Monday

Well, I go back on Monday, so expect more timely updates then.
On one note, I did see one of the toughest girls in our school at Walmart, and she hugged me. Apparently, telling her she was a good singer really made a connection. Go figure.

School's out

Well, we are on Christmas break. The last day was insane, I prevented one fight, gave a garbled description of it to our principal, kept kids from killing each other, and loaded up on sugary treats. One little girl chastised me for being 25 and not having kids. She said I needed to get going. Thus far I have been playing video games, sewing,and doing little productive. I'll try to update occasionally in the next 2 weeks, but it will be slower than normal. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Day before Christmas for Teachers

TWAS THE DAYS BEFORE CHRISTMAS (teacher style)

'Twas the days before Christmas,
And all through the school,
The teachers were trying
To just keep their cool.

The hallways were hung
With Christmas art
(Some made in November
to get a head start!)

The children were bouncing
Off ceilings and walls,
And seemed to forget
How to walk in the halls.

When out of the teacher's lounge
With "holiday shirts"
And "jingle bell jewels,"
The teachers looked festive
Enforcing the rules.

There came such a chatter,
The principal went in
To see what was the matter.

The teachers were hiding
And trying to refuel,
On coffee and cookies
And treats from the Yule.

When what to their wondering
Ears do they hear,
But the ringing of school bells
-It's the children they fear!

More rapid than reindeer
The little ones came,
And the teachers all shouted
And called them by name;

Walk, Vincent! Walk, Tanner!
Walk, Tyler and Sammy!
Sit, Jamie! Sit, Laura!
Sit, Tara and Tammy!

To your desks in the room!
To your spots in the line!
Now walk to them! Walk to them!
No running this time!

So straight to their places
The children all went.
With fear of detention
Where they could be sent.

With manuals of lessons
Cradled in arms,
The teachers began
To use all their charms.

But the lessons presented
All fell on deaf ears.
The children were thinking
Of Santa's reindeer!

With a toss of their hands
They put manuals aside,
Went straight to the cupboards
Where videos hide.

And laying their finger
On the TV remote
They sat back to write
Their last Christmas note.

But you could hear them exclaim
At the end of the day -
Have a wonderful, happy
and L-O-O-O-O-O-NG HOLIDAY!!!

Author Unknown
Merry Christmas!

Seeing Red

One of my kiddos came storming down the hall the other day, and I was shocked. He didn't have any whites left to his eyes. They were all red. His hands were clenching and unclenching and every few feet he would hit a locker. He went to the end of the hall right as the bell rang. I saw some kids trying to pull him away from the door but he just kept going back. Fortunately the Art teacher had locked the door. This kiddo would pull on the door, storm around, hit a locker and pull on the door again. I tried going and speaking to him. He stopped for a little bit, but I couldn't get through the haze he was in.
Finally, the 7th grade counslor came. It took a few attempts, and 4 teachers walking behind them, but she got the boy to go with her. Next period, he was back to normal.

I don't know where to start

So much has happened the past couple of days, and I haven't had time to blog it. So, if I seem a little random, or get my facts messed up, forgive me. My brain is fried.

Teachers who Can't

But still do are frustrating. We have one here,Ms.Apathetic, who just shouldn't teach. Everything is too much of a bother for her. She can't work with the kids individually (your a sped teacher, that's part of the job description), she doesn't have time to fill out paperwork or test them, and heaven forbid she stay after the bell to work on stuff for the next day!
In someways I can see where she is coming from. She's in a job she's not meant for, and that makes it hard to do Anything! But, it's the kids who suffer. Her kids hate going to her class, and I don't blame them. She's mean and they learn nothing. So she is taking a year of their education from them, when they are already behind.

One Concert, One student, One hour

That's what last night involved. One of my little girls is in choir, and I knew this concert was important to her. So I dragged my husband and we went. The whole way up there I was wishing I didn't have to go, that I had never promised it. When I got there I listened to young immature voices sing christmas songs, and tried not to wince. But then Lisa's group was on stage. Lisa is the only little girl I came there for. She was so nervous, I thought she might faint.
After the concert, I went and found her and told her "You did great Lisa!"
Her face lit up and she hugged me, saying "Thank's Ms. ______". Suddenly, I was glad I came. Lisa knew I took time to come to her concert, and that I was proud of her. It made the loss of an hour more than worth it.

Leaders at the Crossroads

We have several student's right now who are natural leaders. The other student's look up to them and try to imitate their every move. Unfortunately, these leaders are usually our worst discipline problems. Here's an example of what I'm talking about.
Brad is a 7th grader who is very outgoing. He hugs teachers, is very friendly, and he has chosen to display very gay mannerisms. While this bothers some of his male peers, the girls love him. The teacher's would love him to, if we could get him to not be so "outgoing" in the middle of class. If he has a thought, he says it, at his loudest voice. His little followers often follow suit in an attempt to gain his approval.
Now, if we could just harness Brad's abilities, he could be a wonderful influence on the other students. But how do we do it? How do we convince this 7th grader, who thinks adult's don't know Jack, to make good choices?
That's what I have to figure out.

