Turtles in the classroom

On the list of random things that happen in middleschool:

One of my students has a turtle. It is a tiny red-eared slider which she carries around either her pocket often in or her backpack. It amazes me that the little reptile is still alive, but it seems to be very healthy. Today I caught her with the animal and we started a very nice discussion about turtle-care. It's events like this that remind you that even though kids in 7th Grade are growing up and becoming more and more independent, they're still kids and do the most surprising things sometimes.

What's Your Neighborhood Like?

So I assigned our first portfolio assignment last month: a descriptive essay about your neighborhood. I was pretty pleased with the level of description and detail in most of the essays. Generally, the Black and Hispanic kids paint a more stark and gritty picture of Boston than the Chinese kids do, but one essay written by one of the Chinese boys stuck out to me more than others-- here are a few excerpts, unedited:

My parents are rasist so I can't go out because I'll get "shot."....

One night, as I was about to sleep. I heard "PUT YOUR *****ING HANDS UP" Engines roared, tired screached, guns were being fired and sirens were singing. That night 3 people died. Mayor Menino said that he would hire more police. I dont think he ever did.

Here, in the inner city, amidst ignorance, critical minds are developing-- kids who think about race and the sinister assumptions that lie behind seemingly innocent comments like "you'll get shot." Not only that, but as 12 year olds, they are learning to connect their local experience with political and social responsibilities. It just goes to show, diamonds do grow out of the rough.

Injustice Stings

Why didn't He send somebody else?

I kept a student after school for 3 hours tonight, on a Friday. Don't worry, his parents didn't care because they have no idea where he goes afterschool anyway. In those three hours, that student learned more than he had this entire month of school combined. And yet, if I could have him after school every week for three hours, we still wouldn't even begin to scratch the surface of his achievement defecit. Afterwards, I was left to stare at the reality that I am just barely chipping away at Mount Everest.

It's unfair that his parents can't help him because they don't speak English and because they're never home. It's unfair that the public school system has failed him and that he does not have a real ESL class to support him. It's unfair that the MCAS is going to be applied to him and he will have no hope of passing. It is unfair that Boston can't give him all the resources that he needs to succeed, like they probably would be able to in Newton or Andover. It's unfair that he's stuck in a school where we mostly hire inexperienced and clueless teachers like me who may have a lot of heart, but are lacking in skill. If I spent a year, focusing only on this student and trying to help only him succeed, I might have a hope. But when I look at the twelve to fifteeen students who need that kind of help, I can't help but feel daunted. Faced with a mountain to tear down, I've only got a spoon.

When I read Exodus, I find that I cannot criticize Moses for asking God to send somebody better to do the job.

First All-Nighter of the Season... Ethnic Tension

So yesterday, all of the different things I am involved in finally caught up to me, and I had to pull off my first all-nighter in a very long time. I spent my time grading, lesson planning, preping my youth ministry lesson, creating progress reports, and analyzing student data. I've learned a thing or two about all-nighters-- the most important of which is the 30 minute nap. I took two of these last night, and it kept me going.


Some of you may be aware that the city just hit 56 homicides for the year. Sadly, people are starting to take it for granted. The other night, I was caught up in the middle of a dispute between two tenants-- one Black lady and an Asian lady. Apparently, the Asian lady had spit on the other woman's kids in frustration. The discussion got a little heated and at one point, one of the women standing by chimed in, saying, "You know if we were in Roxbury, we wouldn't be having this discussion, because we all know that it would been over by now, and you know what I'm talking about." It's sad that some folks in this town can toss that kind of thing around so indiscriminately.

On that note, ethnic tensions in this neighborhood may be higher than I had thought before. I suspect that the reason I got my apartment for cheap was because the Chinese families didn't want to live beside the Black families. And while some of the kids, especially one group of very young siblings, really don't seem to abide by the unspoken color-line, most of the adults seem distrust each other on a deep and sub-conscious level.

Closer to Home

This recently happened right on my street. There's not much to say, but it's sad. In the words of one of my kids, "Man, the shootings is getting insane." Later, I saw a bus with a sign on it that said, "More drama than driving in Boston traffic." Irony.

An unidentified male was being sought Thursday after he allegedly fired as many as five gunshots into a small clot of teenagers outside the emergency room of Tufts New England Medical Center in Chinatown, authorities said.

One bullet struck a young man in the leg, officials from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority said. Another shot lodged in the driver’s side of a nearby Silver Line bus, they said. No one on the crowded bus was injured, and passengers were put on another bus, police said.

The suspect, who authorities believe is a teenager, fired his weapon about 5 p.m. and then ran across Washington Street, between the Josiah Quincy Elementary School and Quincy Tower, witnesses and MBTA officials said.

Police roped off Oak Street in front of the Wang YMCA of Chinatown and searched neighboring buildings and around the school with dogs.

Hyphenated Modifiers... and Pizza.

Ugh. I knew it would be a difficult lesson before I even started; but the blank stares of death nearly smothered me today. I thought I'd try spicing up the class with some challenging concepts, like implicit/explicit metaphors, hyphenated modifiers, commas when preceeded by an introductory phrase... The interruptions to the lessons were plentiful-- a student started singing in the middle of the lesson, a freight train blasted its horn for three straight minutes, we had an unexpected fire-drill... It took all the self-discipline I had to let it go without nailing home the lesson.

I've come a long way since my first year teaching. Back then, I would have just felt bad about myself and fed a cycle of negative self-talk. Nowadays, I'm realizing that I'm always going to have some days like this, when I'm doing everything wrong and my lessons are horrible.

And here's how it relates to the big picture: who cares what a hyphenated modifier is? Yeah, English is important; but I hope that in all our collective successes and failures as a class, I will never teach kids that English is the most important thing. Failed English lessons become good character lessons and a reminder to keep perspective. I am here to point people to Jesus Christ; and if I trade that birth-right for a pottage of good English lessons, then shame on me.

After a walk and a deep breath, the rest of my classes today went well. I played catch with my advisory, and made pizza with my culinary arts class (yes, I teach cooking!!!). I always try to remember that they'll remember more about the kind of person you were than what kind of lessons you taught.