I Am So Depressed About Moving I Can't Even Handle It.

95% of the teachers in the building have to move. Everyone who is moving is moving to a totally different floor. We have one *shitty* elevator and only one of those flatbed things.

We are in school until December 23rd. The only time we are allowed to move is after school or from 11-3 on December 23rd. (Also, if you choose to move after school before then, you can't move anything you will need to teach for the rest of the week.

We aren't allowed to say anything to the kids until the principal talks to them. My new room has no: chalkboard, bookshelf, cabinets of any kind, desks, or chairs.

And in case it's not clear as to why being beside the office is horrible, horrible, horrible:
1. Everyone who steps inside the building will see my room. They'll probably see it before they even see the main office. Everyone includes the CEO, parents, fancy pants observers, EVERYONE.
2. Some crazy shit goes down in that office. I'm not really feeling being the first line of defense when somebody's mom goes nutso.
3. My whole discipline strategy is not the agreed upon, 'first, rearrange seat, second, assign detention, third, parent phone call.' it is more, "MESS WITH ME AND I WILL KILL YOU." I don't think that will be as easily implemented with everybody and their mother (literally!) breathing down my neck.
4. Everyone who is late to school (mostly everyone) has to come to the main office. I know all the kids. Everyone will be bothering me all day.
5. Whenever the main office gets crowded (a lot of the kids seem to plan their freak-outs simultaneously), I just know they'll be sending them to me. "Miss Vinson, can he just sit here for a second?"


UGH.

Logic

Push a Teacher?
3 day suspension

Flick the lights on and off in the cafeteria?
4 day suspension

No Need To Call Me!

From my friend Valerie:

They Hate Me

This is the new classroom I have exactly one day to move into (It's been a storage room all year):



This is how far away it is from the main office:

This Totally Looks Legitimate

His pass forging skills are unparalleled:





Can't you just see his thought process?

"What do I need? A Pass!
Where do I want to go? the Hallway!
Who am I? Darius!"

I'm Tired of Faculty Meetings That Change My Life

So we got our new principal.

This is all I know:

1. Next Friday, I have to start packing up my room.
2. They are shutting down the entire 3rd floor and everyone in the school is relocating to a new section of the building.
3. I'm losing one of my classes (7th graders) and gaining a new class (6th grade).
4. MY NEW CLASSROOM IS IN THE ROOM NEXT DOOR TO THE MAIN OFFICE.

More info after I process all this information.

What the What

By The Way, Real Quick, Just a Little FYI

Principalison'indefinitepersonalleave'newprincipalcomes tomorrow. Any questions?No?Great!Bye!

STUPID

A girl named Shawnae (who I taught last year) pushed the 8th grade Social Studies teacher. She actually had to yell and scream a little to even get Shawnae suspended (for 3 days.) She said (understandably) said Shawnae can't come back in her room.

Today, Shawnae is back. Recap: She's in 8th grade, I taught her last year.


They put her in my first period class, the 7th grade one.
The 8th grade Social Studies teacher is the only one who even said anything to me about it.

Update

You know things aren't going well when I never post. When every time I decide to write is going to turn into a post where I have the urge to TYPE IN ALL CAPS BECAUSE I AM SO ANGRY, I know it is time to take a step back.

It's not good. My actual day-to-day life isn't bad, my classroom is only sometimes bad...but the school as a whole is the worst thing I have ever seen. There are several things that probably deserve their own post, but I will lump them all here just because all the titles would be something like, "WTF".

1. We had a meeting a couple of weeks ago. The special education classes are a mess--none of their teachers have any control and the kids aren't learning anything. So, the solution is to completely dissolve the special ed classes and put all those students in regular ed. Yet another meeting where I am told that if I would "just work a little harder" then everything will be fine. So what if these kids read on a kindergarten level, right? As the Special Ed Department Chair told my co-worker, "They need to be in a classroom with regular ed students so they can realize their limitations." WOW. really?
All I have to do is modify the classwork I give the students so everyone can understand it. I'm no expert, but I'm pretty sure the kindergarten level is something like, "one fish, two fish, red fish, blue fish" and I'm going to modify "Mapping Coordinates Using Latitude and Longitude" to three and four letter words?

2. I have a student named Michael. He is in 6th grade and everytime he starts a sentence with, "Did you ever teach a kid named..." it ends with some crazy ass child who got put out of our school at some point. So, obviously, his friend base leaves a little to be desired. The other day, he told me this story:
"Did you ever teach a kid named Andre [Last Name]?"
"Yeah.."
"He's locked up."
"Yeah? What happened?"
"Well, he was asleep and me and Donte (Donte and Andre...both crazy ass boys who got put out of our school for doing something terrible) had this knife. And we took the knife and held it over a fire until it got really hot. And then we put it on Andre's face. And when his father took him to the hospital 'cause of the burn, the hospital people called DSS, and when DSS came, they realized he had a warrant out and so he got arrested and now he's in jail."

"Wait, you put a hot knife on somebody's face?!"

"Yeah?..."

After our conversation ended, I went to the school social workers to tell them that this boy needs some serious intervention. They directed me to one of the school psychologist and hopefully somebody will talk to this kid.

During the conversation, one of the social workers told me that the school is so bad right now, that we will be on the news before the school year is out. She said "a fire, a stabbing, a shooting, something...and if we don't get on the news, we are the luckiest people alive."

3. My team consists of me (6 years teaching), a science teacher (4 years teaching), a math teacher (12 years teaching) and a language arts teacher (25 years teaching.) We are the "veteran" team in the school. The Lang Arts teacher, Ms. P, said she has never had it this difficult. Last Wednesday, something happened. I don't want to be incorrect on the details, because this thing is pretty huge. But from what the student told me, she got put out of the classroom, when she tried to get back in, Ms. P hit her so hard she fell on the ground. While she was on the ground, Ms. P got down and slammed her head into the ground multiple times. (She's not hurt, she was in school the next day and told me the story.)
I don't know what to say. I don't even know what my opinion is. Ms. P hasn't been back and the Asst. Principal told me that she won't be back. I guess they have to do an investigation, but the student's story is the same as Ms. P's and the entire class. Twenty-five years of teaching down the drain in less than 5 minutes. Insane.
But while all the teachers have been talking about this, other information has come up. For example, AT LEAST 7 teachers have been assaulted by students since the start of the school year, and only one of those students has gotten any punishment at all. I DO NOT condone what Ms. P did, but everybody has their breaking point.

The people who took over the school, the ones who were supposed to "turn it around" rarely are even in the building and when they are, they just walk around with a horrified look on their face and then blame us for the problems. We had a meeting with our Turnaround Director. He keeps talking about curriculum and Professional Development. The Math teacher on my team said, "You know what, it really seems like you guys think that WE'RE the problem in this building." He insisted that wasn't true and he knows we are working hard and blah blah blah....but when your ONLY answers to problems are for US to "try harder" or "have better lesson plans" or some other ridiculousness, what are we supposed to think?

A Thanksgiving Miracle

Kids won't stop eating sunflower seeds and spitting the shells all over school. It happened in my classroom today. I saw two mice in my room yesterday. I may or may not have threatened to spill the trashcan over the head of the next person who eats sunflower seeds in my classroom.

