A relaxing-ish week

Ooo the joys of ISS and OSS (in-school and out-of-school suspension). I hate to admit it, but I am dramatically more relaxed if I know that certain students will not be joining the group on a given day.

Last week was actually pretty decent! Smaller classes allowed students both more one-on-one time with me and fewer peers by whom to be distracted. The week ended on a somewhat acerbic note with 4th block, however, whose attention I rarely command in its entirety. Today I literally gave students their independent practice and wrote the steps to solve the equations on the board afterwards - (normally you would do some introduction of new material as a class, proceed to guided practice and then send them off to practice in pairs or on their own) this actually worked fairly well though, as it allowed those students who understood to work ahead and those who did not to pay attention to me.

Last Friday morning brought a strange challenge. Brittney walked across the room to return her calculator, only to return to an empty desk - completed test gone without a trace. Approaching the alarmed looking teen, I asked where her test was. She reported that she had no idea - "it was just gone!" Surveying the scene of those still working on their tests, I spotted Tre in the corner, concentrating a little too hard. In order to protect Brittney's reputation - so that it wouldn't look like she had informed me specifically that Tre had taken it (it is still unclear whether it was really magically gone or she was coerced into sharing it with him), I approached Tre in the corner. Seeing that he had a sheet of paper looking conspicuously like Brittney's test underneath his own, I whispered "Tre, lift up your hand, I am not going to say anything in front of the class, but I need to take this." Tre had the decency to return it to Brittney, however also the gall to pass it to another student on the way so that he too could copy. Seriously Tre...?? I should have written him up, but instead I left a message with his mother - in case you wonder about the 0 in Tre's records - oh yeah, that was him cheating.

Awesome.

An Explosive Heart to Heart

After it was over, I pulled a student into the hallway and bluntly asked, "Donovan, why don't you do any work in my class?" An embarrassed smile cracked his lips as he replied, "I don't know, I guess stuff at home makes it hard to focus." Euphoria and defeat set in. Euphoria for the fact that he had opened up to me; defeat for my utter helplessness in solving this student's primary trouble. Although it seemed as if I could not help, he did provide me with his grandmother's phone number and told me that if I called her, she could explain to me what was going on.

After it was over. Indeed.

It. The loud bang resounding from inside my classroom. It. One of the more horrifying fates that could have occurred in my five second absence as I led a student across the hall. Yes, it, the reason the freshman academy administrator called in a search on my students.

The loud bang? Oh, nothing but a firecracker exploding in my classroom.

As I entered after the sound, I remained cool. I barely blinked irregularly for the reason that this loud bang was remarkably similar to one heard last week when a metal chair leg was cracked against a metal desktop. Hastily asking a student to write down what she saw, I called in our administrator. No one confessed.

I taught the rest of class with two safety officers searching my students one-by-one for contraband. By the end of the block I remained uniformed of the result of the search. However, later I was approached by a face-down, rightfully vanquished Taion, who apologized for the happening. Again I was approached with an apology, this time by two students asking forgiveness for their part in the crime- hiding a lighter and a spare firecracker. The perpetrators received 10 days and 3 days, of out-of-school suspension.

Grinning in shock and disbelief, we march onward!

Good Riddance October.

Picture this: dressed in business casual, I aggressively confront my 2nd block with a cheaply made crow-bar (a broken chair leg) as I yell, "I work my ass off for you! Staying up until 1:00am in the morning and getting up at 5:00am, and this is how you repay me?! By throwing paper balls at me?!"

Indeed, Thursday was a rough day. I knew it was not going to be my all-time favorite when the day started off by someone ripping down the name chart with pluses and minuses. Then...when I figuratively said f*** you by simply writing the names of students on the board and minutes later turned my back...some little bastard swiped his hand through the names. I immediately realized that this little behavior management system would not work for 2nd block. Left with few options, my only choice was to go hard and flip out on them a little.

Anyway, the first quarter has ended. Thank the Lord. We have two workdays coming up here Monday and Tuesday. I must say that my day today was significantly better given the fact that I will not drive to school tomorrow for an unpredictable day. For this seems to be one of the most difficult parts of the job - the unpredictability of it all. I can be in a great mood and then be ready to give it all up by the end of the day as I clean trash off the floor. Or I can dread walking through the doors of the freshman academy more than I ever have before, only to be greeted by a pleasantly surprising great block. The ups and downs are both incredibly dramatic yet ephemeral.

Tomorrow we travel to Gaston to visit a KIPP school. This program is well-established as an efficient-class making machine. It was created and continues to be run by TFA alumni, now with KIPP schools nationwide. We leave at 5:15am, and return (after an 8 hr round trip travel time!) at 8pm. I think it will be inspiring to see great classrooms and provide me and fellow corps members with some solid ideas for the future.

Anyhoo...anyone who is considering applying to TFA, please do not let my story discourage you. If you are the kind of person who "doesn't take crap from nobody" and is willing to work hard, then you'll rock. Likewise, if you are less assertive but also work hard, get ready for a crash course in becoming more assertive and self-assured. Just know there will be many a treacherous mountain and hollow cavern ahead.

Like the ARMY, sometimes you have to be beaten down in order to rise up.