Thanks for the Support

It’s supposed to snow tomorrow. I hope it does. I want out of school really bad. We're trying a new strategy with Rodney. When he comes into the room I give him eight paper clips. Every time he talks out of turn I take one from him. It worked pretty well today until he started playing with his CD player in class. I told him to give it to me and he refused. I called the office and they took him out of class. Later, I discovered that they let him keep his CD player. Thanks for the support.
Terence drew a picture of a guy with a gun today. He turned it in with his class work. I turned it in to the office. Maybe they’ll give it back to him.

What Does Confidential Mean?

Shaunaa may not be coming back. When she met with the Dean of Discipline, he read all of our letters to Shauna and her mom. We had been promised, of course, that the letters would be confidential. I can just see Shauna’s mom coming after us with a gun. She denied calling the principal “white bitch”. Then, she claimed that someone else had written Ms. Power’s letter. They got Ms. Power on conference call and Ms. Power confirmed writing the letter.
After all this, we were asked to provide make-up work for Shauna, Arome, DaSean and Deon. Did I mention that Deon was suspended for cussing out a substitute? I pulled make-up work together for them, wondering if I would ever get it back. It’s a three-day weekend for President’s Day. I need it.

Dean of Discipline

I’m exhausted. We had parent conferences last night and they went way too long. The day before, I had a conference at GMU. What a day to miss! Arome got suspended for bringing a knife to school. DaSean got caught in the cafeteria with marijuana (which explains why he’s always laughing and singing in class). I know there are others who are using. It’s hard enough trying to teach these kids without having to teach them through a drug-induced haze. Well, I guess he’s gone now.
We recently found out that LJ won’t be coming back. He was suspended weeks ago but never went to see the Dean of Discipline. When you’re suspended for something serious you have to go to the Dean of Discipline before coming back to school. LJ did his time in suspension but I guess his parents didn’t mind him not being in school. Finally, they took him to see the Dean. The Dean looked at his attendance and his multiple suspensions and expelled him.
Shauna had to go see the Dean of Discipline today. She’s been suspended because she got up in Ms. Power’s face and told her she was going to slap her. Shauna’s mother came to the conference last night. It was a very uncomfortable situation. The woman is crazy. She refers to our principal as “white bitch” and she calls him that to his face. That woman should not be teaching preschool.
Cardoza wrote, “Ms. Liger is a bitch!” on the wall of Ms. Liger’s classroom. Then, when Ms. Liger confronted her, Cardoza denied it saying, “If I thought you were a bitch then I would tell you you’re a bitch.”
Cardoza’s mother came to the conference last night but Cardoza denied everything. I was caught between Cardoza’s mom (who only speaks Spanish and was vehemently defending her "innocent" daughter) and Ms. Liger who was refusing to let it go. I had to translate. This morning, Ms. Liger finally got a confession out of Cardoza. Then, she made her call her mother and confess. Finally, she made her write letters of apology to the principal and herself. Cardoza did not look happy today.

Out to Dry

I took yesterday off. I had a paper that I had to write for class. I was also supposed to have Terence in class yesterday. I was glad to miss it. I spoke to the principal first thing today about taking Terence out of my class. He said that he hadn’t had a chance to look into it. Why do I get the feeling that they are going to hang me out to dry on this?
Today, Terence decided to come by the after-school club that I supervise. He then proceeded to be obnoxious the whole time. If this is how it’s going to be then I’m not going to do it anymore.

Thinking About Quitting

I am thinking very seriously about quitting. I don’t want to teach Terence if he’s not going to get the help he needs. I don’t want to deal with Terence’s mom if I’m not going to get the help that I need. I begged the principal for a change. He said that he would see what he could do. I offered to take problem students off another teacher in exchange for Terence. I guess we’ll see.
I cut my hair last night. Everyone was asking about it today. It seems to have made me a minor within-school celebrity.

Future Psycho

I’m angry. It’s the new student, Terence. Today he drew a picture of a guy with a gun standing over a dead and bloody body with a knife in its back. He had it out during class and I took it from him. Then, the complaining started. “Can I have it back? I didn’t draw it in your class. I drew it in Social Studies. I have to show it to my mom . . .”
I stapled a referral form to it and put it in the principal’s mailbox. After school, Mrs. Fret stuck her head in my room and told me that Terence had something that he wanted to say to me. Terence came in. He wanted his drawing back. I told him the principal had it. He left. Suddenly, Terence’s mother was in my room. She was full of excuses for Terence.
“He’s very sensitive,” she explained.
She wanted the drawing back too. I told her the principal had it. Apparently, Terence left my room and went crying to some teacher. Then, he cried on the phone to his mom and she drove to the school to save him from his mean teachers. I can’t believe it. I’m sick to my stomach. I can’t teach this kid, he’s a future psycho.

I Want No Part

I guess the groundhog probably saw his shadow today. The sun came out and it felt warmer even though there was still snow on the ground. I took my last class out for a walk. We took a thermometer and measured some temperatures. We also measured out some snow in a graduated cylinder and watched how little liquid it melted down to. We found some cotton and collected and planted the seeds. Mostly, it was just a chance to relax and calm down a little bit. Briana, her first day back from suspension, was crying. Her grandfather died. She’s going to have to go to El Salvador for a while. I think the walk helped everyone but especially her.
I picked up a new student today. I am really not happy about this. He’s had so many problems with his science teacher that they decided to change him to my class. I’m not sure what miracle I’m supposed to work on him. I’ve seen the stress he’s caused his old teacher. The mother was always calling, sending emails, and coming in for conferences. I want no part in it.

Writing Lies

I am supposed to keep an eye on Rodney to see how long he can last in class before I have to talk to him. Official time: 0 seconds. He started screaming as soon as class started today. Then, the students had to evacuate his side of the room because his farts were stinking it up so much. The cafeteria served burritos for lunch today. I am sick of dealing with this kid. Every simple task is impossible. I am tired of having meetings about him. His behavior has not improved and I am just wasting a lot of time and energy on it. If I had known that he wouldn’t improve then I wouldn’t have bothered.
Allison is another one. She started wrestling with someone in the classroom before class started. We had a long talk in the hall. Through the whole talk she was dancing, singing, and yelling at friends. I finally got her focused and asked how she thought she should behave when she was in trouble. She asked if she was supposed to feel sad. I told her that if she didn’t then she should pretend. That started another long conversation. Finally, she calmed down and came into the room. A few minutes later I sent her to the office with a referral for throwing things. She stormed out cussing and then refused to go, peeking back into the room and saying that I had written lies about her.