In the Lou

Pre-break week is icky. Grades need to be entered. Kids’ behavior is out of control. Instruction is coming to a grinding halt. At least I was able to pull off the ultimate learning experience.

I organized and executed a field trip for any/all of the eighth graders to attend BodyWorlds at the St. Louis Science Center. Unfortunately, only 79 of the 120 or so students turned in their forms… but wow 79 kids is a big field trip.

I’m horrible with future-planning and details, so pulling this off was a huge victory for me in of itself. But the field trip gave these students an opportunity to have a look inside the human body likely to never be available to them for their entire lifetime. We were also able to go see the IMAX movie "The Human Body." Many of the students had never even been the IMAX theater before. I shied away from asking how many had never been on a field to the Science Center previously.

Actually completing the field trip means that I was able to achieve two other things. First, I was able to convince my principal to fund this trip. At $12 a student, this was an extraordinarily expensive opportunity. And after the funding was in place we nearly lost permission to attend since the powers up on high declared that BodyWorlds was not appropriate for elementary or middle school students. Ridiculous. Some ultra-conservative person likely complained, and rather than stand up for the ideals of education the people downtown just decided to disallow future trips. Luckily, we had planned the trip and filed the paperwork before the decree, so we were able to get grandfathered in, so to say.

While I’m obviously proud of myself for pulling this off, I’m thankful for the other adults from my school who helped tremendously with the supervision during the trip. Additionally, we had a parent chaperone during the trip — nearly unheard of!

In class, on Thursday, I tried out a new constructed response practice strategy with my students. It is called "commit and toss." Students must commit an answer to paper and then they crumple it up and toss it to the center of the room. This allows for the answers to be distributed anonymously for peer review. I’m going to try this out again.

I rounded out the week with giving each of my students a holiday present. I printed out a grade report with final grades for the quarter and mailed them home! I think they will be arriving just in time for Christmas…

Oh wait, I did say I loved my kids in that title. I love them usually because they remember to act like kids and are cute and nice. Several of them brought me cute little stuffed animals and cards for presents. It’s not that I care at all about the actual gifts. I care that they went out (sometimes in groups) and bought presents and then gave them to me. Super cute.

I didn’t know that we were going to be giving each other team presents. I was surprised by this on Thursday when two of the team members came with gifts. Then on Friday the third team member came with chocolates. So on Friday, I announced that I had left my gifts at home. I made them yesterday. Personalized shrinky-dink name tags for our key lanyards. They are customized with an image pertaining to the subject that each of us teaches. It was actually fun to make them.

I’m writing this in the airport. I’m aware that the quality of writing is poor. I’m just trying to get back to writing. Turning off the computer and trying to get bumped to business class by playing the "I’m a teacher" card. Just kidding.

Update: I did get to sit in business class. And no, there was no talk of being a teacher. Only a lot of smiling and thank yous.

Deck the halls. Fa la la la la. The holidays are a time of cheer for everyone.

I wish I could insert one of those screeching sound effects like would happen right now if this were a television show. Then I, your narrator, could come on and prepare us for a story that differs.

No one is ignorant to the hard lives my kids often have. Just looking at the numbers, the high percentage of free and reduced lunch recipients indicates the socioeconomic stuggles that they face. But this is about something that can happen anywhere to anyone.

Last Thursday there was some hustle and some bustle. "Why are those cop cars here?" my students were asking. I didn’t know.

At the end of the day, I found out.

A teacher had to call the abuse hotline after a report from a student that the adult male in the household had hit one of the siblings on the head in the morning. This wasn’t the big problem though. After starting to talk a little, the floodgates of truth opened up.

This male had been going through the female student’s underwear drawer and commenting on her underwear. Additionally, he had also gone up to her on occasion and pulled the little bit of underwear sticking out from the back of her jeans and commented that "This is so sexy."

Who knows if there is more going on. Obviously, I hope not. Either way this situation is foul.

Then mix all this with the holiday time and the family not having much to begin with — I just made a big sigh here at the keyboard.

We had a day off of school for students last Friday, so this at least allowed some extra time as the mother and two siblings transition into a shelter.

At least there is one good part to this story. One of the teachers in the school worked on collecting some money from staff members who were willing/able to donate in order to provide the family with some gift cards for food and new clothes for the holidays.

From my end as the teacher, I’m looking forward to seeing her this week. I want to let her know how well she did on the big classroom contract about cells. Hopefully this positive thing in her life and about school can help lift her up a little in these dark times.

While I was working for Dateline NBC in the summer of 2004, I researched about the "meth epidemic" sweeping the midwest. Towns small and big ravaged by the effects of this horribly addictive drug. I never thought that the meth dealers would have any impact on my life directly. Just for the record… I don’t use meth.

For the past two weeks my students have been working on a Classroom Contract, or what I like to call a choose your own adventure unit. (more…)