Today I had an experience that I felt was a metaphor for my whole experience as a first year teacher at my school: The lock on my classroom had been broken for a long time and I finally complained to the AP and the custodian came to fix it...only he changed the lock to one that wasn't completely functional, but it worked well enough yesterday to serve the purpose.
However, today...I stepped out to return chart paper to my fellow teacher and I got locked out. I could not open the door. I went downstairs and both the AP AND the principal were there and I told them I couldn't get in and they said that the custodians were at lunch, and didn't seem to care.
So I went back upstairs and kicked my door until the lock broke.
Now, this metaphor can be seen in a couple of ways. Trying to teach my kids is sometimes like banging on a door that won't open...and then all of a sudden it does. The lack of support in my school is sometimes like banging against a closed door...I could go on.
Of course, now my door is broken again. But one kid asked what happened and I said I broke it and he said, "Damn Ms. Salisch, you strong."
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, February 11, 2008
Just a Kid
After some drama at school this Friday, involving one of my most challenging students (oh who am I kidding? They're all challenging), I kept thinking about no matter what these kids do, they still really just kids and I feel like in our quest to get them to behave and learn, we forget that.
Two of my students were having a fight on Friday and one of them came back in my room very upset. I sat at my desk quietly watching him, not sure what he was going to do because he's been known to turn over desks and such when he's upset. I was eating grapes and I offered him some and he just cracked. He just started crying. I must admit, I was taken aback...I mean, this student is kind of a bully and to see this tough, older kid break down definitely got under my skin.
I knew that he had had some trouble with the law already and he was afraid he was going to be suspended and that his mother was going to beat him up. That's a lot for a young teenager to have on their shoulders. Plus he's in Special Ed, can barely read or multiply...but somehow that seems irrelevant when he doesn't feel comfortable in his own house.
Another kid told me how all his little cousins were visiting and that he was in charge of taking care of the boys and they were all staying at his apartment. What kind of world does this kid live in that he has to watch kids on his weekend when he himself is only a kid?
I again feel how lucky I was to grow up the way I did and how I can't imagine going through what these kids go through on a daily basis. No wonder they can't behave.
Two of my students were having a fight on Friday and one of them came back in my room very upset. I sat at my desk quietly watching him, not sure what he was going to do because he's been known to turn over desks and such when he's upset. I was eating grapes and I offered him some and he just cracked. He just started crying. I must admit, I was taken aback...I mean, this student is kind of a bully and to see this tough, older kid break down definitely got under my skin.
I knew that he had had some trouble with the law already and he was afraid he was going to be suspended and that his mother was going to beat him up. That's a lot for a young teenager to have on their shoulders. Plus he's in Special Ed, can barely read or multiply...but somehow that seems irrelevant when he doesn't feel comfortable in his own house.
Another kid told me how all his little cousins were visiting and that he was in charge of taking care of the boys and they were all staying at his apartment. What kind of world does this kid live in that he has to watch kids on his weekend when he himself is only a kid?
I again feel how lucky I was to grow up the way I did and how I can't imagine going through what these kids go through on a daily basis. No wonder they can't behave.
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