7 More Days
Michelle on May 16 2007 at 1:03 am | Filed under: The Teaching
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One can tell it is nearing the end of the year at my school. In addition to the pot bust, one of the offices was broken into last week, and a television and computer were stolen. We never did find out who was responsible. Today, we discovered that a kid had broken into the main office last night and attempted to steal some money. The kid who set him up with the information about where the money was presumeably kept ratted him out. So, the police were back today. He’ll probably just get charges of criminal trespassing since he couldn’t find the money. He’s a senior set to graduate in a few days. Stupid.
Another stupid thing was the ARD I attended today. A student had taken some codeine at school, and we had a manifestation determination hearing, since she is special ed due to her depression. The committee determined that she took the drug at school because of her disability, depression, and did not expell her.
The whole thing was ridiculous. Who knows what was going on in her mind? Maybe she took the drug because she was bored. Maybe kids who don’t have special education paperwork for emotional disturbances feel depressed and take drugs. It amazes me that these papers let her get away with doing drugs in school, which is something that I am not down with, regardless of my feelings about how the cops tend to handle these instances.
I am showing Grave of the Fireflies tomorrow. It is not exactly uplifting, but it is real. I have been showing more movies lately as a way for the kiddos to get inside of another culture and history in a medium that they are familiar with. They had a first-time experience reading subtitles when I showed them Men With Guns last week, and they totally got it, which was cool.
By the way, I’ve signed a contract for another year. I’m in a groove with these kiddos, and the principal intuitively knows which kids will especially click with me, and puts them in my room, which is cool. It is also cool that Sage gets to go to work with me in the morning, and come to my classroom directly after school. You can’t beat that!
Still, can’t wait for summer…
We’ve got way more than 7 days and kids on special plans (even 504s) can get away with anything short of murder. Even that if it’s part of their accommodation.
sounds like you are fitting in there and really making a difference, I am happy for you!
I hope you have counsellors at your school. I still haven’t got over the first time I saw Fireflies.
Also, kudos to your students. I joined the school film club when I was in the sixth form - people who *chose* to watch films - and they were bored out of their minds at having to watch films as involved as Blade Runner and The Blues Brothers.
I know you are glad things are winding down there for the year. Congrats on the contract. I know the school is a better place for having you there.
I think I mentioned this kid on another comment; he was the only student I had this year with an IEP. He was a nightmare in class, partly from untreated ADHD and partly from a complete lack of discipline/structure at home. He ended up getting expelled. If the mom had been okay with him being in the special ed setting, he would most likely still be in this school, which would be a lot better than his current predicament. He’s being homeschooled instead of going to the alternative school, for 12 months. A teacher will visit him once a week. I’m imagining a lot of fire-setting, video games, sleeping in, and torturing of small animals. Not much learning or social interaction.
Well, that was slightly related. The system sucks. Which is why I won’t always want to be a teacher.
What about the movie Hate (La Haine). I don’t know the rating, but it’s awesome.
Congrats on the contract … I commend you for the work you do and your commitment Michelle … bravo! JP