Gotta stay fly...

Just about the time I thought things were gettin' too quiet for my taste, I finally had an excuse to go back to one of my favorite schools...

It was nice to have a light afternoon in a familiar setting. It was nice to see some bad 7th karaoke, play a little basketball in the gym (with kids who've never shown a speck of interest before now), kick it with the kids, and get things done. I got pretty generous with the PBS cards because everyone was really on top of their game, and overall it was one of the easiest days I've had in quite awhile. It's days like this that make me love middle school...

Given that tomorrow is probably gonna be hype deluxe, it's nice to have a day like this where everything's smooth sailing.

super rad!

I love having an excuse to work at this school--any excuse--the kids are pretty mellow and a lot of the other teachers are amazing. And to think I used to let these jobs go by because I was freaked out by how tricky the commute was. What a nice gig to land on a Monday morning...

I haven't done Life Skills in awhile, not because I don't like Life Skills (it's actually one of my favorite subbing gigs) but mainly because I've only been getting called for elementary jobs (which I'm kind of avoiding because I'm tired of getting sick). But today I decided a secondary level Life Skills class was just the sort of thing I needed on my first day back after spring break. Good choice, too, since the kids were so much fun to hang out with all day.

Yep, Life Skills is one of my favorite assignments (even though it's pretty unrelated to my certification area...then again so is EBD, but I do that all the time too, so go figure). If it weren't for the mounds of paperwork, and the endless meetings, I'd seriously consider being a SPED teacher. Sadly, though, it's the paras who get to have the real fun in Special Ed...

Yikes

Bill O'Reilly was a high school teacher? Now that's scary!

Going paperless

Article source: Teachers cutting paper usage; kids loving it, Hannah Sampson, Miami Herald, Mar. 27, 2009

Paper: eight and a half by eleven, usually white. As a (primarily) English teacher, I have a love/hate relationship with it. On one hand, I'm a shameless tree hugger who can't help but think about the senseless slaughter of trees. On the other, it often seems like the very purpose of school is to fill up about as much of the stuff as possible.

Back in my student teaching days, one of my cooperating teachers was definitely anti-paper. Other than quizzes, tests, the vocabulary templates she used (The Clarifying Table Routine), and the monthly master list of assignments, I don't recall seeing her use much paper (compared to many other teachers). She used an old-school overhead projector and had the kids do almost everything in their own notebooks, which they had to turn in periodically for a grade. She allowed kids to submit papers electronically, and even though it wasn't a computer-rich environment, more than a few kids took her up on it.

Just the other week, I was working at a school where they had totally run out of paper, so unless you had your own, no copies could be made. The assignment the teacher left for the kids to work on was a rather extensive one, but we had to make do. I took the original, posted it up on the Elmo, told the kids they'd just have to "copy off the board" and when the whining ensued, told them they could get right on over it.

Paper is the bane of my existence. It's easily lost or misplaced, it can be expensive, it requires a level of organizational prowess that I really have to work at, and it tends to multiply like rabbits.

"In classrooms...paper is becoming more of a relic than an educational staple. The result: homework done online. Paperless term papers. Math problems completed on an interactive whiteboard. An entire course of physics problems contained on a single compact disc. And, schools hope, savings in an ever-tightening budget crunch."

Eliminating the paper trail, so to speak, certainly can be done in a lot of different ways. I have seen some really good teacher websites with the option for students to complete and submit homework online.

During student teaching, for example, when my students submitted their mid and final drafts during a huge writing project, all I did was come around with my flash drive and save a copy (for their rough drafts, I made them do a paper copy because most of them were so enthralled with Word Art that they would easily waste an hour trying to design the most visually pleasing title font that they could).

In English, at least, there's a lot to be said for doing much of the work of writing on the computer. There's also an equally compelling argument for eliminating much of the workbook and drill and practice work (worksheet exercises). There's lots of really good interactive online quizzes on grammar, vocabulary, and so forth that students could do easily at school or home (provided that they have the resources--I realize that not everybody does). Kids spend most of their time on the computer either playing games or cracked out on YouTube, so why not harness all this energy and put it to work in favor of learning? You couldn't really replace all of your classwork with electronic practice unless you are lucky enough to teach at one of those fancy schools where every student in the room has easy access to a computer.

While I'm talking mainly about my experience teaching language arts and ESL, this works equally well in other subject areas. I taught middle school math for a month once, and we did almost everything on whiteboards or on a chalkboard. I carried one around myself while working with individual students because I could easily show them the steps to solving the problems very easily that way. Homework, of course was still done on paper, but there's ways to keep that from getting too out of hand.

"While schools would be hard-pressed to eliminate paper altogether, technologies like interactive whiteboards and document projectors have proven to be popular substitutes."

Document projectors are awesome. This has to be one of the best inventions to hit the educational circuit. In fact the only downside I can think of, really, is the fact that the kids discover (only too quickly) how to use the freeze function...but then again, is that so much worse than the endless parade of amateur shadow puppetry?
I absolutely love the fact that you can project ANYTHING up on a board--student work, pages from a textbook, lists, exemplars, whatever you want. I've never been privileged enough to work in an environment where interactive whiteboards were available, but I can only imagine how wonderful they must be.

"Strauss keeps track of how many copies teachers are making and sends a note (e-mail, of course) to those who have fewer than 500 per month with ''a thank you for thinking green and helping the budget,'' he said. Those who exceed 2,000 copies in a month get a note urging them to reconsider their paper-dependent ways."

This reminds me of colleges and their print quotas. I think it's high time they did this in K-12 settings. Some teachers can be real profligates when it comes to the copier...

"Christopher Stella, who teaches a fourth- and fifth-grade class at the school, posts to his class website all the information he might have otherwise sent home with kids on paper. Documents for homework are scanned and posted as PDF files."

One of the best arguments for reducing the paper load is that many parents would be considerably happier if they had the option of receiving school information electronically. That way it couldn't be "lost" (or deliberately withheld).

"MAST Academy in Key Biscayne, a school known for its focus on green innovation, tries to conserve paper -- and recycles what gets used."

Schools are getting a lot better about recycling, I've noticed. I use recycled paper from the copier room recycling bin for almost everything I do in classrooms with students. I use a lot of quarter and half sheets for stuff too--a lot of the time, you don't need a whole page for short answer activities, and a lot of kids find the "smaller is better" approach less threatening.

Today I was in a middle school classroom, and observed a math teacher, who was implementing a new routine to reduce his paper load. He passed out a pile of shiny new notebooks and instructed his students (6th graders) to start doing all of their homework in the new notebooks (no more turning in loose papers). They would be turned in and graded once a week (on staggered days). This reminded me of one of my cooperating teachers who had a similar system, that I really liked because it was very easy to manage. Not too long ago, I created something similar for a 7th grade student--a personal math homework notebook--we'd take his worksheets, cut out each problem, tape it to the page, and he would do his work in the notebook-instead of on the worksheet itself. So instead of losing worksheets, he had everything neatly contained in a single location, with the additional benefit of having more space to show his work (the goal here wasn't saving paper, but rather organization).

