked out to my car to get my soda.
As I was walking back in...
Yep. That's a pitbull. Nope. I didn't notice him the first time I walked by. I actually said to it, "Uh, have you been there the whole time?" Then I saw he was tied up...so I was less freaked out but still confused. I went inside and soon the whole school heard this announcement:
"Whoever has the animal out front please return to the office."
Weird. Weird. Weird.
As I was walking back in...
Yep. That's a pitbull. Nope. I didn't notice him the first time I walked by. I actually said to it, "Uh, have you been there the whole time?" Then I saw he was tied up...so I was less freaked out but still confused. I went inside and soon the whole school heard this announcement:
"Whoever has the animal out front please return to the office."
Weird. Weird. Weird.
This Place Is Bananas. B-A-N-A-N-A-S
So, first off, I want to say that you might get the impression that my school is completely nutso all the time. This is not true. In fact, if you strolled through at just the right time, you might think we are on the verge of normalcy. You might say to yourself, "that classroom is a little noisy" or "those two boys probably shouldn't be in the hallway" but---most of the time---you wouldn't recoil in horror at whatever it is you're seeing. Things can be downright pleasant sometimes. And a lot of what I write about are incidents that affect maybe a classroom or two...sometimes other people in the building don't even know about it.
NOT LATELY. We finished up the standardized testing Wednesday morning. It was the Math section this week and it was incredibly hard. Our kids FLIPPED THEIR SHIT. I am telling you, I haven't seen things quite like this in a long, long time. On top of that, it's beautiful outside--sunny and 70 degrees. Meanwhile, our heat is still on, so it's stifling in there.
First, there was that incident with the 6th graders I wrote about already. Then, yesterday, I broke up FOUR fights in the space of an hour. FOUR. When you hear screaming, you just have to run to it and get them apart. Those fights were pretty minor. It was just a lot of posturing and mouthing off then they would wait to really start shoving until they saw a teacher getting close. (This is so they can give the impression that they really would have beaten the shit of out of so-and-so if Miss Vinson wasn't holding them back.) But it still meant there was a lot of hostility in the air and too many kids riled up and excited.
Today I broke up two more and they were a lot worse. The first was between two girls and I could not for the life of me get the one girl to let go of the other girls hair. The teacher who actually teaches that class was just standing there the whole time and me and one of the other students were trying to pull them apart. The little girl helping me got blood all over her shirt.
About an hour later it was 7th grade girls and again with the hair pulling. This time it took me and another teacher to get them apart, and then one of the girls kicked the other teacher in the stomach!
Both times I had to drag one of the offenders to the office; so I'm lugging a good 80 pounds of uncooperative child down the hallway. It was exhausting!
And THEN, after school, one of the teachers calls me. He had already left for the day and saw a huge commotion at the intersection by our school. I went and told the office and they called the police officers to go down there. At this point, ANOTHER teacher calls me and tells me she sees something crazy going on too. Turns out, an eighth grade girl had been having some problems with two other girls--so she called her family to come up to the school and beat them up. And that they did. This will be the second day this week a child gets carted off to the hospital in an ambulance.
The general consensus among the staff is that this isn't near as bad as the other day because this girl "deserved it" and "needed to get her ass whooped." Apparently they had been walking down to this girls house and threatening her. The girl in the hospital IS pretty rude and disrespectful...but nobody deserves that. And also...(I feel like I say this a lot, but)...she's always been nice to me.
So, anyway, tomorrow is Friday. It's supposed to be hot and sunny. Lord help us make it through!
NOT LATELY. We finished up the standardized testing Wednesday morning. It was the Math section this week and it was incredibly hard. Our kids FLIPPED THEIR SHIT. I am telling you, I haven't seen things quite like this in a long, long time. On top of that, it's beautiful outside--sunny and 70 degrees. Meanwhile, our heat is still on, so it's stifling in there.