No more sunflower seeds!

Follow The Yellow Brick Space Shuttle

The other day, Kevin wouldn't leave the building at the end of the day. Another teacher and I linked arms with him to walk him out.

He starts singing, "We're OFF to see the WIZARD!"

When I laughed, he looked at me and said, "Yeah, you can be Dorothy and I can be the Robot."

"You mean the Tin Man?"

"...No, the Robot."

"Okay then."

The Irony Is, They Are Studying Irony In Language Arts

Since I am at a "turnaround" school and since no one cares about Social Studies, I have to spend the whole first quarter on what amounts to character lessons. I liked them at first, but now they are getting on my nerves. I want to teach social studies!

Anyway, yesterday the lesson was called, "What is Conflict?"

Me: How do you deal when you have a conflict?....Dayshea?

Dayshea: I usually try to ignore whoever is bothering me...

Kaliniya: No, you don't.

Dayshea: BITCH I DO TOO YOU SHUT THE FUCK UP BITCH. I SWEAR TO GOD

Kaliniya: Exactly.

Well, Yes. But I Assume You Frown On Beatings.

Last Friday was a half day. The students were dismissed at 11:15. Another teacher and I went out to get some lunch. Apparently there was some confusion about dismissal and kids left at all different times. When we returned, we were walking up the stairs and 3 students of ours were walking down. "Somebody tore down everybody's bulletin boards! The whole floor is a mess!" The girls said. The other teacher tried to ask them who did it. "Some 7th grade boys..."

I was immediately suspicious, because the girls telling us this are no angels. So, while the other teacher was still trying to talk to them, I said, "it doesn't matter...we'll just watch it on the security cameras." Guess what happened? The girls immediately ran away.

We go and watch the security tapes. Yep, it was those girls. Not only did they rip down 8 bulletin boards, but the artwork of students was taken down INDIVIDUALLY and ripped in half.

After viewing the tapes, we go back upstairs. The assistant principal sees the mess and says, "Oh my gosh, you guys. This is so sad. Have you thought of any punishments for them?"

Nobody Was Apathetic About That

I teach Social Studies; everyday we watch CNN Student News, which is a ten minute news program that gives the big headlines around the world. Student News has been talking about the Chilean miners for over a month.

Dashaun is an okay kid. He's polite and calm. I think he wears the exact same clothes everyday, but they aren't terribly disgusting, so maybe he washes them every night, I don't know. He sometimes does his work, he sometimes sleeps. Even when he does his work, it's kind of half-assed. I didn't really think he was paying attention to anything that was going on. He's kindof off in his little world.

On Monday before school started, he literally RAN up to me (I've never seen him be excited about anything.) "MISS VINSON THE MINERS ARE GETTING OUT ON WEDNESDAY!!!!" When Wednesday came around, he had me pull up cnn.com where they were keeping a running tally of the number of miners rescued and the number still remaining. He sat and did all his work, occasionally checking the screen for updates.

Just A Reminder

Just Try Harder!

Today was INCREDIBLY frustrating. I have a student named Robert. He should NOT be in 6th grade. He cannot handle multiple teachers and classrooms and the overstimulation of a large group of students. I have to tell him EVERY DAY to stop laying on the floor. Anytime you say his name to get him to focus, he throws a tantrum. During his math test, he got so mad that he went and put himself INSIDE his own locker. His reading and writing scores are below a 3rd grade level. No teacher has been able to get him to do any work. I even had a special educator come into my room and work only with him for an entire period--still nothing.

We had an emergency IEP meeting called to address his placement. (All his teachers think he should be in a special education class.)
Well, during this meeting the IEP chairperson basically told me that I am a lazy teacher who just gives up on kids and is trying to get kids out of my classrooms and into someone else's. She gave Robert a stern talking-to and then decided to wash her hands of the whole business. I mean, since I'm his teacher, if I would just work a little harder to accomodate Robert's needs--that IS my job, after all. Forget that I have 31 other students in that class to teach, I need to make sure that I am keeping Robert off the floor and out of his locker and actually sitting down in a seat and not starting fights with anyone in his general proximity. Forget about the fact that we should be trying to do what's best for Robert, I mean, how bad would it look if we put another kid in special education?! We have to keep up appearances!! Forget about the fact that the other teachers and I see him every day and give him a stern talking-to every single day, clearly the 10 minutes you just spent with him overrule anything we could possibly say, right? I mean, you know best.

The Enabler

I usually don't confront parents. I mean, I'm not a parent; I have no idea what that job is like. I also just think that parents and teachers should have a cooperative relationship. I can't change their mind. However.

This girl, Mariah. She is on my roll for 1st period. I have NEVER EVER seen her in my class. EVER. Her mother brings her to school every day at 9:10 (first period is over at 9:05). And about 3 times a week, Mariah's mother will wander over and say, "Ms. Vinson, Mariah was late yesterday because..." blahblahblah some b.s. reason. What makes it worse is, Mariah's mother stays at the school ALL DAY LONG. She is quoteunquote a parent volunteer....but she really just walks around and hangs out in the teacher's lounge (by herself, btw...we don't have time for that place.) If you can BRING you daughter to school EVERY DAY and STAY at the school EVERY DAY you can make more of an effort to show up before 9am.

Also, Mariah has never said one word to me. Not a single freaking word. Her mother will come ask for make-up work (twice in 5 weeks...) Her mother will come list off the 501 reasons why Mariah has to stroll in an hour and a half late.

So, today when Mariah's mother came by...to tell me why Mariah missed all of last week (she was "actually sick"), I told her that I was sorry, but no amount of excuses will keep Mariah from failing my class. She has to actually show up. I'm sorry it's too early, but it's what time they tell me to teach. If I have to go by it, so does everybody else. She can't do "make-up work" for EVERY SINGLE DAY OF SCHOOL.

Her mother just nodded and wandered away.

Then she sent another student to ask me if Mariah could get a permission slip for the field trip I'm taking on Thursday.

No, lady. NO.

Parent of the Year Nominations Can Be Turned In At The Main Office

TyQuan is one of our worst behaved sixth graders. He does absolutely no work and anytime you talk to him, he has a huge attitude. We'd been calling home frequently to tallk with his mother. When I told her he was cursing in my class and not doing any work, she said, "Okay, well he can't stay past 3pm for detention" and hung up. That was weeks ago...nothing changed.

He got suspended last week and was told he could not come back to school without his parent meeting with us. Yesterday we all sat down for a conference and expressed our concern that TyQuan was failing every single class. After everyone had went around and basically said the same thing, TyQuan's mother says:

"I had to use gas money to drive all the way up here just to listen to you people talk?"

Unbelievable.

1. The giant fight I broke up? With the two girls screaming and punching and pulling out hair? The one where one of the girls hit another teacher in the face? NOT SUSPENDED. No detention, no punishment. They went to "mediation" where they "worked out" their problem. They missed class for this mediation. And now everything is "fine."

2. My last period class has THIRTY TWO students. They all show up. Ten of them are special needs kids. We talked to one of our administrators, explaining that we can't assist the children with special needs since there are SO MANY OTHER KIDS in the class. She said, "Well, what is your solution? Until you come up with a solution, then I can't help you."

It's Too Early For This!!!!

