Hatching Baby Chicks

We’re hatching baby chicks in science class. As of Thursday, Ms. Peters' class had seven, the special ed class had one (which, interestingly enough, appeared to be special ed), and my class had twenty-two. Ms. Jefferson had one chick that was just starting to break out.
By the end of the day it was clear that something was wrong with Ms. Jefferson's chick. It was struggling but hadn’t made any progress. Ms. Jefferson asked me to help it hatch. You're not supposed to but I've seen them die in the egg. I decided to help. I broke off a little piece of eggshell and the chick broke the membrane. I broke another piece of shell and again it slit the membrane. Very carefully, I broke off little pieces of shell and the chick followed me. Finally, its head was free! Success! Ms. Jefferson was relieved.
I decided to stick around until the chick was completely out of the shell. What a disaster. It flopped out of the egg, dragging its guts behind it. The chick hadn’t formed properly. This was why it couldn’t get out of the egg. Ms. Jefferson wanted to leave it over night.
We came back Friday morning and the chick was still alive. It was flopping around inside the incubator and dragging its entrails around with it. Now, it seemed to be in pain. I told Ms. Jefferson that we couldn't let it suffer. I would do the job if she couldn’t. She didn’t want to be around when it happened so she left the room. I carefully picked the chick up and twisted its neck until it broke.
I disposed of the body, took a healthy chick from my room, and placed it in Ms. Jefferson’s incubator. The kids never knew. Was it the right thing to do? Should the kids know that the chick was born unhealthy? It could have been a wonderful teaching moment. Could they have handled it? Would their parents? I feel bad for Ms. Jefferson. My class hatched twenty-two. Her class hatched one and it was sick. The kids were saying things. Ms. Jefferson is not coming back next year. The school board is not going to renew her contract because of the testing incident.

Between Passing and Failing

Arome used to be right on the border between passing and failing. Now, she’s failing badly. Her whole grade depends on this quarter and she still doesn’t care. She could have her summer off (not have to go to summer school) but she would rather make my life miserable. Today, I told the class to get in groups of two. She organized a group of three then yelled at me when I told her it wouldn’t work. When I started to explain why, she put her fingers in her ears and started humming. I kicked her out. Twenty minutes later she was back, promising to be quiet. She continued to provide disruptions for the rest of the period. I’m angry but I also feel powerless. The administration created this situation by allowing her to get away with threatening me. The other day she got in trouble with Ms. Liger and told her, “Don’t you know what I told Mr. Moore?”

This Year is Over

Pam was back today. It sure doesn’t seem like she was gone for ten days. Maybe they let her come back early. She wrote a letter to Mr. Burns apologizing for what she did and thanking him for not pressing charges. That surprised both of us.
The kids started taking their year-end standardized tests today. Today’s test was math. We’ve got a month and a half of school left and the students have already taken their end-of-year exam. I’m glad we don’t have to do it for science. I plan on teaching till the end. It’s easier than babysitting the students for the rest of the year. No wonder they think the school year is over. I had seven students missing from a single class today.
So what are the math teachers supposed to do for the rest of the year? Review? Start teaching next year’s material? The science department wanted to know how many textbooks I’ll need to replace for next year. Am I supposed to collect textbooks already? This year is over.

Expulsions and Suspensions

Malcolm has been expelled. He’ll finish off the year at the alternative school. He’s smart enough to get straight A’s there. It looks like he’ll pass seventh grade without any problem. I knew he was smart.
Rondel got a two-day suspension for punching his hand in the P.E. teacher’s face and giving her the finger. LaToya got a ten-day suspension for pushing, threatening, and yelling at the principal and police. She appealed the suspension and had it shortened. Pam got a ten-day suspension for stealing CDs out of Mr. Burns’ desk. She came into the school at 5:30 pm and took them when the custodians unlocked the classrooms to clean. It was all caught on video camera. Mr. Burns got his CDs back. I think they’re going to kick Pam out of the student government. I sure hope so.