First, there was that incident with the 6th graders I wrote about already. Then, yesterday, I broke up FOUR fights in the space of an hour. FOUR. When you hear screaming, you just have to run to it and get them apart. Those fights were pretty minor. It was just a lot of posturing and mouthing off then they would wait to really start shoving until they saw a teacher getting close. (This is so they can give the impression that they really would have beaten the shit of out of so-and-so if Miss Vinson wasn't holding them back.) But it still meant there was a lot of hostility in the air and too many kids riled up and excited.
Today I broke up two more and they were a lot worse. The first was between two girls and I could not for the life of me get the one girl to let go of the other girls hair. The teacher who actually teaches that class was just standing there the whole time and me and one of the other students were trying to pull them apart. The little girl helping me got blood all over her shirt.
About an hour later it was 7th grade girls and again with the hair pulling. This time it took me and another teacher to get them apart, and then one of the girls kicked the other teacher in the stomach!
Both times I had to drag one of the offenders to the office; so I'm lugging a good 80 pounds of uncooperative child down the hallway. It was exhausting!
And THEN, after school, one of the teachers calls me. He had already left for the day and saw a huge commotion at the intersection by our school. I went and told the office and they called the police officers to go down there. At this point, ANOTHER teacher calls me and tells me she sees something crazy going on too. Turns out, an eighth grade girl had been having some problems with two other girls--so she called her family to come up to the school and beat them up. And that they did. This will be the second day this week a child gets carted off to the hospital in an ambulance.
The general consensus among the staff is that this isn't near as bad as the other day because this girl "deserved it" and "needed to get her ass whooped." Apparently they had been walking down to this girls house and threatening her. The girl in the hospital IS pretty rude and disrespectful...but nobody deserves that. And also...(I feel like I say this a lot, but)...she's always been nice to me.
So, anyway, tomorrow is Friday. It's supposed to be hot and sunny. Lord help us make it through!
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
From The Fists of Babes
I was inside the building during this incident, so we have a guest blogger today. He's a sixth grade teacher at my school and I stole this off HIS blog. (Thanks, Mr. G):
Samsara is a heavy-set girl who is impossibly sweet-natured. She is at most 5 foot tall and likely weighs 170 pounds. She always accessorizes colored hair bands with rings and bracelets and bows. She is gentle and silly. Today she got beat-down after school and was left lying in a pool of her own blood, twitching, as several dozen students stood around and laughed at her and pointed. All because a bigger tougher girl got the idea that Samsara was "running her mouth." Likely second-hand information, and likely from an instigator who just wanted to cause turmoil. I doubt Samsara said a word until she was confronted for saying things she never said, and then she likely tried to give as good as she got. Once she got knocked down, there was a free-for-all of head-stomping, which is the unfortunate and merciless MO of City middle-schoolers, whether they are beating random adults at bus stops, or each other. And the girls are often worse than the boys.
The girl who knocked Samsara down is in my homeroom. She was talking smack in the hallway after last period and I pulled her up about it, and pulled her aside for counseling, and another teacher joined me, and we thought we had cooled things down. Obviously not. By that point the news of a fight had spread through the school, and once you're billed as the main attraction, failure to perform is not an option. So Nike, the girl in my homeroom, had to step up and punch her target, and once her target was down Nike's "crew" had to stomp her face in. If they didn't stomp her face then they might be targeted themselves. They waited until they were a few feet off campus and in the alley which leads to the school. Some teachers rushed out and chased the belligerents away but the damage had been done.
A sixth grader should never get her face stomped into concrete. A sixth grade girl fight should be over when somebody is knocked down and crying. The ambulance should not have to come and fetch a sixth grade girl off the driveway of her school, brace her neck and put her on a back board and restrain her while her legs and arms are twitching and she is saying "I can't open my eyes. My eyes don't work. What happened to my face?" Her class mates should not find this entertaining. Her mother should not have to come up there and see it, and the elementary kids next door should not have to leave school and step over pooled blood on their way home.