"Robert Rosen...scanned all of the information he hands out -- which would amount to something like 200,000 copies for all of his classes -- and put it on compact discs.
''The kids just loved the CD,'' he said. ``They just warmed up to the idea immediately.'' If there's something Rosen wants to distribute to students during the school year that wasn't included in the initial disc, he puts it on his website as a PDF."

As you can see, there's a lot of ways to cut down or eliminate a lot of the "paperwork" in education--or at least better organize what you have. Whether its simply reusing more paper, eliminating the use of worksheets, or using features like electronic submission, there's a lot of ways to save those trees.

http://www.miamiherald.com/457/story/968145.html

installing the dishwasher

This spring break was dedicated to home improvement projects. Today's objective was to install the dishwasher. Last week we went and picked one out. Based on what was available, and what we were willing to spend, we ended up getting the LG 4821.

I noticed that there's a lot of negative reviews online, but most of them are about another model (the 6810) or detail scenarios that don't apply to me (we don't have hard water). I chose this one based on the fact that it was around $600 (we were looking for a mid-range price).

We wanted a stainless steel dishwasher because our other appliances are all stainless steel so that ruled out any of the cheaper brands (this one had a stainless exterior AND interior--a lot of the other stainless steel dishwashers in this price range had plastic interiors, which I wasn't too wild about). Besides having a stainless steel interior, this dishwasher also has a much more functional and roomy interior than most of the ones we looked at (my criterion is that it had to hold more dishes than the portable I have been using, and sadly most of the other brands we looked at had less capacity than my ancient portable!) I wanted a fairly roomy tub so I won't have to run it all the time--it takes us nearly a week to fill up a dishwasher. Also, the racks on this one seemed more sturdy and far less flimsy than many of the others we looked at...which matters to me because I tend to overload dishwashers. Oh, and let's not forget that with all the extra space, I finally have a dishwasher that is tall enough for my stemware and thermoses! Yes!

I haven't had a dishwasher that was less than 10 years old, so I was amazed by all the high tech features that appliances seem to have nowadays (the glasstop stoves nearby all looked like their controls were modeled off of an iPod). This dishwasher control display looks more like a stereo! I'm glad that someone else shares my timer fetish--most of the new dishwashers had a timer/countdown feature so you can tell how long it will be running. It even has a little chime at the end to let you know it's done...which is helpful because it's so quiet that unless you're in the same room, you probably wouldn't realize the machine had stopped running.

This dishwasher is VERY quiet. They weren't kidding about that. Most of the dishwashers I've ever had were loud enough to hear a block away and ran for hours on end. This one is SO quiet. All you hear when it's on is the quiet sloshing of water, and a bit of draining now and then. No loud churning motor! I probably make more noise when I'm handwashing dishes. It's energy efficient (a new Energy Star–qualified dishwasher can save you more than $30 a year on power and almost 500 gallons of water). It doesn't use a heating element, so that probably accounts for the "wet dishes" you hear people complaining about online. Personally that's not a concern for me, because normally air dry the dishes to save money and energy...I just prop the door open when it's done, and let the steam escape into the house (we don't live in a humid climate) and I them air dry.

This was not an easy installation, and I knew it wouldn't be just based on the logistics of where it was going. It took us an entire day to do the installation, which included demolition time, several trips to the hardware and plumbing supply store, and so on.

This was a completely new installation into a space where a dishwasher had never been. What we had before this was a portable dishwasher (a dishwasher on wheels with a butcher block top that you wheel over to the sink and attach to the faucet. But I figure, A: I'm tired of hauling the beast out every time I want to run a load of dishes (it's heavy/cumbersome/and in the way big time), and B: It will dramatically increase the desire of someone to buy this house if it has a permanent dishwasher. The house--by the way--was built in 1910, so there were not considerations at the time the kitchen was designed for our modern fancies for large labor-saving appliances. The fact that nobody had attempted it before during any of the previous remodels is a testament to the pain-in-the-butt factor that we were facing. When you buy new appliances, of course you can pay to have them installed, but I doubt anyone will come in and bust out your cabinets, install an electrical hookup, and redo all of your plumbing. In a situation like this, you might as well do as much of it yourself as possible--because ultimately you'd have to hire a whole string of people to do a job like this. In order to install a a "built in" dishwasher, we had to take out one of the floor cabinets to make a space for the diswasher.

There was no provisions for this mechanical beast at the site where the dishwasher was going, so we had to call an electrician out (a tale unto itself), and revise the sink plumbing to accommodate the addition of a dishwasher (It had to go next to the sink because otherwise, according to the plumbing code, a separate hot water and drainage connection must be provided for the dishwasher--which is way more work than simply tapping into the sink). That means we had to gut the most functional piece of cabinetry in the whole kitchen--the drawers, which unfortunately happened to be in the only place where you could reasonably put a dishwasher. (This was a hard choice for me because I don't know how I feel about having to live without drawers for awhile.)

The dishwasher, the salesman warned us, is slightly larger than the standard size (24"). It's about an inch larger. Well fortunately it fit perfectly into the cabinet (once we removed all the drawers), and only protrudes slightly in the front. Gutting the cabinets was quite a chore. This was not easy, and it was impossible to do it without causing some damage to the adjacent cabinets and the counter top.

The counter top, I wasn't as concerned about--It's some sort of cheap vinyl and really old and not in the best shape anyway. I'd love an excuse to replace it anyway. The vinyl floors are also not something I'm too attached to, and they already have plenty of dings and scratches from when we moved the refrigerator and range in. I didn't want to damage the floor cabinets, however because I know these are far more expensive to replace.

Each cabinets was screwed to the wall, the neighboring cabinet, and the counter top.
Even after we located and removed all the screws (they were installed with some crazy hex screws--why they didn't just use wood screws, I'll never know), things were glued and stapled and nailed in to survive the apocalypse or a nuclear detonation. Getting all of that to come out was just FUN. That took up a good 2-3 hours all by itself, but fortunately when we were done, the dishwasher DID fit in the hole! (This was a concern!)

Then we had to drill the holes into the sink cabinet for the water and electrical supply lines to run them over to the sink. That was a bit tricky because the plywood under the sink was so thick.

Then the plumbing under the sink had to be revised. Complicating matters was the fact that we have a double sink (most of the dishwasher installation instructions out there cover the simpler continuous waste kit (center drain). We had an end waste kit that we had to tap into, but fortunately it wasn't all that hard once we found better information. It wouldn't have taken that long except the guy at George Morlan led us astray. Moral of the story--don't assume that because someone works at a plumbing supply store that they know anything about plumbing. The really nerve-wracking part was putting it all back together and hoping that nothing was going to leak.

The electrical hookup was also tricky because the supplied appliance cord (unlike the dishwasher panel) didn't have ANY colors on the wire sheathing to indicate any different between the neutral and hot wires. It would have been so easy if it WAS color coded. Electricity is NOT my area of expertise, so I had to spend a lot of time on the internet to ascertain which wire was neutral and which was hot (the ground wire was more obvious), so I wouldn't have a huge electrical safety hazard on my hands. I knew somewhere I had seen information about how to identify wiring when it's not color coded (coded for polarity), but for the life of me, I couldn't remember where and when I had heard this.

