Morning

Good morning, bloggers!!

I am off today. On Friday, I gave my students a reading assignment on the words of Cesar Chavez after Dr. King's assassination. I doubt that half of them will do the assignment by this Friday.

First, I would like to thank all of you for your support and advice. As for how my school is going, I am wondering what circle of Hell in Dante's Inferno we most closely resemble. (Warning: Long rant ahead.)

On Wednesday, my special ed co-teacher -- who had been pulled for testing, to deal with a student who has problems in the morning, pulled for conferences, and pulled for substituting for other teachers -- announced her resignation. She said that she would leave Friday as she did not get the support she needed to adequately help the students.

Then a few hours later, I stepped away from my desk to check the hall way before the bell for 4th period. I returned and there was a rubber turd on my laptop. As no one admitted to it, I called security. In turn, security called the head of security and the interim principal who talked to the students. I was told that the person responsible would be identified. This has not happened.

In November, someone threw a cough drop at my back. Later, the student was identified by another student and the young man identified was removed from my room to in school suspension. The interim principal put him back in my room Wednesday where he proved to be disruptive. He already had a major referral by the next day after disrupting the class for not wanting to take a minor referral. I had to talk over him and his chatting classmates.

Friday got worse. In 1st period, which is my best class academically and behaviorally, I wrote up two students --including the star of the basketball team -- for talking. (Their claim that they were talking about the book was not to credible.) The student who was not the star athlete tried to take the referrals out of my front left pocket when I walked around the room. I sat down shortly after telling him to get his hand out of my pocket. When I was going over "Great Expectations," I felt something hit the top of my head and fly by. I stood up and stood on a pencil eraser.

I called security which took over FIVE minutes to arrive. (We are down to 8 security workers in a school of over 1000.) I kept the door closed and blocked it, putting my hand on the door knob. (In case of an incident, students are to remain in their class.) The student who tried to take referrals from my pocket grabbed my hand, turned the doorknob and walked out. Shortly after that security arrived, and the head of security talked to them as the 2nd period class met in the library. I waited for him to talk to the students.

After students left to go to their 2nd period classes, I told the head of security about the student going into my pockets and walking out by moving my hand. He said that was a major referral.

I taught the 2nd period class as the principal sat at a desk and took notes and then headed out. During 3rd, I tried to meet with a counselor who is a union rep. She was busy, so I said I would email her. I did so after talking to the dean for juniors and seniors who said this was ridiculous and would talk to the principal.

During 7th period, the class was normal until I asked if they wanted me to read the first paragraph from our excerpt from "Great Expectations." They talked over me, so I gave out four referrals and was writing up a fifth when one student used a piece of paper as a megaphone to make weird noises. So, I gave him a major referral.

I will be looking for other work, ideally at a school outside of Indiana where the governor finds money for a pig barn at the state fair but not for teacher pay raises. I will look for work at a school that does not have seniors reading around the 8th grade level and unsafe working conditions. I fear until we act to improve educational equity and address the issues of poverty that Dr. King's dream will be only a dream where I work. The vast majority of students will have lives like their parents and their kids and grand kids will be at the same school in coming decades. Some will do worse and enter the penal system. Few will enter the trades or professions. Most of those will leave the town I teach and never return.

I doubt my safety and will ask if anything can and will be done. I will be fine but I fear I will have to find work elsewhere -- perhaps even outside of the Midwest.

Sorry I've been so absent from the blog. I will try to do better.

Hugs and vibes to Livin, who is going through some very bad health issues.