Days like today make me want to take a couple percocet with a couple whiskys. Days like today make me wonder what the fuck I am doing here, instead of living in Vancouver or some place where this shit doesn't happen.
Samsara is a heavy-set girl who is impossibly sweet-natured. She is at most 5 foot tall and likely weighs 170 pounds. She always accessorizes colored hair bands with rings and bracelets and bows. She is gentle and silly. Today she got beat-down after school and was left lying in a pool of her own blood, twitching, as several dozen students stood around and laughed at her and pointed. All because a bigger tougher girl got the idea that Samsara was "running her mouth." Likely second-hand information, and likely from an instigator who just wanted to cause turmoil. I doubt Samsara said a word until she was confronted for saying things she never said, and then she likely tried to give as good as she got. Once she got knocked down, there was a free-for-all of head-stomping, which is the unfortunate and merciless MO of City middle-schoolers, whether they are beating random adults at bus stops, or each other. And the girls are often worse than the boys.
The girl who knocked Samsara down is in my homeroom. She was talking smack in the hallway after last period and I pulled her up about it, and pulled her aside for counseling, and another teacher joined me, and we thought we had cooled things down. Obviously not. By that point the news of a fight had spread through the school, and once you're billed as the main attraction, failure to perform is not an option. So Nike, the girl in my homeroom, had to step up and punch her target, and once her target was down Nike's "crew" had to stomp her face in. If they didn't stomp her face then they might be targeted themselves. They waited until they were a few feet off campus and in the alley which leads to the school. Some teachers rushed out and chased the belligerents away but the damage had been done.
A sixth grader should never get her face stomped into concrete. A sixth grade girl fight should be over when somebody is knocked down and crying. The ambulance should not have to come and fetch a sixth grade girl off the driveway of her school, brace her neck and put her on a back board and restrain her while her legs and arms are twitching and she is saying "I can't open my eyes. My eyes don't work. What happened to my face?" Her class mates should not find this entertaining. Her mother should not have to come up there and see it, and the elementary kids next door should not have to leave school and step over pooled blood on their way home.
Days like today make me want to take a couple percocet with a couple whiskys. Days like today make me wonder what the fuck I am doing here, instead of living in Vancouver or some place where this shit doesn't happen.
Monday, March 15, 2010
THIS GUY.....
There is a psychiatrist that comes to my school to work with like 5 kids in the building. He sees them on a one-to-one basis and rarely leaves his room otherwise. On his way in or out of the building, he'll yell at random children, calling them "smart asses" and randomly telling them to go away.
I don't really know him...nobody does. He keeps to himself.
They put him in my room for standardized testing to "proctor" or help me out with pencil passing out and whatever else. He came in 30 seconds before the test started, walked over to MY desk, sat in MY chair and read a book the entire time. He did not speak to me or the children even during breaks or after the test was over.
The next morning he came to my room before school to tell me that my children were "terrible" and he could have my tests invalidated because of their behavior.
I had NO clue what he was talking about. I've seen bad behavior too many times to count; my kids were great. I asked him what on earth he meant.
"While you weren't looking, the tall boy and the tall girl were hitting at each other."
Why didn't you say anything to them?
This man says to me, "They weren't trying to usurp MY authority, they were trying to usurp yours. It had nothing to do with me."
WELL CONSIDERING YOU SAID YOU WOULD INVALIDATE THEIR TEST SCORES MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING.
And also, I'm soooo glad you have all those degrees Mr. Psychiatrist, but I'm fairly certain that two 8th graders flirting with each other has NOTHING TO DO WITH ME.
I asked him if there was anything else considering they were so "terrible." Nope..they're just terrible. Looking at each other. Nodding. "Supposedly" someone had their cellphone out but I don't know how I--the person who stared at them the whole time they were testing--didn't see it but he--the person who read a book the whole time they were testing--did.