Ohmygod, yesterday was bananas. A teacher on my team who has been teaching for 25 years said she has never seen anything like it.
There were just hoards and hoards of children running in the hallway all day. During 2nd period, I had to leave my students to go break up a fight down the hall. None of the teachers in that part of the hallway came out to help, but all their kids did. There had to be 40 children standing there watching this fight. And me and another teacher from MY team. We didn't even know those kids! They were ripping out hair and screaming and clawing. I was exhausted when it was finally over. (Oh, and neither girl was suspended. They just had to go to "mediation" and talk it out.)
The kids aren't listening to us at all. Two solid, strong teachers on my team said they feel incompetent now. Every single thing they say to anybody turns into some screaming tantrum. "Go sit down, please."..."I AIN'T SITTING DOWN. GET OUT MY FACE. FUCK THIS SHIT." I haven't quite got to that part, but i feel like I'm talking to myself most of the time. Nobody is learning anything.
I spent my ENTIRE planning period yesterday standing outside my doorway "shooing" children away from my section of the hallway.
These are behaviors we saw in April and May of last year, not freaking September. The kids know they run this place. I was wrong when I said nothing had changed...now, there's not a single person they will listen to.

Dear Middle School, Everything Is Not Gay.

"You have homework." "That's gay."
"Hello." "You're gay."

I don't know what it is about being 12 that makes everything gay, but it drives me crazy. The other day, I kindof snapped.
We were talking about ways to calm down when you're angry. Anthony says that he cleans when he is angry.

Rashon: "That's gay! You're gay!"

Me: "Oh, so only gay people be clean? Straight people are dirty?"

Rashon: "I'm not dirty!"

Me: "Well, then according to your logic, you're gay."

Rashon: "I'm not gay!"

Me: "So, you made a ridiculous statement."

Rashon: "Miss Vinson, only women clean when they are angry, so he must be gay."

Me: "I'm a woman who DOESN'T clean when I'm angry....what am I? Is there something wrong with me?"

Rashon: "No...but....it's just that...I made a ridiculous statement."

Parent Quote of the Year

"I used to think that all these bad kids were scared of their parents, and if their parents only knew about their behavior, it would stop. I just met some other parents and I realized they are worse than the kids are!"

This Man Is Crazy

Today, with half an hour left in the school day, we hear this announcement: "Teachers and students. This is an early announcement. Whoever is interested in playing on the school basketball team, please come downstairs RIGHT NOW. Thank you."

WHAT. Of course, the entire school wants to go. I made my kids (15 out of my 30 kids wanted to go) and I walked them in a line down the stairs into chaos. I just walked away. Is he serious?! It can't be an after-school meeting? You know, to make sure they are serious and not just trying to skip class.

I mean, i hate to point out the obvious...but damn.

I Have A New Student

His name is Jihad.

Times When It's Okay To Kill Someone

So, seriously, I don't give a shit about grades and tests and making our goals about standardized scores or whatever. I really just wish I could go in everyday, say something controversial and have my kids talk about it.

Today we read a news article about 3 teenage boys who broke into a man's house during the middle of the day. When they realized he was there, they tried to go back out the window. He fired one shot, hitting one of the boys in the back and killing him.

"Did he have the right to shoot him?" and "Should he go to jail?' were something we discussed for about 45 minutes and it was AWESOME.

Anyways, in case you were wondering, this is what the 6th graders decided:

1. You can kill someone if you have a "good" reason. (They couldn't decide who determines whether or not the reason is good. Also, according to them, Ty'Quan not having his homework is not a "good" reason.)

2. You can kill someone if they hit you in your face for no reason.

3. You can kill someone as long as you have witnesses to back up your reasons.

4. You can kill someone if they come to your house and you don't want them to.

5. None of this applies if the person you are planning on killing is a friend or relative of any of my students.

Today Was Better

I guess you get a little perspective when the teacher down the hall ends the day having to be talked out of quitting or the one downstairs spends most of the time crying.

Also, I've never worked for reasonable people before, and it's amazing how far a simple, "I understand your frustration" can go. The school's a mess, nothing has changed, but a big thank you to the people who listen when I voice my concerns and actually make a concerted effort to make things better.

Turns out I'm not crazy after all!

I Kind of Want To Punch Somebody In The Face

Yesterday in our staff meeting after school from the guy who is our "Turnaround Director": "Never, ever yell at these kids. They've already been yelled at. If yelling worked, we wouldn't have to be here turning this school around."

WELL, as my friend Jen (shoutout!) so eloquently put it, "If idiot solutions worked, they also wouldn't be there."

REALLY?! REALLY?! You think you get paid the big bucks to come tell me some moronic thing like, "don't yell" and everything's going to be fixed??

Today was a pretty bad day. Nothing even really happened, my kids are just ALREADY ANNOYING. It's the second damn day of school! When I step out into the hallway or go onto other floors, it looks EXACTLY THE SAME as it has every other year. Kids running the hallway, no consequences.

So, apparently when we went to that summer training, they just wanted to tell us all these things we COULD implement....not that they would help us implement such things. "You could do a Friday Breakfast Club, guys! You could bring in donuts and juice for your students that did well that week!"
Thank you for that genius advice. I would never think of something so smart and wonderful and life-changing all on my own, because I have the brain capacity of a bird. I basically just wandered in off the street to hang out with these short people that I just recently found out are actually not small adults, but something called "children." Whatever would I do without you, my saving grace, my one lifeline to dealing with these people. I am so glad you all get paid so much money to tell me how to interact with kids you don't interact with yourself. Why don't you wander on over to the hospital and give the surgeons tips on a more effective and efficient way to do a heart surgery? And on the way there, why don't you stop by the construction workers and critique their way of laying pavement?.....No?...just me?...I'm the lucky one? Yay, again, I really appreciate your pearls of wisdom.

He's Ready

We had 6th grade orientation on Thursday. After it was over I was standing the hallway talking to an incoming student.

"Hi, What's your name?"

"Corey."

"It's nice to meet you, Corey."

"Do y'all have a hall monitor up at this school?"

"Yes."

"...Is she fast?"

That Was Fast.

So this is a picture of the hundred or so boxes of books that were in the classroom next to me. They are full of textbooks, so each box weighs at least twenty pounds, if not more. They are not science books, but they were in the science teacher's classroom. She had been asking if they were going to get moved anytime soon. She asked the custodian what she was supposed to do. Custodian asked New Principal. New Principal told Custodian that every teacher had to deal with whatever crap was left in their room. (Which makes sense for say, trash or old books...but all of that?)
Days go by, books are still there. The teacher is getting frustrated because the kids come on Monday and she can't get her room together. She keeps pestering various people and no one has anything to say. She starts trying to move the books. (Just to get an idea here, she's about 5'1.) New Principal happens to be walking by and she says, "Hey! Do you want to help me move some books?"
And HEEEEE says, "You know, I got some stuff in my car, you wanna help me bring it in? Or maybe you just want to turn in your resignation over some books."

He walks off, and she gets really upset and starts crying. (This is literally the only interaction he has ever had with this woman. The guy is BRAND NEW!) She continues trying to move the books, all the while crying. The Language Arts teacher down the hall comes out of her room and yells, "Don't you move those books! That is not your damn job! It don't make no damn sense for you to have to move those books!"

