The first thing that happened was that Sage was getting an award at school today (for music!) and I had to work. I did walk over to his school to drop off some goodies for the class, and when I saw the other parents filing into the auditorium, I just totally choked up, because I wanted to be there instead of at work.

One of our instructional aides saw the tears in my eyes when I got back and asked what was wrong. I told her and she got someone to cover my class. So I walked back over there and got to see my kiddo get his award!

I ended up telling my students about this experience–how very difficult it is to be both the parent you want to be and do the job you want to do. Some of my students take parenthood lightly, so I suppose I was hoping to convey how darn important it really is. Several of my students shared with me that they had never gotten an award. That made me so sad, because while watching the award ceremony, I noticed that the students who received the most awards were those who parents are pretty active in the school, so I know those students are very supported. My students should get awards for surviving hellish upbringings and neighborhoods without being incarcerated (at present, anyway).

Sage also got “commended” on our state standardized test in writing. Although I’m not a fan of standardized tests, this meant a lot to me, because after seven years, Sage just got out of the special education program for speech/language. When he was struggling, he never got awards or recognition, and it seemed that he was overlooked because of his disability. I used to feel so angry about that.

The guy came to fix our washing machine, which had a broken lid switch. Greg was at home, and called me this afternoon to let me know how much it cost. It was $130 for 15 minutes work and an eighteen dollar part. I told my students about this as well. They need to give this guy some competition so that prices will go down a bit! For a moment, I wondered why I didn’t go into appliance repair.

Here’s the reason, and the reason I almost started crying again. School’s about out, and I was telling my students how much I enjoyed this year, and had really been enjoying this class in particular. I said, “I really like yall”!

Well, this one student I have, who has been challenging to say the very least, not to mention rude, disruptive and a host of other bad behaviors, said, “I like you too Miss.”

And that meant the whole world to me.

Seeing that kiddo (and others) learn manners and exhibit a desire to learn over the past few months has been amazing. He hasn’t been the only one. One of my juniors told me that she had been paying close attention to my World Geography class all year, and that she had never learned so much in a class in her entire life. Kids gave me email addresses, phone numbers and promises to stay in touch.

Unlike working with washing machines, with kiddos it’s really hard to let go sometimes.

I’d also love a Stumble, review, Facebook link, or whatever for that blog if you enjoy it!

If anyone is wondering, Tiki Martin is my “porn star” name. You know, name of first pet and mother’s maiden name. Now you can hack my bank account. Anyway, I’m going with that since that bit about deciding that I LIKE my job. Anyway, pseudonyms are fun.

Click on the photo to see a larger version. It was taken right after the depression fifteen miles from where I grew up and thirty miles from where I now live. It blows my mind to think that the girl wasn’t even born yet when my house was built. I am loving this house.

I just couldn’t do the suburban thing. Living in history is cool.

One of the things about teaching writing that can be very frustrating is that some students have dysgraphia, which can really hinder their writing speed. What this means, is that while other students have written a three page essay, your dysgraphic student is still sitting there with four lines on his paper. Dysgraphia is such an aggravating disorder for the student. Most kids who have it are very smart, and it can be so frustrating for them when they cannot put their thoughts down on paper. Fortunately, if the student has 504 modifications, you can request that technological assistance be available. Oftentimes, this means that the student can type on the computer rather than write things out by hand.

However, most students, especially those who are in elementary and middle school, cannot type! So what the modification is really doing is creating a new problem in place of the old one. Fortunately, new technological advances are being made all the time. Take a look at an alternative.

I am going to suggest the
Dragon Naturally Speaking software for student writing modifications. With this software, the student can speak into a microphone and the words will appear on the screen. This way, typing speed is no longer an issue. Of course, there is always the issue of people being able to speak much faster than they can type, anyway. If you don’t believe it, go take
Dragon’s typing speed test!

The thing about this software is that it can take students who were lagging behind the rest of the class, and make it possible for them to be competitive with the rest of the class. After all, writing is about sentence structure and ideas. It is an awful thing for a student’s ideas to be suppressed because of a disability. With this software, they can quite literally find their writing voice.

If you’re wondering what other people think about this product, check out
Dragon Reviews. I’m really excited about this product. I can’t wait to get my district on board with this! I can see all sorts of educational applications that are beyond the scope of this post. Just imagine!

While we were talking about how the Israelites had pretty much relocated out of the area and then began to return in the 1800′s, one of the kids said, “So it’s like I got up out of my seat and then Jose sits there and I come back and say, ‘Hey, that’s my seat.’?”

That’s how it seems to me. I try my best not to express too many opinions so that the kids can form their own. That is HARD. At any rate, it’s fun teaching this group I have now.

It does not matter that I have a M.Ed. in Bilingual and ESL. It does not matter that I have received awards for teaching ESL. The years of experience don’t matter. No one cares! And yes, they DO know.

I hit my limit after having to make a “little journal” out of a piece of construction paper on which to take notes for the day. The notes included things like the definition of ESL.