The Complete Guide to Home Wiring was a bit vague but I did see a reference to ridged-vs-smooth. I consulted Your Old Wiring which confirmed it.

The ridged/ribbed sheathing denotes the neutral conductor.
(often connects to white)

The smooth (non-ribbed) sheathing is the hot conductor.
(often connects to black)

This matters for the obvious reasons--if you do it backwards, the polarized appliance will be "hot" (not safe).

Once we figured that out, we were ready to hook up the lines, and get her running.
I gleefully tossed all my dirty dishes in, shut the door, and pressed start!

We sat on the kitchen floor, covered with bits of sawdust and surrounded by scattered tools, and watched like giddy children with both fascination and fear as the machine started up. I of course was expecting a biblical flood, but thankfully nothing of the sort ensued. It was rather anti climatic--all we could hear was the quiet swishing of water (that stayed where it was supposed to), and the slight gurgling of water draining out the hose into the sink trap (also not leaking!). All we could see was the timer counting down--no epic floods resulted. So after about five minutes, we wearily got up off the floor and went bravely in to watch a movie.

How does it work? The dishwasher finished before the movie (much shorter run-time). Apparently my biodegradable Trader Joe's earth-friendly-detergent works just fine in this new machine. I did NOT use a rinse aid as recommended. Everything came out clean--in fact the silverware looked much better than it ever did before. I didn't pre-soak a lot of the things I usually do, and they looked just fine. The glasses looked great-not streaky at all. Everything looked clean and happy, so no complaints from me. Yes, things were still damp when I opened the door, but like I said, that's not something that bothers me because I always let the dishes air dry with the door open.

Useful links for DIY Dishwasher Installations

This Old House

Plumbing and Dishwashers from Plumbing.net

Some thoughts about classroom management

It's one of the first things you hear in teacher training--no discipline, no learning. It's also one of the hardest things to learn how to actually "do" if it's not something you're innately good at. It's not a skill you can really "practice" before you hit the real world, yet until you have a handle on classroom discipline, you can't expect to accomplish much in the classroom. It's one of the first lessons you learn as a new teacher, and often, you learn it the "hard way".

How a teacher goes about classroom management and discipline in practice depends largely on their own personal beliefs, and the reality of their school situation. I ran into the article "School discipline: A very quick and totally inadequate teacher primer" on the internet, and thought I'd add my two cents--as the original is written from an administrator's perspective. Am I an expert on the topic? Definitely not, but I happen to agree that regardless of how experienced with or how good you are at classroom discipline, certain moves will always improve your outcomes, and I'm more than willing to share some examples of how these principles have worked for me in various teaching scenarios.

Square One: The first thing to be established at the beginning of the school year is one-on-one relationships between teachers and the students. Young people do not walk into the building on day one intent on mayhem. They have high expectations too. Learn their names, get to know them; just remember you are not their friend, you are the teacher.

I have to fully agree with this. September (or August) is what I call the "honeymoon period". Unless you have a student with serious issues, the usual pattern is that they are not going to pull out their "best moves" in the first couple of weeks. This is a bonus because this is a good time to focus on relationship and community building efforts before the novelty of being back in school wears off and the kids start getting restless.

Square Two: The second thing is to fill up the teaching hour, the school day, and the campus atmosphere with academics. Teach the full period starting on the first day; leave no time for hi-jinks and drama. If you give 25 Harvard professors enough free time, they’ll get into trouble.

Like I always say, "Idle Hands...keep 'em busy." This is what Ken Peterson always said too (in his own way). Make sure you have an interesting, engaging curriculum place, and worthy academic pursuits to fill up your time together. The less downtime you have, the fewer discipline problems you have. (And if the rest of the class is busy, you'll have plenty of time to spot and deal with the kids who for some reason are using their class time for other things.) The purpose of school is learning.

Square Three: If positive relationships cannot be established, and students disrupt learning, make the parent call and give the family the chance to make things right. Do not wait until the fifth student felony to do it. Call early, call often; if a student improves, the parent would love to know that too.

I highly second that statement. One of my favorite moves is calling parents. I've written numerous times about the benefits of doing just that. It takes surprisingly little time to do, really (often less than 3-5 minutes per kid). You just pick 5 kids to call that day, and systematically work your way down the list, rinse and repeat. "Tough cases" usually merit more parental contact (unless for some reason that's proving to be counterproductive), but even the good ones can stand some positive calls home...if nothing else you can always say, "Your kid is so awesome, he/she is an absolute pleasure to have in my class." I tell the kids, "Since I'll be calling anyway, you should ensure that I only have good things to say." This can be tricky with the parents of ELLs, but there are ways to make the contact, even if you have to do it primarily in writing or via third parties...

Square Four: If the menace continues, lower the boom and smack ‘em with the discipline code. But application has to be unemotional, rational, and above all else, fair. The first level of discipline is the classroom teacher, not the principal’s office.

I don't think I've ever sent a kid to a principal's office for disciplinary reasons (although I have been tempted to once or twice, and have had to call security a few times...or threaten to...usually announcing that you will be calling for security and just reaching for the phone has the desired effect). Generally, most things can be dealt with at the classroom level.

For me, discipline is more of an act of prevention, and I try to set kids up to succeed. If a kid requires more than my usual set of moves, there's usually a BIG problem, the sort that probably will require a full-blown intervention team effort to bring junior back into the fold. I rarely encounter anything that doesn't respond to a little light detention or parental contact. The few kids that didn't respond to those interventions were the types who needed behavior contracts, team intervention efforts, psychological evaluations and other heavy duty measures. I've noticed that even kids with rather serious and challenging behavioral issues on their IEPs will respond to some pretty basic moves (facial expressions and mild re-directions) as long as you have the relationship piece in place first.

Re-read square one: You cannot punish, admonish, correct, or chastise someone you don’t know unless you have police authority.

Ha!!! This is the very reason why classroom management when you're subbing is so difficult and trying sometimes! You don't know the kids...the kids don't know you...you pretty much have to rely on a bizarre combination of sheer luck, school sanctioned authority, sheer force of will, and a dynamic stage presence... Classroom management as a sub is really a lot more like playing poker than an exact science. As a sub, you do a lot of bluffing, and hoping no one calls your hand too early in the game. I for one, am not a cop, and I don't play one in the classroom either. This means that usual game plan as a sub is to quickly convince the class that I don't bite...but I don't play either.

The reason parents get away with the many mistakes they make in child rearing is because their children know that mom and dad love them.

And it's when the kids can't rely on that basic entitlement that life in the classroom can get really "colorful". It's certainly true that kids from difficult or dysfunctional home settings can be terrors in school settings, but due to the profoundly different nature of your relationship (you're not the parent), you can often achieve reasonably good results if you're willing to put in the effort.

Kids are smart, and for the most part, reasonable. New students give teachers an adequate length of rope to see what they will do with it. Don’t hang yourself.

I think this is one of my greatest strengths in working with kids...I'm pretty good at figuring most kids out, and patient enough to attempt it even with the tougher, more resistant ones. I can usually infer when to push, and when to wait and try again later. The key is to look at the big picture, and never waste valuable energy fighting any battles that don't need to be fought. Nobody's perfect, and some days I'll show up a bit sleep deprived, or nursing a cold, so I'll be in a crabby mood. When I feel awful myself, I tend to be snappy or irritable. If I mess up somewhere along the way, I try to fix it (what Ken Peterson calls "repair moves").