They should really be ashamed of themselves.
He also said that he wouldn't speak to them because they don't know who he is. Hey, I'm no genius but I have an idea. Maybe if you speak to them they'll know who you are? Crazy, I know.
I don't really know him...nobody does. He keeps to himself.
They put him in my room for standardized testing to "proctor" or help me out with pencil passing out and whatever else. He came in 30 seconds before the test started, walked over to MY desk, sat in MY chair and read a book the entire time. He did not speak to me or the children even during breaks or after the test was over.
The next morning he came to my room before school to tell me that my children were "terrible" and he could have my tests invalidated because of their behavior.
I had NO clue what he was talking about. I've seen bad behavior too many times to count; my kids were great. I asked him what on earth he meant.
"While you weren't looking, the tall boy and the tall girl were hitting at each other."
Why didn't you say anything to them?
This man says to me, "They weren't trying to usurp MY authority, they were trying to usurp yours. It had nothing to do with me."
WELL CONSIDERING YOU SAID YOU WOULD INVALIDATE THEIR TEST SCORES MAYBE YOU SHOULD HAVE SAID SOMETHING.
And also, I'm soooo glad you have all those degrees Mr. Psychiatrist, but I'm fairly certain that two 8th graders flirting with each other has NOTHING TO DO WITH ME.
I asked him if there was anything else considering they were so "terrible." Nope..they're just terrible. Looking at each other. Nodding. "Supposedly" someone had their cellphone out but I don't know how I--the person who stared at them the whole time they were testing--didn't see it but he--the person who read a book the whole time they were testing--did.
They should really be ashamed of themselves.
He also said that he wouldn't speak to them because they don't know who he is. Hey, I'm no genius but I have an idea. Maybe if you speak to them they'll know who you are? Crazy, I know.
F is for Failure (Us, Not Her)
This girl, Ashley. She has some serrrrrrrrrrrious issues. I don't really know what I"m talking about, but she seems pretty manic to me. She's either incredibly morose and quiet, barely talking and not very communicative.
Other times (sometimes the next day, sometimes the next hour, sometimes the next minute) she is completely uncontrollable, running around with a crazy look in her eyes. She'll scream and yell and pull her hair. You can't touch her or talk to her. It's so bad even the other kids ignore her when she gets like that. "She wants you to chase her, Miss Vinson."
I don't have any idea what kind of help she needs but I'm 100% certain she needs some.
I was told today that the only way she can get any help whatsoever is if she fails all her classes next quarter.
Other times (sometimes the next day, sometimes the next hour, sometimes the next minute) she is completely uncontrollable, running around with a crazy look in her eyes. She'll scream and yell and pull her hair. You can't touch her or talk to her. It's so bad even the other kids ignore her when she gets like that. "She wants you to chase her, Miss Vinson."
I don't have any idea what kind of help she needs but I'm 100% certain she needs some.
I was told today that the only way she can get any help whatsoever is if she fails all her classes next quarter.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
%@*#!!!!
A couple of months ago, my best friend the 8th grade administrator decided there were going to be no end of the year activities for the 8th graders. People kindof nodded their heads and went on their way. Well, it's the middle of March now and it's looking like there's REALLY not going to be any end of the year activities for the 8th graders. So we've all heard that they have decided to tear apart the school after the standardized testing is over (next Tuesday.)
We (the 7th grade teachers) want to make sure our babies don't get involved with that craziness, so we had a meeting with them yesterday. We told them that we have a trip to Six Flags planned, a skating trip and a picnic. We also threw in a movie day and game day during April. We talked to them about appropriate behaviors and showed them the behavior checklist that all teachers will be keeping. We explained that we are specifically targeting those who: use profanity, bring cell phones or other electronic devices, bully or tease, come to school out of uniform and skip class.
This one girl who thinks she 25 years old gets super offended and tells the principal that it's not fair for us to mark down every time they curse and use it against them to keep them out of a field trip.