New Principal comes around the corner and says, "YOU TWO! In my office NOW!" This man calls the Teacher's Union on them to try and say they are responsible for what is in their classroom. They met in his office for like 45 minutes.

WHAT THE HELL. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE PEOPLE?! Is it sooooo hard to be a principal in my school building and not be a complete asshole?

A better person might say he's just really stressed out right now and said things he didn't mean out of frustration. And I say, the stress has not arrived. Your frustration will be there Monday morning in the form of 400 children. If you are panicking because teachers are bothering you with legitimate concerns, then let me show you the exit door.

Oh, and it's Thursday and we still have no idea what our schedule looks like, what grade we're teaching, class times, class lists, ANYTHING. We have not had ONE SINGLE MEETING discussing logistics, policies, procedures...any of that.

ANNNNND they spent all this money fixing up the front of the building. Painting, landscaping. I moved to the third floor where all the locks on my cabinets have been ripped out, my door is falling off the hinges and my ceiling tiles are sagging and missing.

Day One: I Hate Everybody

Soooooooooo.....
Our new school is a "Turnaround" school. So far ain't a damn thing been turned around. We were told two weeks ago what our grade assignments were. Today we were told something different and "it may change again, heh heh. You never know, heh heh. You get what I'm sayin' heh heh. Be flexible people." Awesome.

Thank GOODNESS I went in last week (on my own free time) to get my desks out of my old room. Because apparently there aren't enough desks and chairs to go around. Lots of people spent the entire day looking for desks and chairs. The teacher next door to me has ONE HUNDRED BOXES of books in her room that no one will claim responsibility for. She's just sitting in there wondering when she'll be able to put her room together.

Because for the next TWO DAYS we have to go to worthless, worthless Professional Development out of the building. As in, I teach Ancient History but I have to go to a 3 hour Professional Development on one Supreme Court Case (Tinker v. Des Moines). In fact, there aren't even enough Social Studies PD's to last all of both days, so I was told I have to sign up for "something, anything. You just can't come in this building tomorrow or Wednesday." So I'm going to something targeted at Special Educators.

Somehow ALL of my posters got thrown away. Five years worth of me making posters...gone. Very depressing. I might have cried a little.

They told me two weeks ago I was teaching 6th grade. I was SOO HAPPY to have only one grade level. I haven't had one grade level since my first year! It was such a relief! When am I going to learn that never lasts? They told us today that my team will "more than likely" teach 6th and 7th grade....when we will know for sure, they don't know. This is my conversation with new assistant principal:

"Yeah, more than likely both grades....is everyone on your team, like, heartbroken?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"Well, tell them to get over it. It's only TWO preps. Do you know how many preps I had when I was teachin?!"

"No, but I had four last year....We were just so relieved this year to not have all that extra work. And now, well, we're not relieved anymore."

"Well, it's only two and that's not something you should complain about."

So, that's great. I'm really excited to have yet another administrator who dismisses my concerns because of "all they went through" as a teacher. Because it sucked for you it should suck for me?

My new classroom has basically been a dumping ground for the past two years. I found 5 computer monitors and over 100 random books. It was like that show, "Hoarders."

This does not bode well.

How Much Do I Share?

So last week we had our little training. It was cute how they were so positive.
At one point, we were discussing who our "stakeholders" in the community are. Teachers, Students, Parents, Neighbors, etc. Someone pipes up with "The Criminal Justice System." After all they do have a stake in us, the better we are, the less work they have to do.
One of the new teachers (there are soooo many!) looks alarmed and says, "Why on earth would we have to deal with the criminal justice system?" (oh, you are so cute, new teacher.)
I raise my hand and say, "Well, in an official capacity, you meet with Probation Officers to discuss a student's progress. But we also have several kids who go to jail during the year, who've been in jail, who's immediate family members are or have been in jail."
The presenter (who is in charge of our "school climate" but has never been to our school and actually lives in Houston) quickly interjected with, "Oh! But to be fair, that is a VERY small percentage of students! Maximum 5% right?! And there's never been a bad incident, right?" I said, "NO, not right." And she just said, "Wellll, anyway..." and went on to some blahblahblah.

This guy that worked with me last year stood up and was like, "WAIT A MINUTE. I'm sorry, but I have to say something. If you are going to work at this school next year, you need to know that teachers HAVE been assaulted, cars HAVE been stolen, bad things HAVE happened. You NEED to know that." And he sat down. I'm thinking, THANK YOU. The presenter AGAIN tried to gloss over it.

My question is this, how much do we share? Personally, I think they should know what they're getting into. Don't NOT tell them that Darrell is going to cuss them out...tell them what to do WHEN Darrell cusses them out! I'm not saying be all doom and gloom...I can stories about my sweeties too. But come ON.

I Read It Because It's Beautiful

I Read It Because It’s Beautiful
by Karen Morrow Durica

Somehow a life without poetry seems…
Dismal
Empty
Flat—
Not much.

So each day in my classroom I read…
Sonnets
Haikus
Free verse—
And such.

An observer sat in my room one day…
Noted poem’s title
Evaluated delivery
Recorded “lesson” sequence—
Said dryly: “It seems

There’s no connection curricular-wise…
No anticipatory set
No vocabulary drill
No comprehension query—
Do they know what it means?”

I could have contrived a defense or two, but…
Spirits flowed with peaceful joy
Honesty prevailed
Simple truth explained—
“I read it because it’s beautiful,” I said.

She didn’t quite frown but recalled all the same, “We’ve…
Standards to meet
Timelines to keep
Pages to cover—
Important content to be read.”

I looked from her to my students’ gaze; they…
Had relished the words
Danced with the rhythm
Mused with the meaning—
Were richer in spirit than when we began.

I read it because it was beautiful. And beauty is…
Never superfluous
Never irrelevant
Always needed—
Always in my “lesson” plan.

THIS

"When studies control for poverty, American children do very well on international tests, indicating that there is nothing seriously wrong with our educational system. Our scores are low only because we have so many children living in poverty, and the highest of all industrialized countries (22.5%, compared to Sweden's 2.5%).
Improving education is not the path to eliminating poverty. Eliminating poverty is the path to better school achievement. All the money going to new standards, new tests, and of course new textbooks, should be spent on protecting children from the effects of poverty: Proper nutrition (no child left unfed), health care, and access to books."

http://www.schoolsmatter.info/2010/07/improve-education-to-eliminate-poverty.html

Easier Said Than Done

Well, I've been in training for four whole days now and I can't say that I've learned much. I appreciate the fact that we are at a nice conference center and we have excellent food. I REALLY appreciate the fact that no one has yelled at me or berated me or made ridiculous demands of me. I'm being treated like a professional and it is super weird.

I WANT to believe them. I WANT to get on board with their hokey behavior management plans and their ideas and their "don't ever yell at the kids" and their "kids just need love" philosophies. But I've been there a little too long. In fact, I do or have tried to do a whole lot of the things that they want us to do...and it doesn't always work. So, my question is, what then? What happens when your "Caught You Doing Good" tickets and your Good Behavior Breakfasts don't stop the fires and the fighting? Is there any course correction or are we stuck?