Re-read square two: Just before the Christmas break (excuse me, Winter hiatus) I asked a first year teacher of freshman English at an urban high school that was 90% black and Latino why it was she had never sent me a discipline referral. The petite, female, Caucasian, University of Wyoming graduate looked at me and said: ‘We don’t have time for trouble, we’re too busy.’ Bingo! This lass taught well-prepared, engaging lessons from the second the bell rung to start class until the bell rung to end it. She was teaching, the kids were learning, and they loved her for it. Kids can spot a phony.

She obviously is a much better person than me (9th graders!!!), but the lesson remains the same...no downtime, no problems. She's probably also very patient and understanding with 9th graders...something I'm not, for some reason...

This example illustrates another point--know thyself. Know who you are, and do what you love. If your calling is to teach in the inner city, or in an area with a lot of racial/ethnic/language diversity, by all means go for it--people who are effective are badly needed. However, if you know deep in your heart that you're most effective with upper class white suburban TAG kids, don't inflict yourself on a Title I school (and spend all your free time whining about how much you hate everything about it). If you aren't sure, there's ways to figure it out. You can spend some time subbing, or volunteering, or doing something that's low risk until you figure out where your strengths are as a teacher.

If you don’t like kids, do everybody a favor and quit.

Amen! I'm always meeting or hearing about people who went to all the trouble to get certified to teach, taught for a few years, then came to the stunning realization that although they love math, science, history, art, whatever--they don't particularly like kids. Huh?!? You would think that would be one of the first things they should have figured out before you spent thousands of dollars on schooling. Or worse, they figure that because they were a TA in college, they'll automatically be just as effective with children. Ha! Yes, I realize that jobs are scarce out there, and that may be the reason why they show up to work every day. But seriously, if you're not feeling the magic, give someone else a chance to do their thing. I have seen plenty of teachers that are just going through the motions. Poor kids...they do notice...trust me, they do.

As a teacher I had two rules. The first was not to stop me from teaching. The second was not to stop another student from learning. Kids get it. If you mean it, and you enforce your rules fairly, they cooperate.

Sure, once you train them... Seriously though, it does help to frame the issue of discipline in a context students understand (my rights). No one likes it when someone infringes on their rights...students do get that, although some need more help than others with the empathy factor.

No one can make you like kids.

That should be the number one concern of people who hire teachers...does the candidate like kids? The best teachers I've ever seen in my life were the kinds of people you could tell really like kids--and are passionate about their subject area. They usually have pictures of kids all over their walls. Their rooms tend to have that "child friendly feel to them". They usually have lots of funny stories about the things one of "their kids" did just the other day. They tend to have notes or drawings from students near their desks. They also usually have a lot of visible evidence that their classroom is a fun place to learn about whatever subject they happen to teach. Regardless of what they teach, you can tell they genuinely enjoy (and get) kids. When I talk to people who are contemplating becoming teachers, that's what I ask them too:

A college student: "I'd love to teach high school math..."

Me: "Why? Do you like teenagers?"

College student: "I don't know...I'm not sure...I hadn't thought about it."

Me: "Well you better figure that out first..."

It's worth remembering that kids generally have to attend school whether they want to or not. Some kids come to school every day and are excited about learning and being there (in the teen years, that's maybe 5% of the student body). Some kids in fact are so into school that you literally have to make them leave. The rest, however, may feel ambivalent at best about your subject area, or school in general. Generally speaking, you can't learn about things you don't care about from someone you don't like (and who doesn't like you). It's really hard to put any effort towards something for someone who you suspect doesn't like or respect you. Kids are very perceptive that way, and are pretty good at spotting someone who's faking it. You may not convince kids to love your subject area on it's own merits, but often, if you have the right kind of relationship, they'll at least make more of an effort, if for no other reason, than to try to please you. (The college version of this is taking a class that you don't necessarily need just because you've heard the professor is really amazing.) I've seen kids that loathed reading and writing come religiously to the after-school tutoring sessions (run by teachers) for no obvious reason that I could fathom--it wasn't compulsory. Sure they got some work done while they were there, but I don't think that's the main reason why they were coming every week. After being puzzled by it, I really think that a lot of the motivation was just have a more personal one-on-one relationship with their teachers. (And these were teenage boys with a lot of behavior problems!)

"Schools are not difficult to run, if you’re logical and can juggle dynamite." Or herd cats. Or perform miracles...

Source: School discipline: A very quick and totally inadequate teacher primer
March 26, 2009, http://www.examiner.com/x-3865-Chicago-Public-Education-Examiner~y2009m3d26-School-discipline--A-very-quick-and-totally-inadequate-teacher-primer

The food and water debate

Whatever happened to common sense? I heard about this the other day and thought it was ludicrous:

"A pregnant teacher was sent to the emergency room for dehydration and hooked up to intravenous bags on the first day of Superintendent Wilfredo Laboy's bottled beverage ban in schools, according to a teachers union official. Students and teachers have not been able to carry in any drinks or coffees this week — even clear water bottles — after an underage drinking scandal on the International High School campus prompted the superintendent to lay down the law on outside drinks at all the city's schools."

I realize that the motivation for this draconian measure was obviously well-intended, but food and water are basic human needs, and not easily confined to industrial efficiency schedules. When you're pregnant, for example, you have to drink TONS and TONS of water, and you're supposed to snack all the time. And there's a lot of health conditions require increased food and water intake...

Maybe I'm just more perceptive than average, but how can you not know if a kid has been drinking at school? Alcoholic beverages, especially the varieties that are available to the underage crowd, tend to have a distinct odor that can't easily be masked by sodas or other beverages. Kids, especially teens, tend to do really stupid things. If for some reason it does happen, you deal with it, and move on.

I don't see how banning water bottles is going to compensate for the fact that the faculty at the school in question is either blind or not dealing with what's going on in their school. "In one instance, a 16-year-old girl drank rum from an apple juice bottle in a classroom and later was brought to the hospital when she did not stop vomiting. In another, a student brought a half gallon of rum to a party in the school cafeteria." Excuse me folks, but how do you miss something like that? Honestly?

"Parents last night said school leaders should punish the offenders who brought alcohol into the high school, not the entire school system...[a parent] called Laboy's move 'inhumane'." That's what bothers me. Food, water, air--these are basic human needs. I know more than a few kids that come to school hungry most days. But I'm not just talking about the kids here, as much as I sympathize with them. Aside from sweatshop employees, I can hardly think of another occupation where you are more likely to work for 8 hours straight with hardly a break. Sure teachers have the 30 minute lunch...but forget breaks. As a teacher, if you can get to a restroom more than once per day you're doing REALLY good. After all, it's not like you can just waltz out of class any time you need to go--you gotta supervise 30+ kids--usually by yourself. And talking ALL DAY LONG makes ya really thirsty, folks. It's a vicious combo. I haven't even mentioned the legions of folks who can barely make it through the day without some caffeine or a snack...These of course, are considered "rights" in most employment contexts.