So Principal says, "I'm not talking about if you curse at each other, or just in general. I don't care about that, some of you, it's just a part of your vocabulary. I'm talking about cursing OUT a teacher. Don't do that. That's what we're worried about."
UM, no sorry. I'm also worried about the cursing in general. Look, I curse. Sometimes my feelings cannot be properly expressed with a "darn it!" But I don't curse when I know I'm not supposed to, like in church, at my grandma's, at school, etc. I just don't understand the mentality that we know they don't have any self-control and that's okay. No. We're going to LEARN self-control. In my classroom, I tell them not to curse EVERY.TIME. they curse. I also tell them not to say "I swear to God." And, THEY DON'T. Every now and then, someone will curse and say, "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Vinson."
I mean, even if you are going to be lenient about it, don't come right out and SAY you are. DUHHHH.
We (the 7th grade teachers) want to make sure our babies don't get involved with that craziness, so we had a meeting with them yesterday. We told them that we have a trip to Six Flags planned, a skating trip and a picnic. We also threw in a movie day and game day during April. We talked to them about appropriate behaviors and showed them the behavior checklist that all teachers will be keeping. We explained that we are specifically targeting those who: use profanity, bring cell phones or other electronic devices, bully or tease, come to school out of uniform and skip class.
This one girl who thinks she 25 years old gets super offended and tells the principal that it's not fair for us to mark down every time they curse and use it against them to keep them out of a field trip.
So Principal says, "I'm not talking about if you curse at each other, or just in general. I don't care about that, some of you, it's just a part of your vocabulary. I'm talking about cursing OUT a teacher. Don't do that. That's what we're worried about."
UM, no sorry. I'm also worried about the cursing in general. Look, I curse. Sometimes my feelings cannot be properly expressed with a "darn it!" But I don't curse when I know I'm not supposed to, like in church, at my grandma's, at school, etc. I just don't understand the mentality that we know they don't have any self-control and that's okay. No. We're going to LEARN self-control. In my classroom, I tell them not to curse EVERY.TIME. they curse. I also tell them not to say "I swear to God." And, THEY DON'T. Every now and then, someone will curse and say, "Oh, I'm sorry Miss Vinson."
I mean, even if you are going to be lenient about it, don't come right out and SAY you are. DUHHHH.
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Monday, March 8, 2010
What's the Plan, Stan?
Yeah. Today we were supposed to start standardized testing. We had this big meeting last week where we found out the revised schedule (testing for 3 hours, 45 minute periods afterwards.) We were strictly told not to plan lessons because the students will be tired from the testing. Today was supposed to be "Sports Day" where we take the kids outside and played sports trivia inside. Tomorrow was "Game Day", etc. It was a big plan and a big deal and everybody had it all worked out.
At 7:30a.m., we got the announcement that we aren't starting standardized testing until TOMORROW, so go ahead and "practice skills" for one more day. Considering we started the morning with not a single teacher having any idea what they were going to do with children all day, I'm just glad we all survived.
At 7:30a.m., we got the announcement that we aren't starting standardized testing until TOMORROW, so go ahead and "practice skills" for one more day. Considering we started the morning with not a single teacher having any idea what they were going to do with children all day, I'm just glad we all survived.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
I Should Feel Bad But It Serves Her Right
Apparently some kids heard my little dispute with the 8th Grade Asst. Principal. (I guess they were in around the corner or something...if she had been using a normal person's voice they wouldn't have heard.)
And they told the entire 8th grade that those kids aren't being moved because I fussed out Ms. Belton.
HA.
And they told the entire 8th grade that those kids aren't being moved because I fussed out Ms. Belton.
HA.
Second Worst Parent Conference Ever
Yesterday was a half-day for students. Teachers stayed for parent conferences. We do this every quarter and nobody ever comes. About 30 of my old students showed up though and it was pretty great.
