Wish I Could Make a Difference

What do you do when a kid has been completely traumatized, yet seems to have moved past it in a dysfunctional way? I was talking to one of my kiddos for a while Friday, and learned that he had witnessed two of his uncles being butchered by some drunk guys with machetes when he lived [...]

Crocheting Genius

I’m so jealous. You know I’ve taught the kids in my class how to crochet. Some have really taken off with it, while others have more or less given up. Today, at lunch, we sat around the table talking as usual while the kids messed around with the yarn. I looked over at one kid, [...]

The Godfather Joke

Photo by tracy_n_brandon This is the best joke I’ve heard in a while. I told it to my class, and a few people looked confused. Thankfully, some of them got it. I am just horrible at telling jokes, but I know I would have their attention mentioning the mob, money and a gun, and I [...]

Am I Already Homeschooling?

Sage is not doing his work at school. He just brought home a “project” on earthquakes that he got a 50 on. First of all, he shouldn’t have received a 50. All that was on the posterboard were the headings. It was ridiculous. The other part of this thing that is ridiculous is that the [...]

When Teachers Really, Really Suck

So, things are going along pretty well at work, with the exception of the colleague I refer to as “Mr. Sir”. I call him that because his behavior is remarkable similar to the guy by that name in the movie Holes. Mr. Sir is abusive. He gives me crap every single day, and I either [...]

Killers

Two of my previous students have committed capital crimes. One of them robbed and murdered a prostitute, and the other raped and murdered a five-year-old girl. Most of the time, I don’t dwell on this fact. Obviously, I wasn’t the teacher who changed their lives and led them to better pastures. The thing is, you [...]

I’d Rather Just Shoot Myself In The Head, Thanks

Every summer for the past four years, my entire being goes into a state of resistance toward returning to the school system the next year. Last year, I actually went to therapy to deal with it. The year didn’t turn out bad, but there are so many things that bother me. I know that there [...]

7 More Days

One can tell it is nearing the end of the year at my school. In addition to the pot bust, one of the offices was broken into last week, and a television and computer were stolen. We never did find out who was responsible. Today, we discovered that a kid had broken into the main [...]

Poverty Post II

I am noticing that more and more families in my town are living in poverty. The type of poverty that I am seeing inside the city limits was confined to pockets of dismal wooden shacks out in the country only ten years ago. Now, however, I notice a 12 x 12 outbuilding that a family [...]

My Four Hours a Week in Poverty

I wish I had pictures, because then I wouldn’t have to write the thousand words. It would be rude to take them, though. The homebound student whom I am tutoring lives in poverty. I am glad to be a witness to this, because now poverty in the US is not an abstract thing to me. [...]