My suggestion to everyone involved is deal with the real issue (the inadequate supervision that resulted in teens being able to get away with drinking at school), and move on.

Article Source: "Pregnant teacher ill on first day; School Committee suggests change", By Crystal Bozek, eagletribune.com

http://www.eagletribune.com/punews/local_story_086010229.html

Bamboo Floors (part 2)

So the odyssey continues...today we tackled another room-the office. Unplugging and figuring out what to do with tons of A/V equipment and computers and such was REAL FUN. In fact it's a lot like moving, only knowing you're not going anywhere...

There weren't as many staples to pull up this time, but still plenty because there were some left over from a previous carpet installation, plus the current one. But still, nothing like the quantity in the bedroom. There was way more of the nasty lead paint on this floor...uggh. (I honestly don't know what possesses people to paint hardwood floors.)

Installation was easier and smoother now that we've had some experience with laying the flooring down. I also had the sense to go buy a rubber mallet to tap things into place instead of struggling with the end pieces, so in my opinion, it was much easier and faster than last time. Today, I laid the floor and Brian did all the cutting and measuring (especially since my asthma has been really bad the past couple of days). The toughest part of this room was having to work around the floor vent. The door is giving us some trouble--so we had to take it off the hinges until we can sand it down a bit. (The bamboo is higher and less likely to get out of the door's way.) This room was slightly bigger than the bedroom so it took more rows, and like the other room, it took most of the afternoon though, but we finished in time for Brian to watch Memphis lose to Missouri.

Still to go--the third bedroom and the living room. I think we can get the bedroom done, but I don't think we're going to get around to tackling the living room this week--it's too much furniture moving (with nowhere to go) in my opinion (I think it will take another weekend to do the living room). Plus we still have a dishwasher to install as well...

The bamboo flooring is really nice. It has good acoustic qualities and is "quieter" than I thought it would be--not loud and echo-y at all. It's also a lot warmer under the feet than I was expecting. Even though the carpet was a light color (it may even have been white at one time) the bamboo is even brighter (we chose the natural color so it's kind of yellowish in the way the bamboo is once it dries) so it really lightens up the rooms even more. Considering that this house has great natural light to begin with (you don't need to turn on interior lights during the day AT ALL), it makes the rooms almost glow. I really like it.

I'm really looking forward to the complete eradication of carpet in the rest of the house...no more vacuuming, and I'll never need to rent a steam cleaner again. I can just quietly sweep when the dog hair accumulation gets a bit too much...and boy does she shed.

My-Not-Fun Spring Break

The nice thing about having a school job is having spring break--whether I want it or not.

The trouble is that it's not exactly spring-like around here...or maybe it's just too spring-like for my taste. So far it looks like it will be about 50 degrees and raining every day this week. Great weather for plants, but not people.

It's just as well though. I feel pretty lousy and I'm kind of glad that I can choose to do very little with myself right now. There'll be some hard labor later on in the week, but for now, laying around and reading is about the only thing I can muster up enough enthusiasm to do.

So much for bike rides or anything outdoorsy. It might as well be winter for all I care.

Bamboo Floors

The reality of installing my own floors is about as fun as it sounds on paper, but I'm doing it anyway because it's a great way to save some money.

One thing that sucks is some idiot painted over all the hardwood floors (underneath the carpet) with some awful lead paint.

I've also decided that the person who installed the carpeting must have been over-caffeinated or was listening to techno music because I swear to god there's spots where there's 3 staples per square inch! Excessive, indeed!

So far the hardest part was pulling out all those little staples. Tedious!

Ripping up the carpet, of course, was easy.

Installing the flooring isn't too bad. It's click-and-lock so it's pretty easy. No nailing, no glueing.

The part that sucks is having to saw every other piece due to the weirdness of our room dimensions. Good thing we bought that miter saw--we're getting a lot of use out of it.

The other major piece of suck-age is living in a house that's being remodeled and having to move stuff around from room-to-room.

We finished our bedroom (yay!) and will be tackling the rest during spring break.

Free Advice for Teachers about Substitutes

Whether you plan to or not, as a teacher, you will probably need the services of a substitute teacher at least once during the school year. If you're really unlucky, you may even need to plan for a long-term absence. A few teachers (who I work for regularly) have asked me what things they can do to prepare for a substitute. Thinking back to all the times I've been in other classrooms, here's the things I happen to think are helpful to me as a sub.

1) A sub folder with basic information: the school schedule, a list of classes you teach, a current list of your students, and general information about your class routines. Exceptionally useful sub folders have included class rules, seating charts, color ID photo print outs from ESIS, and useful information about students (such has who has an IEP that will need specific provisions while they are in class, anyone who is pulled out of class at a certain time, anyone that has unusual medical needs, and anyone who is an ELL).

2) Lesson Plans (that are clear). I've seen a lot of variations on clarity or total lack thereof in lesson plans. They don't necessarily need to be shining exhaustive examples of something you would have submitted to your professor during your teacher education days, but the more specific you can be about what you want done in your absence, the more likely your wishes will be carried out.

An examples of what I mean by vague lesson plans are statements like "have them read in their books". (Which books? For how long? Which pages? Silently, or out loud? Are they supposed to do anything afterward?) Don't assume that just because the kids seem to know what to do everyday when you're in the room, that they will "know what to do" when you're not there. Kids have an amazing way of "forgetting" what page they're supposed to be on, or having "total amnesia" about what it is they do in class every day. As a sub, I will have no way of knowing what they're supposed to be doing, and trust me, I'd much rather have them working on something that moves them forward than have yet another "free period" which for me means an extended babysitting opportunity.

3. What kinds of things are useful to a substitute teacher?

* Current seating chart: YES! Even if you only have 10 kids it's still nice to know who they are. A seating chart is more useful than an attendance roster.

* Detailed lesson plans-An absolute must if you want your absence to be a productive time and you want things done YOUR way. What happens when teachers leave vague or minimal lesson plans is that I end up having to make a lot of executive decisions about what we're doing for the day. It doesn't bother me, but the kids usually prefer "business as usual".

* Class schedule-Most useful for self-contained classrooms, but still worth having in the upper grades if you have a really structured classroom routine, or teach a lot of different subjects. In the upper grades, a bell schedule is nice to have because the kids like to "make up" their own start/end times and if your school doesn't have audible signals, it makes it hard to figure out when to release the class.

* A list of students who leave the classroom for any reason (pullout programs, special ed., etc.): Especially in the upper grades because kids will say all kinds of things to get out of class. It's nice to have some idea which reasons are valid (Johnny takes his meds every day during third period), and which are novelties dreamed up by the students.

* Class roster: a seating chart is better, but a class roster is also useful.

* List of Procedures (for the beginning and ending of the day): If you want them followed, otherwise be willing to tolerate some impromptu variations. Sometimes the kids will actually help you, but don't bet the farm on it.

* Extra work for emergencies or for when the students finish early: Recommended, but only if you are willing to give the students academic credit for doing the work. Students usually refuse to do busy work unless it "counts".

* A description of where the teacher's editions and other important materials are located: If it's not on your desk, trust me, I need to know where to find it.