I tried to sneak out, but disappointingly, the door in the back was locked. Foiled. The other teachers sitting in the back snickered. They knew why it was locked. We’d all try to escape! So I had to walk out the same way I came in, increasing the possibility that my name will be marked off the sign in sheet.

I am so frustrated with the ESL thing on so many levels I can’t even write it all down. The last thing I will say about it is that the district is offering a $300 stipend (I know, big whoop) to teachers who go to a couple of workshops and then take the ESL certification test. Do I get a stipend? Hell no. It just makes no sense.

I don’t want to go to the training tomorrow either. It is the annual training on how to physically control violent kids. After getting hit in the neck last year trying this method, I am not doing it again. They can tear up the whole classroom, break windows, throw computers, whatever. There is not going to be a thing I can do about it other than getting on the radio and calling for help. That training is worthless unless you are in some hellish job where you get to practice it enough to actually be able to use it. Four of us couldn’t control that kid using those methods, and one of us was a former boxer.

I have a bad attitude. I could blame it on hormones, but perhaps the wacky hormones simply paint the world in more realistic colors at intervals so we don’t spend too much time looking at LOL cats and rotting our brains…I dunno.

I’m sure I’m set to make a grand impression for our new principal. I don’t care.

I talked to a teacher who just moved from the alt school to the high school. I called him a traitor, and he said he was sorry, but he just couldn’t stand sitting in a box another year. I know what he means.

I’d really love to feel excited about teaching again.

I suppose it doesn’t matter where my camera is, because I could not take pictures of the events below anyway.

1. I finally got hit by a kid. I mean, it seemed inevitable. I’ve been working with disturbed kids for many years, and I think I’ve been very fortunate. Until last week, anyway. I walked into a melee in the office and tried to help. A kid snatched the phone away from my principal, was moving file cabinets around, and shoving the other teacher in there. My presence didn’t help much. The kid wouldn’t leave the room, as we asked but continued to be violent. One of our aides came in, a solid man who used to be a boxer, and put the kid in a good hold. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a “proper school district approved” hold, and my boss, who at that point was standing in the corner, told him to let the kid go. The kid then came after our aide, who blocked every single punch and tried to get him in the school approved hold. The aide had one side of him, and I attempted to get the other side. Any illusions I had about being a strong woman have went straight out the window. The kid jerked his arm away from me and got me in the windpipe. I’m really glad that his aim was off.

The whole thing was just awful, and when it was clear the police were on the way, he ran. (Finally!) The police caught him down the road, and he attacked them too. No fear there. Scary! The kid’s mom was up at the school crying about her baby being in the back of a police car. It was difficult to have sympathy at that time… Anyway, I’m fine. The weird thing about the entire situation is that I never felt the slightest burst of adrenaline the entire time or afterwards. I don’t get that, since later that night there was a thunderstorm, and as usual, I woke up with my heart pounding.

2. I have successfully stuck with a diet for more than a week now. I decided to cut out all carbs, since I have been hungry constantly, even after eating. I started out by eating as much meat, cheese, etc. as I wanted so I wouldn’t be hungry. After two days, my appetite was gone. No more cravings, period. I’ve lost 6 pounds, mostly water at this point, I’m sure. At any rate, this is something I can do. I like not having to count calories and not being hungry all the time.

3. I am overwhelmed by moving and all that getting the house ready entails. To ice this cake, my mom told me that she no longer wants her storage unit, and that she is giving me everything in it so that I can sell it in a garage sale and have more money. I didn’t tell her this (mainly because I do need money), but at this point, I think I’d pay someone to deal with it all for me.

4. I have a horrible cold and/or allergies. I ran a fever, but it feels like allergies. Allergies gone wild. I picked up a prescription for Singulair this afternoon, because even a double dose of Zyrtec isn’t cutting it. I did go to sleep in my car at lunchtime today, however, and my students continue to remark that I look stoned. Sigh.

5. My cat is peeing on the carpet. I think she heard me talking about giving written notice to the apartment complex that we are moving. Goodbye deposit.

You can see why taking pictures for this post is not a good idea. No one wants to see a fat person cleaning up cat pee while their nose and eyes are running. If I could have taken pictures of the first incident, I would have, because they would be interesting. Another one of our aides watched the entire thing through the window, her face pressed up against the glass. I kept wanting to laugh. Surreal…

Caveat: Things are not bad. It’s just not as interesting to write about the same old things that keep going right. Not that cat pee is all that interesting, but hey, it’s blogging!

So I asked a kiddo to take it down for me. I said, “Take it to the office if you feel like it, and if you think I shouldn’t teach here next year, then just chuck it in the trash.”

He grabbed the papers and started out the door.

“Miz G, I hope it never happens, but if my brother ever comes here, I hope you’ll be his teacher. So I’m turning it in.”

Of course I wasn’t serious when I made that comment (I don’t think), but that was a nice thing for him to have said. Even if I was “fishing” a bit.

So, I’m in for another year.