Parents-- you gotta love them

Sorry about the lack of posts lately- I have been busy with pacing guides and curriculum and the other administrative joys that go with teaching. Sometimes these tasks drain me. 

During second period today, one male student came in almost 45 minutes late with a pink slip that excused him from a tardy. I was not pleased- he had missed already 1/2 of the class and we were actually doing something- we do something every day, but students now know better than to ask me if we did anything important after being gone for a day. 

Anyway, this 10th grader hands me a folded up note and stands there -- waiting, most likely for my reaction. I thought that this would be a regular excuse so and so because of : insert trite excuse here. What I saw was absolutely priceless and this parent has forever endeared herself to me. 

On a half sheet of white paper in cursive the following was written

Please excuse student first and last name for being late. He had his head up his ass this morning. 

No joke!! It was from his mom as he cant write this nice. I took it to the break room and everyone had a good laugh. 

This is quite possibly the title of a book if I write one about teaching. 

I'm going to frame this- it may never happen again. 

losing my IQ

You know what absolutely sucks about being a teacher when you're outside of your own kingdom-ooops I mean classroom. Your super powers of the look and the question- "are you finished talking" mean nothing. It's as if kryptonite is in full effect.

Long story short- as a way to reward myself for going to the gym and cleaning my house on this three day weekend- I went to see Bride Wars. At first it was just a few single people watching what had the potential to be an ok mind candy movie. That is until---duh duh duh--- a group of about 11 tweeners walked in and just started talking and talking and talking. The look did nothing to them. They didnt care that I was trying to watch the movie. One of them did not get that taking loud slurps from an empty iceee cup does not produce more icee. Her compadres were interested in saying the dumbest things that I have ever heard- and I've heard a lot. Fortunately, the head tweener decided about 25 minutes into the movie that this "was the dumbest movie I've ever seen- lets go!" Thank God for that! She and her little cronies picked up their purses and exited the theatre in a huff! One little girl fell down the stairs because she was texting on her new iphone.

Besides this added attraction- the movie was horrific. I usually can stomach movies like this but even this was a hard pill to swallow. I do think that my IQ score went down a few points and it's an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back.

As for tomorrow- I dont get to be with my students. I have a training all day in the library to keep working on making assessment more meaningful. At least my snarky cohorts will be there.

More later.
Stay tuned
10th grade teacher

Introduction

I've been teaching high school English for almost nine years now. I have taught all levels (9,10 and 11) and have even been the drama teacher because I thought it would be fun. Fun is not a word to describe being a drama teacher. Words like total insanity, fundraiser, psychologist, janitor, foreman and mechanic---a mom needed a jump start and a student hit my car after a production when he was leaving the parking lot -- are more suitable words.

A friend of mine from college likes to take me to parties because of all the stories I can tell. I'm sort of like the wind up English teacher- watch her talk. When I mention that I am a high school teacher- people sort of take a few steps back and gasp- how can you do that level? People so misunderstand teenagers and are afraid of them. When I mention that I teach Sophomores or grade 10 --most people ask me if I have a good therapist or if I am crazy. Everyone on this planet seems to have a severe dislike or even aversion to teaching 10th graders. This is my second time around teaching sophomores and am really, really enjoying it. I know in my department that teaching 10th grade is not high on most peoples' request for classes. I really enjoy it.

My personal educational philosophy that developed after teaching for a time involves a few things: treat others the way you would want to be treated, create an atmosphere of respect, be real, be honest, wear jeans and always be willing to laugh at yourself. MY classroom is noisy- but not noisy in an uncontrollable way. If my room sounded and looked like a library I'd be bored. I love the interaction with the students and some of the stories I get from working with them are priceless, you cant make this stuff up.

So that's why this blog is here. I want to share the highs and lows of working with 10th graders. I want others to see that teaching these wise fools can be a blessing in disguise. I want to give other teachers hope that teaching tenth graders is not a curse or a karmic payback. I also know that being on a supportive faculty is essential and I grateful for having the most wonderful colleagues to work with.

What about privacy? I will not be using student names and I will not be disclosing any personal information about students or where i work. I just want to share the essence of what I am surrounded with and hope that you'll smile a bit before going on about your day.

Oh, and a note about grammar and spelling and style- it may be off a bit but hey I'm human too.

Catch you on the flip side!