* A list of classroom rules and disciplinary procedures: This is probably the most important information you could give a sub. Since kids universally "take advantage" of subs, it's good to know what constitutes "normal behavior". I can always institute my own version of "the way things are" if your wishes are not communicated, but I'd vastly prefer to stick with what the kids are familiar and comfortable with, than have to "train" them.

* An office referral form for discipline problems: If you think I will need one. To be honest, I rarely have to write referrals because I rarely have serious problems with most kids. In a typical year, I might write one or two at the very most. However if your class is the sort that you have to write referrals for on a regular basis, then maybe you should leave a few for your sub as well.

* Procedures for using A.V. equipment: Older subs appreciate this a lot. I usually can figure it out, but if I can't, I often just ask the kids. They always know how to use A/V equipment. If that still doesn't work, I just improvise and we just do things another way.

* The name of a teacher the substitute can go to for help: always good to know who you can go to if you have questions. Even better is to have a pre-arranged reciprocal buddy system with a neighboring classroom teacher for those times when you need to remove a student from the classroom. I remember one time in my early days of subbing (when I was subbing for a paraeducator), the classroom teacher was 30 minutes late from an IEP meeting that ran way way over. I was a green sub in a room with EBD kids who were getting restless, and the ship was sinking fast, when lo and behold, the teacher in the classroom next door came to my rescue and "took care of things".

* The names of helpful students: This can be good or bad. Sometimes helpful and responsible kids are a godsend. However, it's not a sure bet that the same kids that are "good" for you, will be all that helpful to a sub. Sometimes the "smart-straight-As-quiet" kids are the ones who are the most devious and cruel to subs. As a pretty good reader of kids, I decide pretty quickly who I can trust.

* The names of students who may be a challenge: Again, like the above, it can be subjective. If a kid is an absolute menace to society, and has multiple suspensions on their record, it's good to know. But sometimes, the very same kids that drive you crazy, are strangely good with subs. If a kid has really serious issues, it's worth mentioning them, but in general, as a sub, you can tell who the bad ones are pretty quickly. They usually don't waste any time making themselves known to you. Probably more useful than merely knowing who they are, is knowing what "works for them".

* Procedures for Emergencies: This is required by most districts.

* Floor plan or map of the school: Most useful for floating teachers or paraeducators who move around a lot during the day.

* Duty schedule: If you have duties, make sure to note them. There's nothing more embarrassing for a sub than to have a principal come storming in the room wondering why you're not somewhere else.

* List of students with special medical needs: Most useful for Special Ed, but if you have kids with seizure disorders or severe life threatening allergies that you're aware of, it's nice to know about that.

* Field trip and assembly instructions: Classroom teachers won't want to hear this, but about the worst time you could possibly do is take the day off on a field trip or an assembly. Honestly, I'd even rather have them during state tests (mind numbingly boring) or fire drills (highly disruptive). Leaving your kids in an unstructured situation (like an assembly or field trip) with someone who doesn't know them at all is just asking for trouble. It's very challenging to supervise kids when you don't even know who they are. If you need the coverage for these times, you're better off postponing the field trip until you can be there or finding in-building coverage for that assembly. If you can't do that, make sure to request someone who already knows your kids well...If you can't do that, then make sure you alert anyone who is likely to be affected.

4) What is the most common problem that you deal with concerning student behavior?

A: Students taking advantage. This is totally preventable if you provide details of your classroom expectations and school rules. Believe it or not, not every school has the same rules (some schools allow kids to wear hats, some don't. Some teachers allow their students to listen to music during class, whereas some schools do not allow cellphones in the building period). And as a sub, my standards may be quite different from yours...and if your standards aren't known to me, I'm going to go into default mode (mine).

B: Work refusal/Off-task behavior. In other words, the same kinds of behavior you probably get all the time...the difference is that I'm going to see more of this because I'm a sub. For your convenience, I'll make a note of anyone who wasn't using their time wisely during class.

C: Testing: Some kids have a need to "test" subs to see how they'll react. They'll say and do things that are mildly outrageous to see how you respond. I have a sense of humor, so what usually happens is they get it out of their system and we move on.

D: Lack of respect: This is rare, but occasionally I'll have to deal with individuals who really don't do well with subs. Maybe they don't do well with school period. Maybe they don't do well with life in general. I don't take it personally. When I run into these types, I remind them what they're supposed to be doing, what I expect, and what the consequences will be if things keep going in this direction. I tend to ignore their verbal offensives, and make a note of anything noteworthy. What I don't do is play their game.

5) Do you have your own consequences for student misbehavior, use the individual teacher's plan, or some combination?

I always use the teacher's plan first (if it's known to me). If this doesn't seem to be working for me, I implement my own. Naturally some students will complain, "You can't do such and such!" or "Mr. So and so never makes us...". It is these times when I get to say one of my favorite sub lines, "Do I look like Mrs. So and so to you?" or "Do you want to do an experiment and find out?" or if I'm in an especially fine mood that day, "Oh you better believe I CAN, and I WILL."

6) What specific things do you do to make your day go well?

I start each class with my spiel (my five basic rules for a lifetime of happiness--no electronics, raised hands make things happen, fun depends on you, etc). I let them know that I do have expectations and what they are, so they don't need to "find out" through experimentation.

I put a list of everything we're doing that day on the board if there is one, and go over it. I hint that if they use their time wisely we'll be probably be doing something "fun" and unexpected.

I walk around the room and talk to the kids...just little short things--is that book any good? I love that band, nice hair, you like that sports team too? nice drawing, did you do that? If we have time at the end of the class period, we might have a whole class discussion or play a game like hangman.

I rarely if ever discipline anyone in front of the whole class...that usually keeps things from escalating. The one exception is if someone is surreptitiously using an ipod or a cellphone I bust them early and tease them in front of the whole class so that others who are thinking about it will know it's a waste of time to even try.

I also pretend that everything is "DUE TODAY" (whether it is or not)--a little built-in accountability is good. So I usually take the homework assignment and arbitrarily make that "due in class". I tell them everything's due before they leave...and only at the very end of class give them the option of "finishing it at home". I find that makes our time together MUCH more productive.

7) What concerns do you have for the current substitute program that is in place in your district?

Each school does things differently, which is to be expected, but sometimes it can be confusing. Some districts are much better than others in terms of how they deal with subs. At one district, I've had trouble with a lot of really basic things like getting paid, not getting any calls (when I should have been...that took a long time to get fixed). There's a central sub office down at the district office, but they're not really all the helpful. Usually I have to take matters into my own hands, or figure out things for myself. The trouble is, as a sub, you often have to advocate for yourself a lot more than that most other school employees because no one really cares all that much...you're considered expendable.

8) What can classroom teachers and other staff do to make your experience more positive?

One thing I wish all teachers would do is prepare their kids for having a sub. All teachers should discuss how they expect their students to treat guests in the classroom...preferably each time they expect to have a planned absence. This is especially critical when the absence is going to be a long-term absence. From what I've seen, kids do a lot better if they've been prepared for what's coming. If you can, communicate with the kids about the circumstances around the absence because trust me, they will miss you and wonder where you are. If you can, send them some updates from time to time. Probably the most important thing I can say about this though is that students also need to know that they will be held accountable for their actions.