Besides the "never yell at kids" thing, today we also heard about how you have to ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS (50 more alwayses) have a POSITIVE! attitude. Okay, get back to me in November on that. If you still have a positive attitude then, I promise to have a positive attitude then.

I hate to sound bitter and jaded. Like I said, I WANT to believe in them. And I definitely want our school to not suck. But you read this blog, do YOU think we can just fly in there with treats and posters and smiling faces and everything will be okay?

Notes from The Heather Vinson School of Teaching

So I was talking to a co-worker this morning about one of the sessions we have to attend for the conference tomorrow. It's called, "The Genius in All of Us: Why Sorting Children Isn’t Just Unfair, It’s Bad Science." First of all, what a ridiculous title. There's not a hidden genius in all of us, sorry to break it to you. I mean, I get it, never tell a kid he's dumb...but seriously.

Tracking is very controversial and always has been. I understand why people hate it. Our school (used to I guess) use it. One of the many problems was that it wasn't always accurate and it sometimes did make children live up the stereotype of whatever class they were in. (Last year you were so smart, what happened?!) They also never listened to teachers about who needed to go where (it was based totally on test scores....and sometimes even then it was just arbitrary assignments) and behavior problems were moved to higher classes so they could be "controlled." And once you do it one year, every year after that kids will think that being in "7-01" means you're smart, but "7-06" means you're dumb. Granted, everything my school touches turns to shit, so maybe other schools have a better handle on tracking.

From my own experience, I did the whole Advanced Diploma College Prep Whatever The Hell You Want To Call It when I was in high school. I guess I was tracked? But you know, it wouldn't have killed me to learn how to take apart a car engine or build a birdhouse. Why can't you have vocational AND college prep classes together for the same kids?

ANYWAY, this co-worker said, "That's crap. I'd be pissed if my smart child was put in a class with a bunch of kids who didn't know how to read."

And I get that too. People say the "smart" kids will help bring the other kids up, but those people are overestimating the niceness and helping nature of middle school children. They'll either get frustrated with them or just let them copy their work. You may have a few (mostly girls) who are willing to help the low achievers, but what benefit are they getting re-doing work they already understand instead of moving on to more complicated subject matter? And frankly, I LIKE my separated kids. I love being able to have an actual debate in my 01 and 02 classes (the others just end up screaming at each other) and I like knowing that for 03 and 04 I'll have to slow it down a little and put in a little more explanation.

Since this is an issue that I can't decide how I feel about it, here at The Heather Vinson School of Teaching, we have a whole new philosophy. We have tracking, but it's not based on academic performance, it's based on MOTIVATION. Do you care about school? Do you try to do your work? You're in 01. Do you miss 20+ days of school, come to school high, write your name on your paper and go to sleep? You're in 06. I'm not saying we'd put our little 06 kids in the corner and forget about them, but CLEARLY they need more help than just a classroom teacher can deal with. And for the middle kids, we could base our instruction around how motivated they are.

My 01 kids would barely hear me talk. I'd give them projects and papers and research issues out the wazoo. I'd put them in groups with varied abilities and let 'em roll because they are MOTIVATED to learn. Those kids don't need me. They need me to get it started and provide the materials, but if they like learning, who am I to say what information and at what pace they should go? The middle kids, they'd need a little bit more guidance, perhaps some short lectures and small one-class period projects and activities. They know why school exists, they know what they SHOULD be doing, they just don't do it. Those kids need me to get them excited about learning and to show them HOW to learn. I got that.

And as for those kids at the bottom, well they are special cases. One of my other co-workers, last year he got really tired of their attitudes and them ruining classes so he put his desks into two groups--the "DOs" and the "DO NOTs". He let the kids decide where to sit. Then he taught the "DOs" and the DO NOTs just sat in the back and slept or talked or whatever. What are you to do when you have almost half a class of students who couldn't care less about school or learning? YOU GET THEM AWAY FROM THE KIDS THAT DO CARE. They are NOT going to be positively affected by the other ones. If anything, the other ones wil be negatively affected by THEM. These kids need counselors and home visits and parent conferences and drug testing and school supplies and basically anything you can think of that a child would need. They need to be taught the importance of education.

What do you think?

The Day Before

Well, tomorrow I'm off to a conference. The people that took over our school have a national conference here in Baltimore and we've been asked to attend. I'm going to sessions entitled "Parent and Community Involvement for Student Success" (WHAT?! That is so crazy! Who knew...) and "A Curriculum of Engagement."
I'm trying to hold back on the cynical and bitter part of being a teacher in this city and trying to keep some of the hope that these people will help us...but it's not looking good.
After the two day conference, we have to go to a week and a half of professional development. I'll keep you updated.

In other news, they've hired us a new principal and assistant principal. I've met neither one of these people and nobody knows anything about them. What I've found out so far is that both have served as principals in other Baltimore City Schools for ONE YEAR TOTAL. (Which makes me wonder, if they are any good, why didn't their school keep them?) I've been told they are very young.

It's not looking good, friends.

What The Hell Is This?

This is the facebook friend request I got this morning. He's in 6th grade.

Of Course

The other day I was looking through the Baltimore City Schools employee website to try and find a copy of my W-2. I stumbled upon my personal information, which stated that I had a degree in Communications from Tuskegee University. This is odd because I have a degree in Political Science and History from the University of Alabama. It also said that I have NO Master's Degree (I do, in teaching.)

So, according to their records, I'm not even qualified to be a teacher, and yet I've been on their payroll for more than 5 years. Way to stay on top of things, Baltimore.

"What's More Important, Children or Numbers?"

300th Post!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lcm5IK0Aa5I

RANTS by Heather

This is going to be a random rant. I can do these types of things in the summer because I am not exhausted. So, I can read books and get really worked up about their content.

I read a lot of books about education, educating inner city youth, the inner city culture, etc. I read things I agree with, and things I STRONGLY disagree with. One things I do not read is those feel-good books that former inner-city teachers write after they've quit teaching about how they worked 20 hours a day and "saved" all the black kids. No thanks. (Probably linked it before, but here is the BEST ARTICLE EVER, just for good measure: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/19/opinion/19moore.html?_r=1&ex=157680000&en=e1a70ef41a0ef04d&ei=5124&partner=permalink&exprod=permalink )

For what it's worth, here's what I think:

1. I know I've talked about this before, but I CANNOT STAND the constant portrayal of teachers as martyrs. That if I **really** cared, I'd devote every waking moment to helping my students succeed. Sorry, but that is simply not a sustainable model. And, what are you DOING all of those hours? I mean, seriously.

2. I've read a lot about the KIPP model of schools. If you don't know about KIPP, basically the kids go to school from like 7am-5pm, have a longer school day and a longer school year. They are bombarded with learning. I have lots of problems with this, which I will expound upon. But my main problem is that it cannot be held as the standard for school reform because it is simply impossible to replicate on a large scale.

I get that maybe there are some parents out there that want this for their child. I also get that there are some parents that don't. It seems most people do not understand that second part. You want your kid to do well, but maybe you want to SEE your kid sometimes too. Learning is important, but so is family. Why should you be made to feel like you are a bad person/parent if you think that is simply too much?

