tie yurd

Man oh man, was I ever tired this morning, so I guess it's just as well that I didn't get a single phone call...I could not keep my eyes open to save my life.

After kickin' around the house for awhile, I went over to Jefferson for a spell. It was nice to catch everybody in a good mood for a change. I ended up staying longer than I planned, but it's hard to resist the charms of squirrely but lovable teenagers sometimes.

A girl told me something that I though was both funny and sad: "I think [our teacher] is scared of us."

I told her that sometimes that happens. Not all adults like teens to begin with, and more than a few are terrified of teenagers. Even some teachers. And not everyone can fully appreciate the kids at Jeff. And it's hard to imagine a more intimidating bunch--until you get to know them. These guys present themselves as tigers, but underneath the veneer, there's often teddy bears hiding in there. Not everyone can see that.

For me this is part of the allure and fascination of working with at-risk youth. With teens, you've gotta get below the surface, which takes longer with this group. Trust has to be earned. These guys won't do what you ask until you've earned their respect. And to me, nothing is more satisfying than achieving that.

It's a tough crowd, and not a crowd that's for just anybody. One thing that I often see lacking in inner city schools (or other schools with a lot of diversity) is educators that have the cultural competence to be really effective. You can know your content area, you can have all kinds of ideas about pedagogy, but if you don't understand where your students are coming from, you will never be totally effective with them. You have to be willing to get through the facades, the posturing, and the face-saving moves before you really know who you've got in your room. And I don't think you can it starting from a position of fear.

Just a thought.