9) Do you leave the teacher a note telling her or him how the day went?

You better believe it. I figure if they're anything like me, they'll want to know what the day was like and how things went. It's also an important piece of leverage--I tell the kids I'm leaving a report, and I'd like it to be full of good things. Also if a class has been rather nightmarish, about 1/2 to 2/3rds of the way through the period, I create a list of the kids who were on task and walk around and have them sign it. The others wonder what I'm up to, and often decide they want to be on that list too.

you have got to be kidding me...

I can't believe this shit...This is just fucking ridiculous. Yes, I am madder than hell right now--too mad to even write about it. I don't think any reasonable person would stand for this, and I certainly am not going to either...

high interest reading: stephanie meyer

I've been a little slow to get on the bandwagon, but after hearing for the umpteenth time from a teenage girl about how great "twilight" is, I decided that now's as good a time as any to see what all the fuss is about. It certainly won't hurt me to have something else in my repertoire of instant conversation topics.

I went to Powell's on Wednesday, and bought the first two, and started reading #1 that evening. My reluctant readers said it was an easy read, and several kids that normally show no interest whatsoever in reading said they finished the first book in only a few days. Mostly it's been girls, but I've also known a few boys that will admit to being equally enthralled. I can see what they mean. It reads fast. I'm already on page 165 and I've only had the book for slightly more than 24 hours, and have only been reading it fitfully here and there when I have time. (Today, for example, I read some during SSR while the kids were reading, stopping quite often to look up and supervise the room, and I still made pretty good progress in spite of the fact that I re-read several parts multiple times due to the distractions of trying to watch a class of middle schoolers.)

I can readily see why it's so appealing...if only my textbook reading was so effortless...

giving it a go

I've had teenage girls tell me time and time again that Stephanie Meyer is where it's at. I'm finally going to take them up on their ecstatic endorsement of the Twilight Series...

Oh happy day

Two of my favorite things in life:

1. A sunny day (bonus--a sunny day when I'm not working)

2. A trip to Powell's

Two of my not-favorite things:

1. Payroll

2. Going to the Vet's office

B-Room

It's hard to miss the looks of sympathy, and the rolling eyes. Yes, people, I know what I'm getting myself into ladies...and trust me, it's all good. They'll come around in no time once they figure out I don't bite, and can take a joke.

They may come with labels, but they're just middle school kids...and trust me, I can handle them.

spring?

It's finally starting to feel a bit less winter-like around here. True spring is still about a week away, but looking out the back door and seeing a robin looking up at me from the lush green grass made it seem a bit more likely that winter is finally on it's way out...as did seeing a pile of frolicky-looking squirrels this morning while I was out walking the dog.

The plums started blooming finally, and I'm starting to see a few daffodils--naturally not in my yard, of course. Maybe by next week... On a related note, the tulips all seem to be popping up all over the place, but unfortunately, out of all the crocuses I thought I planted, only a few made an appearance as of yet. It's kinda disappointing.

I should have been at a high school today instead of tottering around the neighborhood, but I haven't been feeling good since Tuesday so I've taken the second half of the week off to recuperate. Not something I would have preferred to do--after all, spring break's coming up fairly soon--but for some reason, I'm just not feeling it this week. The timing couldn't be worse considering I had all these lucrative certified language arts gigs lined up...sigh. I've waited nearly all school year to have options like this...

I'm starting the peas and some chard today. The seeds are sitting in a yogurt container on my windowsill be the kitchen sink. I'm hoping to have a better crop of chard this year than I had last year. Peas, of course, are always welcome around here.

It's Friday the 13th, and frankly it's been pretty uneventful...just the way I like it.

Did I mention I hate 9th graders?

9th graders...uggh. What a terrible age.

For me, the worst ages/stages of kids are when they're in 5th, 7th, and 9th grade. At all other times, they're much more bearable, but for some reason, when kids are in these grades, they turn into hideous demon children. Okay, perhaps I am exaggerating, but not by much.

So sandwiched in between this creampuff assignment of highly specialized electives was one 9th grade class. And I wasn't expecting much to begin with, but it was worse than I could have imagined...

I worked with 9th graders for one year, and decided that 10th graders were more my speed, and stuck with them the following years. I was ecstatic to have 10th graders during student teaching (even though certain individuals did their best to keep me on my toes) and genuinely enjoyed most of them, even the "bad" ones (who often made me smile even as I was writing referrals). But while even 5th graders and 7th graders have their moments where they're funny and entertaining, there's nothing cute about 9th graders to me...

Needless to say, this day was a solid reminder that I will not, ever, under any circumstances, accept a permanent job assignment teaching 9th graders because we just don't get along--at all. period. Mixed classes with a few 9th graders thrown into the mix? Maybe. Otherwise, not a chance in this lifetime. I'd rather teach in a self-contained EBD class--at least they HAVE a good reason for acting the way they do! I am just NOT tolerant of the 9th grade brand of immaturity in quite the same way that I am tolerant of students who have documented emotional/behavioral disorders, or kids with AD/HD (who often drive me crazy, but are usually thoroughly likable people).

To anyone out there who does enjoy the antics of 9th graders and is called to work with this age group, let me just say you are a very special person, and a way better person than I ever have been or ever will be!

Stormy times

The weather around here has been pretty crazy. Every five minutes when I looked out the window on the 3rd floor, something different would be falling out of the sky. If I forgot to look myself, one of the kids would happily give me an update. No it's sunny! Raining! Snowing! No, raining! No, the sun's out again! Now there's snow pellets! No, it's just rain...

And trust me, the behavior I've been seeing in the K-12 population is pretty similar to the weather-all askew...Oh, yes, and let's not forget the moon's full right now and the natives are restless. Not the best week to be subbing, but the jobs keep rolling on in...

March By Alexander B. McNair (1836-1904)

Hail! Stormy March!
No other month
Is welcomed more than thee:
The furious blast
That hurries past
Is but the winter freed...

Does all of this craziness mean that winter is almost over? Is this the bitter end? I'd like to tell myself that...I'm pretty over winter by this time of year.

basho

With dewdrops dripping,
I wish somehow I could wash
this perishing world

back into it

I've been on a hiatus from art for awhile. Between all the moving and the graduate school stint, I've been too busy/flustered/disorganized/overwhelmed to do anything creative, and having the necessary materials and space has been an issue for awhile. Thankfully now, I have the time, space, and energy to get back into art again.

