Energy levels for both the students and me were especially low on Friday; the pending long weekend was a significant factor, along with the aforementioned. So, yesterday’s classes combined final exam review with games. We did a whole-class version of tic-tac-toe to review direct and indirect object pronouns. Additionally, we played Lotería to review vocabulary from several chapters ago. Last, we did a variation of the classic children’s game, “Musical Chairs”, to practice questions. The students were not only fully engaged, but they were also (re)learning.

The best part? The students were doing the work, a.k.a. The heavy lifting.

This was a difficult year for me, emotionally, mentally, physically and professionally. I was subjected to an additional layer of observation – a term I use loosely.  I called it, “probation.” Not so much for my teaching, but more for the ways in which I don’t mesh as neatly with said school culture.  The process is over – one which began last March – albeit a closure meeting.  I think the process was based on nothing more than cultural ignorance, and a clear separation between how I and those who know me “see” me, and how folks at my workplace “see” me.  Independent schools are peculiar places, especially for folks of color, even those of us who attended said schools (present company not included).  If we’re not constantly consuming the Flavor Aid, we’re viewed as suspect. Which isn’t all that unique for those of us who don’t reflect – in body, mind, or spirit – the status quo.

I suppose if there is one positive aspect to have emerged from the process, it’s forced me to keep a very low profile on the school email server: I communicate on an as-needed basis, and, I keep it focused on the kids.  Occasionally, I post articles re: education, but, I am doing even that to a far lesser extent.

Having said the aforementioned, I am amazed that I accomplished as much as I have. Which shows I am actually much stronger than I acknowledge.  I am also blessed to have wonderful family and friends to support and guide me, and, the benefit of experience to know when to yell foul when necessary.  Last, I have come to know many parents over the years, including those at my current place of employ, who, despite what the power structure has determined, appreciate and support me on the basis for what I have accomplished with their children.

Three weeks, and counting.

So, in these final weeks, I am going to strive to provide more opportunities for the student to create with the language. To that end, I just ordered a bunch o’ materials from Teachers Pay Teachers.

The students, for the most part, thoroughly read the information contained in the various links provided.  They also answered the questions thoughtfully and with sufficient detail.  However, one student provided a response to the first question which was just wrong.  Actually, a colleague alerted me to the fact.  The webquest responses had been printed using a printer next to her desk.  As the documents emerged from the printer, the responses of one student in particular captured her attention.  The student wrote, “Jesus Christ was a cosmic zombie.”

The colleague remarked that the student’s response was disrespectful; I agreed.  Moreover, I seem to remember a brief conversation about Easter in the class in which the student in question is enrolled, and one student made the comment (not the one who wrote the comment) that Jesus Christ was a cosmic zombie, since he was resurrected.  The comment wasn’t made with malicious intent, but, it was an ignorant comment, nonetheless, and I needed to remind the student who made the comment about respect for different beliefs, and that equating Jesus Christ with a zombie was equally disrespectful.  Well, it seems that the student who typed a similar response on his webquest seemed to believe that despite the conversation, it was appropriate for him to reiterate the same.

I happened to catch up with the student in question on Friday afternoon, just as the 2:45 pm bell rang.  I pulled out his paper, and showed him what he had written.  He was contrite, and apologetic.  I said to the student that writing what he did was inappropriate and disrespectful.  He apologized.  I added that even if this is what he believes, it disrespects a religious faith that many hold as dear and true – Yours Truly included. The student apologized again.  I told him to take his paper, and to write an appropriate response. He did, and emailed it to me that very afternoon.

Sadly, there are colleagues at my place of employ who would have given the student in question a pass.  Anything goes in their mind, even disrespecting religion.  After all, it’s a liberal school, and, affronting anything viewed as conservative is allowed to be attacked.  Well, even if I weren’t a Christian, the student’s actions would not be okay.

Having turned 47, and, being three years from 50, I’m less tolerant of such buffoonery.  That said, I’m also dealing with my own reactions to such in a more controlled and detached manner.

The longer I live and work in majority (White) environments, the more I wonder: Do White folks get it?  What is it that they don’t get? In my workplace, they don’t get issues around race.  In fact, we cannot talk about the issues in an open and honest way.  Perhaps its collective guilt, collective shame, not wanting to say the wrong thing, being ignorant, being fearful, not giving a flying hamburger, all of the above, some of the above, none of the above?

However, I WANT my White colleagues to say something, ANYTHING, to get The Conversation started.  After all, The Conversation is as much about them. In fact, in many ways, is more about them than it is about me.  Moreover, my White colleagues, moreso than me, can be greater instruments of change, given that we work in a majority environment.  However, the silence amongst them is indelible.

There are more meetings at my current workplace than there were at any of my previous places of employ combined, most of them about nonsense, and yet, I have had not one substantive conversation with my White colleagues about the Trayvon Martin case.  On the other hand, I have had several conversations with students about the same.  We work in an educational institution, a place of learning, and yet, the unwillingness to engage on any level does the students in our charge a huge disservice, and is morally reprehensible.  But, do my White colleagues CARE?  I honestly don’t know.

My Dear Brother related to me a recent segment on HBO’s “Real Time With Bill Maher” Show.  He had convened a group of guests who, when presented with the topic of Trayvon Martin, their discomfort and unwillingness to engage was palpable.  Bill Maher, subsequently, called them out.  This is precisely what occurs at my workplace.

One thing is certain:  People of Color cannot shoulder the brunt of the Race Problem in majority settings.  After all, the environment is what it is precisely because of the silence of White colleagues.