And what about trying to make these kids successful WITHIN their neighborhood and their life? Aren't we trying to grow people here? So, they are in school for 90% of their childhood, but what happens when they go back home to the neighborhood? Do they enrich it? Or do they move away because it is "bad"? It seems to me that you should be trying to make the neighborhood itself better, rather than trying to "save" a select few from it.

KIPP has had major success in past years, and lots of critics say this is because they make parents sign a contract (we all know how many parents I'VE seen this school year) and because they can kick out low performers...which will of course inflate their scores.

3. I just read Geoffrey Canada's "Whatever It Takes." He is the founder of the Harlem Children's Zone, which does what I spoke about earlier: tries to transform the neighborhood instead of just the child. During the first half of the book, I was in complete agreement with him. You can't take one child and learn them to death and make everything okay. You have to look at the parents, the neighborhood, everything. He has Baby College, which teachers young mothers about cognitive development and reading to your child and things like that. At first my only concern was that he seems to have an endless supply of money. But while at first he talked constantly about transforming the whole neighborhood, towards the end you find out that to get into his elementary school, the parent has to sign the child up WHEN HE IS A BABY. Well, if you have a parent already that involved in their child's education, they aren't one of the "at-risk" ones.

4. Lastly, I hate Teach For America. Most of them that I've met have been taught that they are better than "regular" teachers and will go to great lengths to make sure you know it too. I read an article comparing them to going on a "two year jungle safari to teach the natives." Two years and then they go become investment bankers. Just FYI, hardly anyone is a decent teacher after two years. I only figured out what I was doing around year 3, and I'm still not great.

After all that rambling, my whole point is this: everyone who has a solution to fix schools is wrong. I don't know what the solution is either, but I know it's not these things. I know we need more money. I know teachers shouldn't have to deal with all the extra crap they have to put up with, they should be able teach. I know school success shouldn't be based on constant testing. I know kids should be taught to appreciate the process of learning, not rote memorization and "test-taking strategies." I know my kids need more than just extra algebra in the mornings--they need better nutrition, better medical care, more involved parents, earlier interventions, and more counseling.

P.S. I mostly hate all of these things because they have published books and made lots of money. Meanwhile I have this blog about--a white girl teaching black kids!!!---and yet, no famous book and no money. :( Oh well.

Sometimes You Have to Put Your Foot Down

Devin is in 7th grade.

His brother, Tevin, is in 8th grade.

Devin: "Miss Vinson, can I use your cellphone to call my brother?"

Me: "Tevin is right over there."

Devin: "No, my other brother."

Me: "...Is his name Kevin?"

Devin: "No."

Me: "Then, no, you can't."

8-01

They are, and forever will be, the most amazing class of students I have ever had. They are all intelligent, well-rounded, funny, caring, beautiful children and I will miss them for the rest of my life.

A New Low

That's right--this post is entitled "A New Low." I bet you didn't think that was possible! Well, folks, I am here to tell you it most definitely is.

On Wednesday, the Language Arts teacher on my team was absent. She is NEVER absent. She is the hardest working woman on earth. She stays every night until like 6pm, she is unstoppable.

Why was she absent? Oh, well, a kid in her last period took her car keys off her desk, took the car keys to a friend/relative/hoodlum...and this guy came up to the school and stole her car.

That's right, friends. A child had his/her teacher's car stolen. Right out of the parking lot. In the afternoon. Of a school day.

It gets better.

On Wednesday while she was out, she called into the school in the afternoon to see if there were any updates. "Oh, I forgot all about it." said Principal.

Wow, thanks for your concern!

She comes in Thursday. She asks Principal to come speak to the class in which it happened. "Nah, you can handle it. It'll be fine." The 7th grade administrator asks Principal to come speak to the ENTIRE seventh grade about it. She declines this as well.

The only reason other staff members know is because we talk to each other. If you aren't in the gossip loop, you don't know. There wasn't even a "Hey, watch your stuff" memo sent out.

I mean, what kind of logic is this? "If I don't think about it, then it didn't happen"??

This is How We Spend Our Mornings Lately

Waiting outside after somebody sets something on fire.


10 days.

THERE ARE STILL 17 DAYS LEFT OF SCHOOL

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anybody Know Where I Can Get $500?

DRAMA. Sheesh. I don't know what it is about me. In regular life, I am relatively drama-free. In school life, it clings to me like clothes I forgot to use fabric softener on.

Here is the current drama, henceforth known as THE GREAT BUS CONTROVERSY OF 2010.

As we all know, I did all the work last year for the 8th graders end of the year activities. This year, the 8th graders have really gotten nothing. There are many people to blame for this. Principal, mostly. She kept telling the teachers not to plan things because the kids were "bad." They didn't take up dues to pay for things. All kinds of other back door dealings that I wasn't privy to because 1. I'm not an 8th grade teacher and 2. I don't care.

So, about 2 months ago we had a big meeting with the 7th graders and told them they were getting 2 trips, one to Six Flags and one to skating. These were going to be good behavior trips, an encouragement for the kids to stay on task during the crazy month of May when everyone decides to lose their mind.

Well, almost immediately after we have this meeting, the CEO of the school system freezes the budget. So, we can't pay for buses to transport the kids. Everyone keeps telling us (the 7th grade team) to just charge the kids for the buses. But that would mean charging kids $75 to go to a barely decent Six Flags and $20 to go skating. I told them that was ridiculous and I wouldn't do it.
So we come up with the idea to write a letter to the son of our school's namesake, Mr. M. He's always talking about how we're a "family" but they don't really do much as far as supporting the school. With the help of other teachers, I wrote and typed a letter asking for about $750 to pay for our two buses, one for each trip. (Apparently, last year he gave some money to the school but Old Principal spent it all on ridiculous items. So I wrote in our letter that he could write the check directly to the Bus Company and leave out the middle man.)
Mr. M also owns a very successful business in the city, and our 6th grade administrator (Ms. G) works there part time. In fact, she's been working there longer than she has been in the school system. I had asked her about a month ago if she thought he'd be open to such a letter, and she said it was worth a shot. We wrote it, I gave it to her to deliver.
Every day since then, I've been in her room asking her if he said anything (skating was to be May 21, Six Flags May 28) She always said, "not yet."

On Thursday, I saw Mr. T. He comes into our school occasionally to substitute or just visit kids. He also has close ties with Mr.M and his main job is at his business. I was talking to him and just mentioned to him to maybe put a bug in the ear of Mr. M, as time was getting low. He said, "Give me your phone." He then called Mr. M. Surprise, Surprise, Mr. M had no idea what I was talking about.
However, he immediately agreed to pay for the two buses and told me to email him on Friday about the exact cost and who to make the check out to. I was so excited, I almost started to cry. And it was so easy! I had been sitting there nervous and twiddling my thumbs for weeks and a 5 minute phone call got it all right.

About 3:30pm, I'm in my classroom teaching my after-school program, when Ms. G comes in. I say, "Oh, hey. Did you speak with Mr. M?"

She says, "Yes. You know he wasn't going to keep that from me."

"What? I wasn't trying to keep anything from you." I gave YOU the letter!

She then says, "Well, since we've got the buses, you can take one to Six Flags with your kids but I don't want to go to Six Flags so I'll have to think of another trip for the other bus for my kids, maybe the Circus. So go ahead and get that ordered."