But in the early afternoon, the other 7th grade teacher came to get me because Keenon's mom was there.
Keenon is in my first period and he's been at our school for about a month. He's most definitely ADHD but he's not a bad kid. In my room at least, he talks ALL THE TIME. To himself, to other kids, to the wall, whatever. I do like him though. He's one of those kids where you know they don't really respond to yelling, so you just kindof have to "Keenon, sssh." "Oohmybadmissvinson". Sometimes I have to sit beside him so he'll focus.
Apparently in Language Arts and Math, he's a holy terror. I guess they don't really get down with the whole "no yelling" thing and this makes Keenon lose his mind. The Language Arts teacher is the kind of person who always has to win and assert authority. I guess it gets pretty ugly in there.
I came in and said my piece. "Keenon's a talker. He's not disrespectful, he's a nice kid, but he distracts himself and others and he really needs to focus."
Language Arts Teacher: "Well, I don't know what kind of perfume Miss Vinson is wearing to make you be so good for her..." (WTF?)
The teacher and Keenon started arguing. That lasted for about ten minutes with lots of teacher looks to the mother: "you see what I mean?" and a lot of Keenon saying, "she lying on me, ma!" The math teacher joined in (there were EIGHT adults in this meeting. I'm the only one who said anything remotely positive...hmmm, maybe it's not my perfume?)
Towards the end, Keenon's mom starts yelling, Keenon starts crying and she says,
"YOU ARE GOING TO BE NOTHING! NOTHING! YOU WILL BE NOTHING IN YOUR LIFE!" while chasing him around the room. She then said she had to go to work and was leaving him there and she hoped he had a way to get home.
But in the early afternoon, the other 7th grade teacher came to get me because Keenon's mom was there.
Keenon is in my first period and he's been at our school for about a month. He's most definitely ADHD but he's not a bad kid. In my room at least, he talks ALL THE TIME. To himself, to other kids, to the wall, whatever. I do like him though. He's one of those kids where you know they don't really respond to yelling, so you just kindof have to "Keenon, sssh." "Oohmybadmissvinson". Sometimes I have to sit beside him so he'll focus.
Apparently in Language Arts and Math, he's a holy terror. I guess they don't really get down with the whole "no yelling" thing and this makes Keenon lose his mind. The Language Arts teacher is the kind of person who always has to win and assert authority. I guess it gets pretty ugly in there.
I came in and said my piece. "Keenon's a talker. He's not disrespectful, he's a nice kid, but he distracts himself and others and he really needs to focus."
Language Arts Teacher: "Well, I don't know what kind of perfume Miss Vinson is wearing to make you be so good for her..." (WTF?)
The teacher and Keenon started arguing. That lasted for about ten minutes with lots of teacher looks to the mother: "you see what I mean?" and a lot of Keenon saying, "she lying on me, ma!" The math teacher joined in (there were EIGHT adults in this meeting. I'm the only one who said anything remotely positive...hmmm, maybe it's not my perfume?)
Towards the end, Keenon's mom starts yelling, Keenon starts crying and she says,
"YOU ARE GOING TO BE NOTHING! NOTHING! YOU WILL BE NOTHING IN YOUR LIFE!" while chasing him around the room. She then said she had to go to work and was leaving him there and she hoped he had a way to get home.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Semi-Annual Verbal Altercation With Administration? CHECK!
WHEW.
Okay, so.
Today the acting 8th grade Asst. Principal decided that 5 of the eighth graders were acting so terrible that they were going to be put back into 7th grade. Go ahead and re-read that sentence so it's full meaning can take effect.
And can you believe I had the nerve to be upset about this? And not only did she decide this, she didn't even TELL us. This kid shows up in my room yelling something about how he "got a paper to be here, ya heard?" Um...what? He then says, "it don't matter cause I'm suspended anyways but when I get back I'm this class." And he left.