Right now I'm just messing around with papel picado and practicing kanji, but I'd like to do some collage work and some watercolor painting in the near future. Now that I have acquired a drafting table, I should have a much easier time with it.

saturday market

2 headscarves, ten cents a piece,
1 huge pocket organizer, two dollars,
pictionary cards, 25 cents,
3 hole punch, two dollars,
"funny scissors", three dollars,
artist pencils, 25 cents each,
3 pack of chinese brushes, one dollar,
miscellaneous paperbacks, 25 cents each,
koosh stress ball, ten cents,
train magnet, ten cents,
skully tin box, one dollar,
tacky glue, one dollar and 59 cents
stamp pad, three-eighty-four

weird friday

Pretty strange not to be working on a Friday, but I'm kind of okay with it. I haven't been feeling all that hot lately (ever since I had the stomach virus thingy that's been going around), so maybe a day off is just what I really need...

the myriad joys of subbing

Today I was at a high school, and 3/4 of the class apparently decided to skip class (once word got around that there was a sub). As a high school sub, you always have a few kids that do that, and honestly, I'm fine with it (because a. it's easy as hell to write them up for skipping, and b. usually those are the kids who you desperately want NOT to attend). I guess once they they found out their regular teacher wasn't there, they bolted as fast as possible, and probably went over to hang out at the mall. I did what I normally do, wrote them all up, and went on with the day with those who stayed. In these cases, the discipline problem pretty much solves itself (the epitome of those "natural consequences" we're always talking about), and about the only thing I had to do all day was tell a couple of kids to put away cell phones. Those who were there were really focused. They were so focused in fact, that it was downright spooky.

they're tough kids but you gotta love 'em

Today was a familiar gig, at a school I work at regularly, with a group of kids whose quirks I know well--who in spite of everything often make me smile (and occasionally chuckle).

A classroom for kids with moderate emotional and behavioral disorders is definitely not a picnic kind of job for a substitute teacher, but it's an interesting niche area for me, and sometimes when things aren't too crazy, I actually enjoy it.

You learn to appreciate the small moments of success. You learn to live in the moment. Sometimes the randomness is just random, but sometimes it's funny. You learn to roll with whatever the day has in store. You learn not to take anything for granted. These are good life lessons for anybody.

Today was kind of a funny day. Like most it had its ups and downs. It's a tough crowd, but they're so darn lovable sometimes--those lions when they roar, and you know that underneath all the bravado there's still kittens inside...Funny, funny kids. You gotta love them sometimes, even when they're trying so hard--to be hard.

Another reflection on subbing in EBD classes

The bulk of this week's assignments have been "behavior classes" (self-contained EBD/SED classrooms). I do this a lot anyway because in spite of my initial trepidations, I've discovered that I'm actually very good at working with kids with EBD. (Keep in mind that I'm talking about the mild-moderate range that are not in out-of-school placements). For some reason, I've always been good at working with "tough crowds", and for whatever reason, subbing in EBD settings seems to work for me. Since most subs won't touch this job assignment with a ten foot pole, I have the field pretty much to myself.

I always feel like some kind of weird miracle worker because I'll come in, the kids will "test" me at first, then decide I'm totally fine and will settle right down, get right to work, and we'll have a totally "normal" day (normal, being whatever would be typical for that group/setting). For whatever reason, the very same kids who usually refuse to cooperate with subs usually stick to me like glue. People tell me all the time, "I can't believe so-and-so took to you like that." It's kind of spooky sometimes. Yesterday I was told, "You must be a good luck charm or something because these kids are NEVER this good."

As far as subbing jobs go, subbing in a self-contained EBD classroom (at least for me) is usually pretty straightforward, but let me tell you, it's an "interesting" job. I don't necessarily mean this in a bad way, although some days can be frustrating (for a lot of the same reasons that substitute teaching can be frustrating in general). Usually what it means is that there's never a dull moment. The usual sequence of events is things are calm in the morning, and as meds slowly wear off, get more hectic in the afternoon. If a kid is going to "lose it", it's usually at the end of the day, so the last hour of school can be a bit hard on the teacher. This of course, is not in any way different from the dynamics at work in mainstream classroom populations. It does require an almost inexhaustible well of patience, iron-clad consistency, and very thick skin. When working with teenagers, you learn not to take things personally, so usually I don't get flustered when kids aren't at their best. Quite often though, we do perfectly fine together, and any "episodes" are short and easily dealt with.

Most kids with EBDs are an acquired taste, but once you get past some of the barriers they put up, some can be downright likable. Working with this population can be heart breaking though. It's my observation that most of the kids with emotional/behavioral issues are the way they are due to some combination of genetics and one or more of the following: severe abuse, substance issues, other questionable parenting practices, unstable family situations (foster kids in unstable placements who may move multiple times a year), and the kind of home life that would be best described as an ongoing state of emergency. By the time they get to high school many choose to cope with the above by acquiring a drug/alcohol habit (self-medication, which makes it harder for them to learn while they're in school), and those who lack a stable family influence in their lives, tend to join gangs (in a futile search for a sense of belonging). Statistically speaking, adult outcomes for this group tend to be extremely poor, so it can be frustrating sometimes to know that these kids are going to have a really hard time out there in the real world. About all you can do, I guess, it hope for the best, and do what you can while you can.

In spite of all of their issues, many kids with EBDs seem to really enjoy school (even though they try their hardest to act as if they don't) probably because it's a safe, stable place, where there are clear boundaries and things are predictable. You have this funny phenomenon where these kids will passionately claim they "hate" school and don't want to be there, but at the same time, will commute incredibly long distances (on their own) to get to school, will be waiting outside your classroom door to be let in, want to spend all of their free time in your room, and may need to be kicked out at the end of the day. (The above only applies to students who have regular attendance, at the opposite end of this extreme is students who are enrolled, but never come to school, or only do so very sporadically).

They may roar like lions, and show you their teeth, but on the inside, they're all surprisingly scared and confused and vulnerable and want to be taken care of.

Flashback to the 1990s

Back in the day, Wayne's World was the stuff. Me and my friend used to quote it all the time, and to be honest, it's a little spooky how often I say things that come from this film. I decided to dig out the ol' VHS tape, and indulge in some nostalgia for the early 90's, those heady days when metal was king, and real men had longer hair and better perms than most women... In honor of the occasion, here's a few of my favorite quotes:

"What a totally amazing, excellent discovery. NOT!"
"I once thought I had mono for a whole year. Turns out I was just really bored."
"Ex-queeze me? Baking Powder?"
"It's sucking my will to live!"
"If you're gonna spew. Spew into this."
"Denied!"
"It might happen. Cha! And monkeys might fly out of my butt!"
"Do I frighten you?" "No." "Do you want me to?"
"Do you accept cash? CHA-CHING!!"

Today in History

Today in History - March 1

Today is Sunday, March 1, the 60th day of 2009. There are 305 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On March 1, 1932, Charles A. Lindbergh Jr., the 20-month-old son of Charles and Anne Lindbergh, was kidnapped from the family home near Hopewell, N.J.

On this date:

In 1781, the Continental Congress declared the Articles of Confederation to be in force, following ratification by Maryland.

In 1790, President George Washington signed a measure authorizing the first U.S. Census.

In 1809, the Illinois Territory came into existence.

In 1867, Nebraska became the 37th state.

In 1872, President Ulysses S. Grant signed an act creating Yellowstone National Park.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy established the Peace Corps.

In 1981, Irish Republican Army member Bobby Sands began a hunger strike at the Maze Prison in Northern Ireland; he died 65 days later.

One year ago: The USS New York, an amphibious assault ship built with scrap steel from the ruins of the World Trade Center, was christened at Avondale, La.

Today's Birthdays: Singer Harry Belafonte is 82. Rock singer Roger Daltrey is 65.

Thought for Today: "Words are, of course, the most powerful drug used by mankind." — Rudyard Kipling, English author (1865-1936).