PTSD

One of my kiddos, I'll call him Nick, has been having some problems of late. He is constantly disrupting classes, trying to be funny, talking to other students, etc. He was recently put into SAC (In School Suspension) for sexually harrassing 3 girls. Did I mention this is one of my favorite kids? I know I'm screwy for caring bout the screwed up ones, but I see so much potential in Nick.
Recently I found out Nick was in a car accident a year ago so bad his mom lost his memory for a week. Now, every time Nick goes near that road in a car, he starts pressing his right foot down against the car floor. Also, his IQ has dropped 10 to 20 points since that accident. Something is going on. Looking back, I think he might be suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. All of his acting out seems to be for constant stimulation, so he won't have to feel. He's at the mercy of emotions he doesn't understand, and I don't know how to help him. I feel for him even more, as I went through my own bout with PTSD.
At this point, all I can do is email the shrink who is evaluating him. Perhaps it will help.

You are not helping!

One thing I truly hate about being just a teachers assistant is person I work under. I have had to work so hard to develop a relationship with these kids, and that is not an easy task. My little darlins don't trust authority figures of any kind. Their parent's don't exactly provide good role model's in this regard. Mom often has lot's of kids, each with a different daddy. Those daddies often don't spend much time with said children. Many are in jail. The parent's will be in conflict with everyone, from their best friends to the police. And their offsprings education is not seen as a priority. And somehow, I have to earn these kid's trust.
So I've worked hard. I ask the kids about their lives. I praise them for small small things. I tell them I believe in them. When they are upset, I reason with them, give them the chance to cool down, make comprimises. And it works! So I don't get the last word, they are LEARNING! And learning to trust.
Then enter Ms. "BluntNoTactBuryTheHorse6FeetUnder" (We'll call her Blunt for short). I will have just calmed average disgruntled student "Bob" down after he has refused to do his test. He is now actually answering questions. Everything is cool, no need for further intervention. But Ms. Blunt says...
"You can't come here and not do work. I won't put up with it. You need to get to work or I'll call your mom. This isn't social hour...." etc etc. Did I mention she repeats herself?
Anyway, by now Bob is pissed off again, and who can blame him. Why should he work when he is still getting in trouble? In fact, the only way for Bob to win is to invent a time machine and go back to before he threw his fit and keep himself from throwing it. Not a likely scenario, especially since Bob can only read on a 3rd grade level.
So what can I do? I talk to someone above her, my life with her is hell. I don't, the kids get screwed over. It's just one of the many catch 22's we face everyday in this school.

Quote of the Day

"That dance aint Crunk! The party I'm going too, it's Crunk!"

Said by a 6th grader.

My Momma said

Our kids are so creative at avoiding work. Some of them will tap repeatedly. Others will try to goad you into sending them outside. Some will just talk. But Brad, Brad has a very unique approach. At the start of the year, he would complain to me about Ms. W. How much he hated her, how mean she was. I finally got him to stop that. Then he just kinda stared off into space. We worked through that. Now his favorite thing to do is say "My momma". "My momma had me do it this way." or "My momma tells me to do the math this way." Now you'd think this wouldn't really cut down on his instructional time, but when he stops principals in the hallway to say it, and tells it to his regular ed teacher, and then tells it to me, well it adds up. But Brad, he over did it. Today Ms. W gave him a lecture: "We don't care what your momma tells you. She needs to tell us. She has our number." But Brad didn't seem effected. So Ms. W called "Momma". Surprise surprise, she wasn't upset with how we were teaching him at all.
I wonder what Brad's next trick will be.

Did he really just do that?

Yup. One of our 8th graders stood ten feet from me, puckered up, and spit all over the hall, and another student. Did he not see me standing there? Did he truly think I'd just let that go? I can not imagine being as clueless as these kids sometimes are, and I'm pretty clueless.

Oh the drama!

"If she takes my man, I'm gonna beat her up."
"You watch your back!"
"Then he said....Then she said..."
The following are actual sentences heard in the 7th grade hall yesterday and today. Now, scream these as fast as you can at the top of your voice with 30 other kids talking loudly at the same time and you'll know what it was like.
There is going to be a fight today. The question now is when and where. And if adults will be involved. Some parent's of the kid's involved showed up, and were going around asking for another one of the kids. That's all we need now is the parent's getting into a cat fight.
It amazes me how much these girl's fight over someone taking "their man". They don't seem to get that the man and the friend aren't worth anything if they'll cheat on you. But in this income group, taking someone's man is the cardinal sin. You can rob them blind and they will probably forgive you, but you mess up a relationship, your a** is getting whooped.
We won't even go into the fact that these kids shouldn't be worrying about love right now. But it's a status thing to have a girlfriend or boyfriend. Maybe it's there way of saying "somebody cares about me".
So, hopefully I will have a nice little post about the great knock down drag out fight. I'll be glad when it's over and the tension is gone.

Middle School Lingo

Green=gay
Booty=similar to ghetto, but the exact meaning is unclear.
Bootleg=see above. May also mean "not legit"
Aw Man!=Teacher, you are not being fair or reasonable
Tappin=Hitting the desk to a rythem, usually in quiet time
Steppin=A shuffle dance performed by individuals in place
Throw Down=Fight
Walmart=Saying something is from Walmart is an insult, saying you are too poor and too stupid to shop elsewhere.