I step into the hallway as this Asst. Principal is walking by. "Ms. Belton, can I talk to you for just a second?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Are you seriously putting 8th graders back into 7th grade?"
"Yes we are."
"Ms. Belton. First off, it's March. And it's not fair to me or my students to h---"
(She holds her hand up to me and does the "shut your mouth" motion with it")"No. No. No. No. You don't know what unfair is!"
"You can't keep screwing these kids over like---"
"NO! If anybody gets screwed over in this building, it's ME and you don't know what you're talking about!"
"Ms. Belton? Can I spea---"
"No You CANNOT SPEAK. NO."
"Maybe we can have this conversation when you realize I'm an adult and not a child?"
At this point, another administrator came up and told me that she would take care of the situation and we can talk about it later. I thanked her for helping me out and understanding my point.
After school, the 8th grade team went to Principal and bitched and moaned because now they can't get rid of these kids. Principal was actually reasonable for once in her life and told them it was too late in the year for such a move. They left all huffy.
Ms. Belton was in the office. It was around 4pm, about 3 hours after our little altercation. I went to her and said,
"Ms. Belton, I know we disagree, but I don't want to have any ill feelings toward you and I want us to be okay. I'm sorry for what happened earlier and I hope we can talk about this without---"
She turns to me, looks me in the face and says, "The NEXT time I tell you to shut-up, you better SHUT. UP."
"You know what Ms. Belton? I'm going to give you some time. I'll come back to you tomorrow and see how you're doing."
Okay, so.
Today the acting 8th grade Asst. Principal decided that 5 of the eighth graders were acting so terrible that they were going to be put back into 7th grade. Go ahead and re-read that sentence so it's full meaning can take effect.
And can you believe I had the nerve to be upset about this? And not only did she decide this, she didn't even TELL us. This kid shows up in my room yelling something about how he "got a paper to be here, ya heard?" Um...what? He then says, "it don't matter cause I'm suspended anyways but when I get back I'm this class." And he left.
I step into the hallway as this Asst. Principal is walking by. "Ms. Belton, can I talk to you for just a second?"
"Yeah, sure."
"Are you seriously putting 8th graders back into 7th grade?"
"Yes we are."
"Ms. Belton. First off, it's March. And it's not fair to me or my students to h---"
(She holds her hand up to me and does the "shut your mouth" motion with it")"No. No. No. No. You don't know what unfair is!"
"You can't keep screwing these kids over like---"
"NO! If anybody gets screwed over in this building, it's ME and you don't know what you're talking about!"
"Ms. Belton? Can I spea---"
"No You CANNOT SPEAK. NO."
"Maybe we can have this conversation when you realize I'm an adult and not a child?"
At this point, another administrator came up and told me that she would take care of the situation and we can talk about it later. I thanked her for helping me out and understanding my point.
After school, the 8th grade team went to Principal and bitched and moaned because now they can't get rid of these kids. Principal was actually reasonable for once in her life and told them it was too late in the year for such a move. They left all huffy.
Ms. Belton was in the office. It was around 4pm, about 3 hours after our little altercation. I went to her and said,
"Ms. Belton, I know we disagree, but I don't want to have any ill feelings toward you and I want us to be okay. I'm sorry for what happened earlier and I hope we can talk about this without---"
She turns to me, looks me in the face and says, "The NEXT time I tell you to shut-up, you better SHUT. UP."
"You know what Ms. Belton? I'm going to give you some time. I'll come back to you tomorrow and see how you're doing."
Small Talk
Yesterday, do you know what I did instead of teaching? I sat in the corner of my room with Raekwon and talked with him about his weekend.
I've talked about Raekwon before (and one day I'll learn to link to previous posts...) He's the one who's two different people.
He was super mega crazy off yesterday. He got suspended, but again, they couldn't get in touch with a parent, so he was sent back to class. Actually, he was pushed into my room by an administrator who then slammed the door in his face. Awesome.