We then proceeded to have an argument, but the gist of it is this: I got buses for MY KIDS. I am not field trip planner extraordinaire for the whole school. If she wants buses, her or her 6th grade teachers can go ask for money themselves. She thinks that the same group of students doesn't deserve two trips when the other students don't have any trips. I told her to leave my room.

Friday comes along and I have informed the other 7th grade teachers of our little situation. They are very angry, of course.

It was a half day, so the students left at noon. During the afternoon, Ms. G goes to Principal and tells her this: Mr. M has gifted the school two buses for trips. So we will take the best kids in the school to Six Flags on May 28 and then the same group to the Circus in June. She thinks each grade should pick about 15 kids that can go. Principal agrees.

When I found out about an hour later, and tried to intervene I was told I was "too late" and everything was already a done deal.

I mean, I know I should be angry, and I guess I am sad that my kids get screwed. But I am so impressed with this level of bitchery I'm having a hard time getting upset. I mean, WOW, this woman really is the new queen and we should all bow down to her mastery of underhandedness.

So I spent Friday afternoon undoing all the work I did. I canceled my bus reservations, canceled the contract with Six Flags, told the secretary not to fax anything with my name on it to the school board (you have to fill out a huge form and get written permission for trips two weeks in advance.)

I mean, the least Ms. G can do is spend a few days actually organizing the trips, right?

The Day I Almost Walked Out

This entire debacle took place over the course of FIVE MINUTES. FIVE.

This morning, this kid walks into my room 30 minutes late with no pass. As he is walking in, he does not even acknowledge me but he tells one of my girls that he is "going to beat the shit out of" her. She tells him to leave her alone, he says he will kill her. I tell him to shut up and sit down to do his work. He says, "I don't feel like doing this work but I will beat the shit out Ikema."

Goodbye!

I tell him that he can go. He walks out of my room. I get an office referral to write up that he threatened to kill/beat the shit out of another student and refused to sit down and do work.

While I am writing said office referral, Principal stands in the hallway and yells my name. She yells to me (while I am still in the classroom with all of my students) that I am not to put students out of class without an office referral.

I walk into the hallway and hand her the office referral. I walk away as she reads it. I walk into my classroom, go over to my desk and take a sip of water. By the time I am setting my water bottle down, Principal is bringing this boy back into my room saying, "Miss Vinson, we are going to give him a second chance. He is going to sit down and do his work." He says, "I don't want to do this work." She says to me, "He is going to try to do his work from now on." And she walks away. SHE WALKS AWAY.

I was so filled with rage that I had to leave the room. Thankfully another teacher was in the hallway, and he was able to watch my class for about 10 minutes while I flipped out. There are NO CONSEQUENCES for ANYTHING these kids do. He threatened to kill someone. I'm not an idiot. I know when kids are playing around. This girl was upset and was most definitely not joking around with this boy.

And I know I tell my kids all the time to stop worrying about other people, but there are literally crowds of children hanging out in the hallway at any given time, but ONE CHILD out of my room is some huge problem? The gym teacher can put his ENTIRE CLASS out, lock the door and sit in his room and nothing ever happens to him. Me, I put a kid out, with an office referral, for threatening and bullying another student and she doesn't even give him one minute of her time. Just puts him right back in there.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH.

This Is The Kind of Logic I Have To Deal With

Cortez, who I had to wake up 6 times during the period, when I said no after he asked to go to the bathroom:

"God, Miss Vinson, you act like can't nobody go to sleep in here."

Nice White Lady

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVF-nirSq5s

Happy Teacher Appreciation Day?

Validation....Sortof

So remember I said the school is getting taken over and 50% or more of the staff will be fired and we all had to re-apply for our jobs? Yep.
Well, this whole time I was kind of "SCREW THAT!" I'm not going to spend my evening writing a resume and doing a 30 minute interview for a job I already have when you can walk into my classroom anytime you wish and see me doing my job. So everybody was running around all panicked like, "Have you sent in your resume? Are you staying? What are you going to do?"
I said from the jump that I wanted to stay out of simple laziness. But said laziness is also keeping me from actively trying to stay (read: sending in my resume.)

ANYWAYZ.

Got this email Sunday morning:

Dear Ms. Vinson:

I am writing to invite you to continue as a member of the faculty of William C. March Middle School as a social studies teacher. My colleagues and I have had an opportunity to review your work at March, and we feel strongly that you are an asset to the school, and will be a valuable member of the March/Talent Development Middle Grades (TDMG) team that will be responsible for improving academic achievement for all March students.

etc. etc. and so forth.

I send out a mass text, wondering what the hell is going on. Out of about 45 people, I know of 7 who got this email. Seven! And definitely not the seven I would have picked had I ventured to guess. I have NO CLUE how we were chosen, but it's like some mind game. It's not anywhere near a, "Oh, well of course the best seven teachers were chosen." It is more of a,"Well, I can see that one, but that one? That surprises me. And what about that one instead of that other one? That makes no sense."

I really hope they didn't base their entire decision on what they saw that ONE DAY they came of observe us. That would make them huge idiots.

Either way, this divide has made it kind of awkward around the school.

Reasons Not To Come To School

It's raining.
It's sunny.
It's too hot.
It's too cold.
It's Friday.
It's Monday.
It's the week before/after Spring Break/Christmas Break/Labor Day/Thanksgiving.
My uniform shirt/pants are dirty.
I had to babysit my younger brothers and sisters.
I missed the bus.
I got tired of waiting for the bus.
I woke up late.
I didn't do that project for Mr. Bizzelle.
I had to get my hair done.
The people here was getting on my nerves.
I thought I was suspended.
I went to visit my family in North Carolina (for three weeks.)
My mother said I didn't have to.
I don't have any pencils.
Ms. Mason took my cell phone yesterday.
I was sick. (But only one day a week for the past 10 weeks.)
I was sleepy.
I just didn't feel like it.

Irony

Aren't My Kids Cute?!

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Ms-Vinson-is-the-Best-Teacher-Ever/120170287996190?ref=ts

Another Decision...:(

Well, that's a misleading title because I've pretty much made up my mind about it...but still.
As I said before, our school is doing a "turnaround model." Every teacher has to re-apply for their job or go to another school.
I hate this school and I hate this administration, but I'm probably going to stay. Why are you being such an idiot, Heather? you say.

Wellll, first, I am lazy. I've got a whole lot of school stuff piled up in this building. My classroom is in a prime location. I painted my desks myself and I have good chairs. I've kept track of my textbooks so none of them have curse words or penises drawn in them. These are big things in Teacher World.

Second, I don't want to start over. I am a well-established badass in this building. People know me and know not to mess with me. My kids like me and will protect me against anyone. This probably isn't a big deal to most teachers but in the ghetto schools of Baltimore, it's a big deal. I've only got one more year of teaching anyway, I don't want to spend it as the new girl.

But this means I have to send in my RESUME and INTERVIEW for my own damn job. Stupid. I'm being really lazy about it because I think it is asinine, so they might not ask me back anyway. I guess we'll see.

But check this out, the people who are taking over our school came in last Friday to observe the whole day. The day before, principal suspended like 40 kids. She announced it like 15 times that guests were coming and blah blah blah. They were so paranoid that the kids would act like their normal selves.

