Badass

5th period I teach these 5 bad kids math. One of those kids is the previously mentioned Kim. Well, Kim got suspended for 3 days after our altercation. But I forgot to say that during the altercation, there were some other kids in the stairwell.
This is a conversation I had the other day:

"Miss Vinson, can I move to your 5th period class? I ain't learning nothin' with that other lady."

"I can check and see Raekwon, but you can't act crazy. I don't play."

"Oh! I know! I'll be good! I don't want you to beat me up like you did Kim!"

HA! THAT'S RIGHT BITCHES!

The Change

One hand Reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for
They say what good have you done
By saving just this one
It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm

And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me

This heart Still believes
That love and mercy still exist
While all the hatreds rage and so many say
That love is all but pointless in madness such as this
It's like trying to stop a fire
With the moisture from a kiss

And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me

As long as one heart still holds on
Then hope is never really gone

What I do is so
This world will know
That it will not change me

-garth brooks.

A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words

This is only the beginning of my "video montage." Another teacher has some pictures of the food fight that I want to put in. So, when I get those, it will be new and improved. What do you think so far?

I got the idea from the school board meeting where another school had a powerpoint of how awesome they are. Well, we're not awesome, we're ridiculous.

Some explanations (In case those thousand words weren't enough):

1. The hair on the floor is left over from a fight.

2. The lunch. Eck. It gets pushed over on a cart from another building. Each part is microwaved and served in those little packages you see the corn in. They have to be microwaved about 1/2 an hour before the kids eat it, then left on the cart until they get to lunch.

3. All the initials: PZK, YGF, etc. are gangs.

4. The empty room with the red carpet is our "Media Center."

5. The kids kicked all those holes in the walls and tore off the door handles.

6. I know there isn't anything wrong with that one desk,but it's an elementary size desk and it pisses me off that we have to use it.

7. The desks with all the graffiti: I just walked around the building and found them in classrooms. (Some of them were SENT TO US like that from other schools because we don't have enough.)

8. You can't drink the water because it has too much lead in it.

9. That picture that says "Change the Toner Cartridge" is there because our copy machine NEVER WORKS.

Name Game Part II

RaeKwon
Dayquantea
Shi'Deek (the kids don't get this one either. They call him "sudoku")
Quamonte
Aniton
Jayquanna
Elrico
Rico

Sell Crazy Someplace Else. We're All Stocked Up Here.

So, found out the teacher who got hit with the chair broke some bones in his face(?) or something and has to have surgery.

There was another teacher in the room, but she didn't see anything at all apparently. (She's kind of lame...) Well, none of the kids are talking. Nobody wants to "snitch."

Today, Officer Johnson brought a kid named Wade to the office to ask him if he had seen anything. Wade is a good kid. He minds his business and does his work.
I was in the office while Officer Johnson was talking to Wade. Another kid, one with a big fat mouth named Montrell, was also in the office. I knew that Montrell would blab to the whole school that Wade was "snitching", even though he wasn't. He said that he saw some people in the room, but he didn't see who actually threw the chair. Officer Johnson told him to write down what he saw, even though it wasn't exactly what happened.
I told Wade that I was going to pretend that I had written him up, and that's why he was talking to Officer Johnson. I yelled a little, he looked morose. Oscars all around.
Except Officer Johnson pulled him aside AGAIN which ruined everything. My last period was all abuzz about Wade ratting out whoever.
After school I pulled aside Montrell and another kid, Darius. I told them that I don't like getting involved in this stuff but I don't want an innocent kid to get hurt. Darius literally turned around as I was speaking and told two other boys, "ey, yo, chill on that." They had been mumbling about "bangin'" somebody. They stopped and said okay.


Also,
Mrs. Allen got hit with a garbage can today.

I got into an "altercation" with a boy named Kim. He called a girl a fucking bitch, I told him not to do that. He got upset. He grabbed my wrists, I pushed him. He told me to "get off him." I told him, "You're holding me, dumbass." He got mad, said fuck a few more times. whatever.

Just Another Manic Tuesday

1. Walking up to the 2nd floor before 3rd period, I heard a whole bunch of screaming. As I came up the stairs, I saw about 75 kids standing around looking into Room 204. I saw the gym teacher pushing kids out of the way. He went into the room and slammed the door. The kids all stampeded in all different directions.
The teacher in that room had been hit with a chair. He had blood all over his face, his clothes and the floor.
He is the 5th teacher (that I know of) to be physically assaulted this year. We've ALL been verbally assaulted, some on a daily basis.

2. Later on, there was a student fight. Everyone in my last period class brought "souvenirs": hair weave that got ripped out and was laying on the floor.

3. I now teach 2 periods of math. Each class has 6 kids. It is the 6 kids that another math teacher simply can't handle. There have been days when my entire class was suspended.

4. Since my new classes are so small, they gave my room to another teacher. I carry around a milk crate with my belongings. Why don't I get a freakin' shopping cart?

5. My formal observation was today. I have to teach in empty classrooms that I have to look for. I have to teach math. I have to teach kids that no one else can control. I had to start these things more than halfway through the year.
I HOPE she says something negative to me.

Geography

"Miss Vinson, is there still 52 states since New Orleans is gone?"

Of Course I Keep Things Like That In My Desk!

So, sometimes while I'm teaching, I will eat dried fruit. Cranberries, Mangos, etc. I also have some cinnamon flavored dried apples. At about 1:30p.m., I took some out and began eating them.

"Is that shrimp?"


Mmmm. My favorite afternoon snack: room-temperature shrimp!