moving target
I would just appreciate if my students would stop changing their attitude all the damn time. If they would just either be assholes all the time or charming all the time, it would help keep me less disoriented.
There were no protests today, no uprisings and refusals to do the work. I handed them a 15-page biography of Cesar Chavez and they stared, stunned. Then I broke it into pieces, making each person responsible for a chapter and we shared out. I think jigsawing is stupid usually, but in this case I didn't have a choice.
"Who is Cesar Chavez?" they have been asking, and I'm creating a blockbuster-like buzz. Today they were mortified that he was beaten for speaking Spanish, and Monday they will learn about the strikes. WHY THE HELL DO MY MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS NOT EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS??? (And Aztec Boy corrected me when I called Chavez Mexican - "He's Mexican-American, please" - because Aztec Boy is puro mexicano and proud of it) What the hell kind of sucky schools have they been stuck in? One of the greatest modern leaders, who is a positive role model for everybody, is ignored? Stupid. Yesterday at a faculty meeting I suggested we change the school's name to Cesar Chavez High School, and it's like I suggested we kill Wilbur and eat him as BLT. But it seemed reasonable - I mean, it's confused all the time because an elementary school has the same name. Why not have it be named after a great person who also happened to have helped the families of some of my students??
Anyway, I'm still a sucky and boring teacher, they've just given up trying to argue. Well, at least for one day.
Boy-whose-name-is-spelled-like-a-girl's insisted on hugging me today because I called his house yesterday to find out if he got lost on his way to school. Then I called all his teachers and figured out which classes he can still pass, and I will ride his ass until he passes. This kid has failed more than he's succeeded in his life, and he's going to make it through this term without going to panel if it kills me. The math teacher told me he was failing but then called me back to say he aced a quiz and he's doing fine now.
5th period Little Fuck You is back - he was suspended for yelling at a teacher to fuck off. (He wasn't suspended when he told me that when he first got here, but whatever.) His grade report shows an F almost a D and we were looking at the zeros and I was like, "Dude, you don't do work when I'm not here. When there are subs, you don't turn anything in. What's with that? It's YOUR grade, not mine or theirs."
"Yeah, but they just like sit at the desk and you ride us. You make us do all our work, so there's no point in even trying to not do it because you'd never allow that. When nobody's doing that, why would I do my work?"
Sigh. I don't know how to make that bridge. I can make almost any kid do almost anything I want, but I can't make 'em always do it when I'm not right there.
Anyway, I told Little Fuck You, "Yeah, but riding you - that's what gets me yelled at."
"Who yells at you?"
"The kids." More particularly, him. And they don't really yell at me of course - they try to argue and I beat 'em down.
"Well, that's just wrong, and you know I don't mean it. I appreciate it. I'll beat up any kid who yells at you."
Yeah yeah, until Monday he appreciates it.
Anyway, we got to talk about zoot suits and la Virgen de Guadaloupe (one kid insisting she's making gang signs) and all sorts of cool stuff today. But there wasn't much talking - it was reading and writing. Because that's what we do - protest or none.
I like the pachuco who let me borrow American Me. He's now become The Asshole to the counselor, but he's fine with me. I don't care that he's been kicked out of school after school - he's cool with me and upped my coolness factor many times because now I can mention American Me as an example of zoot suits. He is less than impressed that I call his house when he's not at school (no hugs, thankfully), but I won't please everybody. I'm mostly just a bully, making kids come to school and making them pass their classes.
There were no protests today, no uprisings and refusals to do the work. I handed them a 15-page biography of Cesar Chavez and they stared, stunned. Then I broke it into pieces, making each person responsible for a chapter and we shared out. I think jigsawing is stupid usually, but in this case I didn't have a choice.
"Who is Cesar Chavez?" they have been asking, and I'm creating a blockbuster-like buzz. Today they were mortified that he was beaten for speaking Spanish, and Monday they will learn about the strikes. WHY THE HELL DO MY MEXICAN-AMERICAN STUDENTS NOT EVEN KNOW WHO HE IS??? (And Aztec Boy corrected me when I called Chavez Mexican - "He's Mexican-American, please" - because Aztec Boy is puro mexicano and proud of it) What the hell kind of sucky schools have they been stuck in? One of the greatest modern leaders, who is a positive role model for everybody, is ignored? Stupid. Yesterday at a faculty meeting I suggested we change the school's name to Cesar Chavez High School, and it's like I suggested we kill Wilbur and eat him as BLT. But it seemed reasonable - I mean, it's confused all the time because an elementary school has the same name. Why not have it be named after a great person who also happened to have helped the families of some of my students??
Anyway, I'm still a sucky and boring teacher, they've just given up trying to argue. Well, at least for one day.
Boy-whose-name-is-spelled-like-a-girl's insisted on hugging me today because I called his house yesterday to find out if he got lost on his way to school. Then I called all his teachers and figured out which classes he can still pass, and I will ride his ass until he passes. This kid has failed more than he's succeeded in his life, and he's going to make it through this term without going to panel if it kills me. The math teacher told me he was failing but then called me back to say he aced a quiz and he's doing fine now.
5th period Little Fuck You is back - he was suspended for yelling at a teacher to fuck off. (He wasn't suspended when he told me that when he first got here, but whatever.) His grade report shows an F almost a D and we were looking at the zeros and I was like, "Dude, you don't do work when I'm not here. When there are subs, you don't turn anything in. What's with that? It's YOUR grade, not mine or theirs."
"Yeah, but they just like sit at the desk and you ride us. You make us do all our work, so there's no point in even trying to not do it because you'd never allow that. When nobody's doing that, why would I do my work?"
Sigh. I don't know how to make that bridge. I can make almost any kid do almost anything I want, but I can't make 'em always do it when I'm not right there.
Anyway, I told Little Fuck You, "Yeah, but riding you - that's what gets me yelled at."
"Who yells at you?"
"The kids." More particularly, him. And they don't really yell at me of course - they try to argue and I beat 'em down.
"Well, that's just wrong, and you know I don't mean it. I appreciate it. I'll beat up any kid who yells at you."
Yeah yeah, until Monday he appreciates it.
Anyway, we got to talk about zoot suits and la Virgen de Guadaloupe (one kid insisting she's making gang signs) and all sorts of cool stuff today. But there wasn't much talking - it was reading and writing. Because that's what we do - protest or none.
I like the pachuco who let me borrow American Me. He's now become The Asshole to the counselor, but he's fine with me. I don't care that he's been kicked out of school after school - he's cool with me and upped my coolness factor many times because now I can mention American Me as an example of zoot suits. He is less than impressed that I call his house when he's not at school (no hugs, thankfully), but I won't please everybody. I'm mostly just a bully, making kids come to school and making them pass their classes.
posted by NOLA at 3:08 PM
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