UMMMMMMMMM, isn't that what we want? These people need to see what they're getting into. If they see all these nice, polite children sitting quietly in their chairs, they are going to think, "Wow, it must be these terrible teachers because these kids obviously want to learn."

NO. I need them to see the cursing and the screaming and the packs of children running down the hallway. I need them to know that several of my kids miss twenty or more days of school or show up at 10am. I need to see teachers trying to teach over children throwing paper across the room or hitting and fighting each other. If things are going to change, the last thing we need is for them to be IMPRESSED.

Trying To Make Your Problem My Problem Won't Solve Your Problem

So we're doing this thing during the last 8 weeks of school. Every Friday during third period (the last period we teach our students before we have planning period) we have been either watching a movie or going to the gym or something. We decide during lunch who is going to get to go. If a teacher takes you off the list, you have to stay behind and sit in a classroom and do work.

This is what I don't get: some of these teachers don't want to take responsibility for taking a kid off the activity. All the kids will get upset (obviously) and want to know who took them off. The other teachers will say, "we decided as a team." No, we didn't. I won't disagree with somebody for taking a particular child off the list, but if that child isn't a problem for me, why would I tell them I took them off? Now, the kids I do take off, I will go up to them beforehand and say something like, "Hey, Cortez, remember on Tuesday when you did no work and wouldn't stop cursing? Well, think about that and think about MISS VINSON while you're sitting in that detention room. Maybe next time you'll remember to take care of your business instead of acting like a clown."

The difference is, I'll take off about 5 kids, and the math teacher will take off like 40 kids. If you are having a problem with allllll these kids--kids that cause me no trouble--shouldn't you have something to do with their punishment? Maybe that's why you have management problems, because you are relying on others to do your discipline.

So this week, another teacher and I took the good kids to the gym to play basketball and jump rope and just hang out. When we came back, the language arts teacher told me that she thinks I need to stay behind with the disruptive kids because I have more control over them than the math teacher does.

This is fine. I'm a team player. But I don't see how this will help her with her discipline issues. But I notice, when we're making the list, the math teacher will just generalize certain students. Can Devin go? No, he's "bad." Whereas I say, "Devontay can't go because he has missed my class 3 times in two weeks." If she has just decided particular children are "bad," no wonder they act crazy.

And another thing, they WANT to come in my class. So, how, exactly, are we punishing them? Of course they don't get to go to gym, but they get to spend extra time in Miss Vinson's class, which is someplace they want to be.

And ANOTHER thing, if you are having problems out of more than half your students, maybe it's time to sit back and reflect on yourself. There are certain kids that I can't STAND but they do incredibly well in science or language arts or whatever. But if HALF OF THE SEVENTH GRADE is a problem for you...I don't think I can help you, and no matter how many times they aren't allowed to go to Fun Friday, nothing is going to change.

Two Things

#1
Another group of girls is working on a business. They told me it is a restaurant that sells "black people food."

What is black people food?

"you know, funnel cakes and chicken and stuff."

Wait, I can't eat funnel cakes because I'm not black?! But I love funnel cakes. :(

"You IS black, Miss Vinson."

*I hold out my arm* Um, I am very clearly not black.

"That's just your skin color. It don't mean nothing."


#2
One of the girls birthdays was last week and her mother brought in cupcakes. Each of the cupcakes had a little plastic purses and shoes and such sticking out of them. The boys thought this was hilarious. They ate their cupcake and then carried around their plastic high-heeled shoe. Deon was holding his tiny little plastic purse like an actual purse and another one of the boys says to me, "Look Miss Vinson, he's a single lady!"

Which made me think of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb9eL3ejXmE

(I don't know why blogger won't let me put the actual links in anymore...sorry)

They Sell Mom Jeans

My seventh graders are studying economics and they have to work in pairs to create a business. Two girls, Antionette and Tiykia are creating a clothing store.

"Miss Vinson, we're going to combine our names together for the name of our store. It's 'Anti-Style'!"

Grammar Nerds...You'll Like This Alot

http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/04/alot-is-better-than-you-at-everything.html

Tu Madre

I don't know how well this will translate from a spoken story to a written one...but if anything I can have it for my own memories.

This kid, Darius. He really doesn't do much but he tries to. It's hard for him to focus and he's on like a 2nd grade level so he gets lost easily. We were studying entrepreneurs. The station he was at was Henry Ford. The first question was "What struggles did this entrepreneur overcome?"

He was having trouble answering, so I said, "Darius, what happened to Henry Ford's mom?"...He looked at me and (try to picture a loud, crazy black kid trying to do their imitation of a white woman)..."MAAAH-M....MOM....MAAAAAH-M." He then looks to Deonte and says, "I think sumptin hap'n to his muhvah."

Me: "Yeah...his muhvah."

Darius: "Well, his muhvah died, so he had to stay wit his fahvah."

Every now and then for the rest of the period, I would hear Darius randomly go "MAAAAAH-M." And I couldn't stop laughing about it. He wasn't doing it out of disrespect, it's like he was turning the word over in his mind and couldn't quite get it right.

Apparently I Have Too Much Courage

Today we had our monthly faculty meeting. It wasn't as annoying and ridiculous as usual..but they never totally disappoint us.

Last week we had to submit a list of all the kids who are going to fail for the year. It's basically a joke because probably about half the seventh graders really deserve to fail (40ish kids) but we put down around 20 who "really, really" deserve to fail, but honestly only around 4 or 5 kids will ACTUALLY FAIL.

So, there's no point to it. It happens every year. We make our list. They try to frighten us with how much paperwork all these failures will mean. They meet with us over and over to change the grades ("Look, he has a 55, can't you just give him a 65?"...I GAVE him the 55 when he really deserves like a 7.)

Well, today I heard a new phrase. The assistant principal stood up and told us that if we are "Bold enough to fail them, then we better have our documentation in order to prove it."

BOLD. BOLD ENOUGH.

Like, I have the gall to fail a child. I'm sorry, but bravery doesn't really factor into the equation. THE EMPTY NOTEBOOK DOES.

They aren't 5 years old. If they have literally done NOTHING for 180 days, I don't see why I have to have a whole bunch of paperwork to prove my point.

He then says we must get "work packets" together for the failing ones (this happens every year too). So they can get a "work packet" and finish it and pass the 7th grade. 180 days of instruction crammed into something that only uses a single staple. Of course. Oh, but they won't give us paper for this work packet....or a working copier...or time to make it.

One of my students from last year, she is now in the 9th grade, called and asked me to be the godmother to her daughter due August 26th.

Sounds Legitimate...

Today my kids were in the computer lab. It's next door to a sixth grade science class. I see a girl I used to teach standing by the door of said class.

"Ziyah, why don't you go into class?"

"My shirt is too big to go to class."

"What?"

"My SHIRT is too BIG so I can't GO to CLASS."

Oh, well, okay then....

HAHA, Psych! It was more like,

"GIRL, if you don't get you and your BIG SHIRT in that classroom in FIVE SECONDS I will take your EARS and keep them as SOUVENIRS."...or something like that.

My Formal Observation

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.

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.

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.

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.

Apology Accepted! Case Close! Good Night!

I Worry About People

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.

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!