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!

Norman is not Normal.

I've spoken of him before. He's never in class. He is always talking (screaming) about a private body part or a sexual act (or both.) He does not like Rashad.

Rashad is about 4 feet tall and weighs like 60 pounds. Norman has about 8 inches and 50 pounds on him. Instead of fighting with Rashad (who, by the way, besides being a little bit loony is basically a good kid) he tells his mother he hates him. Norman's mother brings her 2 sisters and 3 daughters (all over age 16) to wait at the bus stop for school to get out so they can beat up Rashad.

Officer Johnson hears about this situation and calls for backup. SIX police cars, lights flashing, sirens blaring speed into the parking lot just as school is letting out. These grown women run away and jump on the city bus that has pulled up at the bus stop.

Nice getaway car, "ladies."

Y'all Some Clowns

Some of our kids have started a gang. They call themselves "PZK" or purple zone killahz. Everybody in the gang is around 12 or 13. They've told us that they get points by doing things like beating people up or skipping class. The more points you have, the "higher in rank" you get in the gang. They have purple bandannas and bracelets and necklaces. They are causing a huge disruption in the school and some of the other kids are scared of them.
Yesterday, the teachers decided to do something about it. We've tried talking to the ones who generally have more common sense, but we all know that a 14 year old only REALLY listens to another one. So, forget talking.
We started a gang. PZT-Purple Zone Teachers. We get points by holding detentions, calling parents and failing kids. Today we all wore purple.
They were PISSED. Well, the kids not in the gang thought it was great. But the PZK kids were all up in arms. It was freaking hilarious. They just had no idea how to react. They just kept asking us why we were all wearing purple and acting all offended.

What, do you own purple? Yeah, I didn't think so.
We copied you? gangs have been around awhile dear.
We're clowns? Why? Because we joined a dumb group with dumb rules? Oh, wait, so did you.

Comments

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I don't even know where to start!*

Today was absolutely insane. I don't know why, but it seemed like somebody flipped a switch and everybody lost their mind.
I've been thinking about it a lot lately. I really feel like these children have no idea how to deal with any emotion whatsoever. Anger, happiness, sadness, grief. They've just never learned what to do and when.
At 8:30a.m. some boy that I don't know was just running up and down the hallway screaming, "Fuck you, bitch!" over and over again. I have no idea why.
Later on, Xavier told another teacher that he would kill him.
At lunch, Tashawna and Tonia got into a fight and some of the other kids started a food fight. After lunch in the office, Tonia saw Tashawna and started hitting her again. They broke a table in the office and knocked over some parents who were in there. After we separate them AGAIN, I find out that Tashawna is pregnant. (The father is a 17 yr old who already has 3 other children!!!) Tashawna sees some girls in the hallway and screams at them because she thinks they are talking about her. I leave her in the office to make those girls go to class. When I turn the corner ANOTHER fight breaks out between two boys. Once THAT one gets broken up, Tashawna has ran out of the office and is running around the building looking for Tonia. The school police officers catch up to her and she goes INSANE. Screaming, yelling, fighting, cursing, kicking, punching. She ended up getting arrested.
AND THEN!!! Tonia is back in the office. Tonia's aunt (a grown woman!) comes up to the school and gets Tonia's 6th grade sister out of class. She starts screaming at our principal about how Tashawna is a slut and a bitch and how she will kill her. Tonia, Kea and the aunt all sneak out of the office and start walking around the building looking for Tashawna. I finally see them and tell them that Tashawna has left. I walk them to the exit door.
All of a sudden, 3 boys come at full speed to the door and run out. One of them, Deondre, is just out of jail. Today was his first day back (after his 2nd jail stint.) He just got placed in a group home. I go back into the office to tell them these boys left, and they say "okay."

Maybe we should just end the week now?

*I apologize for any and all grammatical errors.

They've Seen Too Much To Be Called Children

Antwan was crying in the hallway. I asked him what was wrong and he was really reluctant to tell me, so I told him to come sit down in my room. I gave him some juice and the whole thing spilled out. He was upset because he had said some really horrible things to his mother that he didn't actually mean.
He then told me that his 18 yr old brother comes home drunk all the time and beats up his mother. Last night, the mother was trying to call the cops and the brother threw all the phones on the roof. After the brother leaves, Antwan's mother is so frustrated with the situation that she yells at him about petty things. He gets upset and says mean things to her. She screams at him some more. Antwan is supposed to come to school and pay attention in math?

Eric is probably one of the smartest kids I know. Last year, I had serious respect for him because he was not violent and he acted very mature when dealing with 6th grade situations. (He steered clear of the "He took my pencil/She hit my arm/He touched my foot" arguments) Now he's in a gang for "protection." He told me that's how he gets respect. I ended up talking to him for about an hour today about how much he's changed from last year. Now he is getting people to beat up some girls that are talking about his girlfriend. He thinks everything is solved by a fight and that he will never ever lose a fight. He has that teenager mentality that nothing will ever happen to him.
Well, as it usually happens when these kids have someone to sit down and listen to them for a minute, another teacher and I heard a lot about his life today. He has lived with his grandmother since he was 2 years old because his mother is an addict. Right now, his mother is in the hospital and she might die, but no one will take him to see her or tell him what happened. His grandmother is incredibly strict, but he has a hard time understanding that she does it because she loves him. NONE of his friends have that kind of supervision. He has no idea who his father is. He really feels like no one cares for him or has any interest in his life.
It's becoming harder and harder to deal with the fact that I can't make everything okay.

Yay

My new job is totally undefined. I walk the hallways. I talk to kids. I work in the office. I make posters.
It's totally awesome. It's my perfect job.

I'm sure it will be over soon.