He then proceeds to attempt to fly around my room (arms stretched out and running) all the while shouting at no one "Suck my dick!" "Fuck this shit!" "Sonofabitch!" "Fart Fart Fart Fart" I finally corral him into a seat but he's still spazzing out. I step back into the hallway and say, Uhhhhhh administrator? Looney Tunes over there is really not working out. Since he's already suspended, do you think you could do something with him so I can teach my kids?
"Just ignore him. That's why he's doing it...he wants attention."
I'm sorry, but my couple of sweet, wonderful kids really shouldn't have to try to work through his craziness. They deserve to be in a room without profanity and insanity.
So, my only option was to give him what he wanted--attention. I put the kids to group work and sat down with him. "How was your weekend?" "What'd you do?" "What's your favorite TV show?" And he was calm and collected and talked to me the whole time. He didn't say another curse word or do anything inappropriate. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?
I've talked about Raekwon before (and one day I'll learn to link to previous posts...) He's the one who's two different people.
He was super mega crazy off yesterday. He got suspended, but again, they couldn't get in touch with a parent, so he was sent back to class. Actually, he was pushed into my room by an administrator who then slammed the door in his face. Awesome.
He then proceeds to attempt to fly around my room (arms stretched out and running) all the while shouting at no one "Suck my dick!" "Fuck this shit!" "Sonofabitch!" "Fart Fart Fart Fart" I finally corral him into a seat but he's still spazzing out. I step back into the hallway and say, Uhhhhhh administrator? Looney Tunes over there is really not working out. Since he's already suspended, do you think you could do something with him so I can teach my kids?
"Just ignore him. That's why he's doing it...he wants attention."
I'm sorry, but my couple of sweet, wonderful kids really shouldn't have to try to work through his craziness. They deserve to be in a room without profanity and insanity.
So, my only option was to give him what he wanted--attention. I put the kids to group work and sat down with him. "How was your weekend?" "What'd you do?" "What's your favorite TV show?" And he was calm and collected and talked to me the whole time. He didn't say another curse word or do anything inappropriate. I mean, what else was I supposed to do?
Oh, Well, If He SAID So...
So there's the big mystery/drama going down at the school. Someone has paintball pellets, and they are throwing them at people/walls/anything. This person threw one during class change time and hit one of my students in the leg and splattered paint everywhere. I took the evidence to the office and reported the situation.
Principal came around to all the 7th grade classes and bitched them out ("WHEN we find this person, not IF, you will be EXPELLED. If you know who it is, tell them and you can get a reward.etc.,etc.) Nobody said anything. We weren't even 100% sure it was a 7th grader.
Until lunch when somebody threw some more, and only 7th graders were in there. So, we've narrowed it down. During 3rd period, three boys came to me and said, "Ms. Vinson, we don't want the reward or anything, but Quamonta is the one with the paintballs. Don't tell anyone we told you."
So, I go to Principal, tell her what the kids told me.
She calls Quamonta to the office and soon afterward he goes back to class.
I see her in the office this afternoon:
"Well, he said he didn't do it so it wasn't him."
Wow. This detective stuff is way easier than I thought.
Principal came around to all the 7th grade classes and bitched them out ("WHEN we find this person, not IF, you will be EXPELLED. If you know who it is, tell them and you can get a reward.etc.,etc.) Nobody said anything. We weren't even 100% sure it was a 7th grader.
Until lunch when somebody threw some more, and only 7th graders were in there. So, we've narrowed it down. During 3rd period, three boys came to me and said, "Ms. Vinson, we don't want the reward or anything, but Quamonta is the one with the paintballs. Don't tell anyone we told you."
So, I go to Principal, tell her what the kids told me.
She calls Quamonta to the office and soon afterward he goes back to class.
I see her in the office this afternoon:
"Well, he said he didn't do it so it wasn't him."
Wow. This detective stuff is way easier than I thought.
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