Just as with the students, each trimester gives me as a teacher an opportunity for fresher thinking, spurred on by new ideas and different ways of doing things.  Perhaps it’s the anticipation of warmer weather, but, I feel especially energized as I prepare for the Spring Trimester.

During my two-week “spring” vacation – it occurs in March – I’ve been reflecting on my teaching practice; not just what I do technically, but also on my relationships with students.  With regard to my teaching practice, I’ve been reading about formative assessment in particular.  I also explored new tech tools – at least new to me – that hold potential for greater engagement in learning for my students.

Perhaps I’m too much of a traditionalist grammarian when it comes to my practice, i.e. more emphasis on product rather than on process.  But, like so many, including myself, who as middle and high school students, were excellent at form and structure in as a writer, and, who was an especially adept reader, I could neither speak nor comprehend a second language with much proficiency. And yet, my speaking was inhibited, because I was hyper-concerned about producing grammatically correct responses.

Therefore, I am hoping to facilitate greater proficiency with speaking by providing more opportunities with actually using the language, and, focusing more on process.  That said, I do think that there is benefit to knowing what things are called, and how they function in a sentence, which, in our whole-language oriented classrooms, is a benefit to my students.

The other news? My classroom was renovated! All new furniture! I spent several hours in my “new” room, unpacking boxes and arranging things.

Looking forward to a great Spring Trimester!

1.  Get a good night’s sleep.

2.  Get an early start, between 8 and 10 am.

3.   Shower.

4.   Eat breakfast.

5.  Take vitamins and meds.

6.   Get comfy.

7.   Approach the most difficult reports first when you have the greatest amount of energy – sage advice given to me by my Dear Mom when I was a high school student.

8.  Hydrate every 30 minutes.

9.   Work for 45 minutes, then take a 15-minute break.

10.  Stop working when you can no longer focus and concentrate.

What are my plans? To rest and relax, enjoy the company of family and friends, and re-charge my intellectual and creative batteries.

But, we earn it – every precious minute of it.  As a colleague said recently, teaching well requires a lot of time, and a lot of mental energy.  So, not any geek from off the street can walk into a classroom and teach.  Yet, many hold and maintain this most ignorant perception of teachers and of the teaching profession.  Furthermore, time is exactly what teachers don’t have.  In addition to teaching, we are encumbered with a plethora of tasks which really have nothing to do with teaching, and, which de-professionalize teachers.  If you or someone you know is a teacher, I don’t have to create a list; you well know about that which I speak.

Many years ago, my cousin, who is a sped. teacher down South, said this when I was a re-entry teacher in my early 30s: “You have to have something left at the end of the day for your family.”  Honestly, I didn’t fully appreciate her words until fairly recently.  But, how, exactly, does a teacher accomplish this when he or she is being de-professionalized at school and then has to contend with the teacher-bashing in the public sphere?  I can tell you, it ain’t easy.  The truth of the matter is, it all sometimes makes me want to cry tears of anger and frustration. It’s simply just too much.

At one time, teaching at an independent school was the jewel of the profession.  However, given today’s economic climate, high tuition rates are justified by teachers at independent schools having to deliver, and that often means doing more with less, and being expected to fulfill the unrealistic expectations of parents, students, administrators and the board of trustees.  It also means having to contend with the ever-increasing degeneration of a bankrupt culture, fraught with disengaged parents, apathetic students, and and an overdose on consumerism.  Thus, public or independent, all teachers are poorer on some level with respect to morale.

This week, MetLife released its Survey of the American Teacher, and the news isn’t good.  There have also been responses to the aforementioned.  But, who is really reading? And, more important, who is really listening? I know that there are many dedicated, committed, hard-working teachers out there, including Yours Truly, who, in spite of it all, still think that getting up every day to teach the children is still worth it. However, given the state of things, how many of us five years from now will feel similarly?  And, will anyone really care?

In any event, my thoughts re: student apathy:  A student’s attitude re: school, learning, and education are bred in the home via the parent’s attitudes with respect to the aforementioned.  This is not to say that teachers aren’t able to to plant the positive proverbial seeds which can and sometimes do counter negative home training.  In fact, many stories told by teachers attest to this.  That said, teachers can do only so much.  The truth of the matter is, many of us teachers do a lot, so much so that by the end the day we are thoroughly exhausted, with nothing left for our family,  friends and loved ones.

I cannot make a student care, I cannot make a student learn, and, I cannot change what is occurring in a student’s life.  As someone told me as a young teacher years ago: “You can’t save them all, and you aren’t going to save them all.”

I  think we need to keep the impact of student apathy in its proper perspective, and, as one participant in Thursday’s chat tweeted, and I am paraphrasing here, “We need to focus on our sphere of influence.”  A very good point.

In any event, last week was my first full week at school, following a four-day convalescence at home due to a muscle spasm in my neck and upper back, with referred pain in my right shoulder.  I have completed two weeks of physical therapy, and, as a result, I am feeling immensely improved.  Praise God for talented doctors, physical therapists, a loving family, and a warm, safe home.

Anyway, last Tuesday was St. Valentine’s Day, the highlight of the week.  However, I did not do my usual St. Valentine’s Day activities.  I placed my annual order for Necco Hispanic Sweethearts a tad bit late.  Therefore, they didn’t arrive until 16 February.  So, I did different St. Valentine’s Day activities, which, in hindsight, neither I nor the students enjoyed as much.  To add to the pain, I paid almost ten dollars for the activities in question via Teachers Pay Teachers (TpT).   In and of themselves, there was nothing wrong with the activities; they required more critical thinking than the students are accustomed with holiday activities.  Which, in this day and age, working the critical thinking skills doesn’t hurt anyone, and especially students.  Still, the activities with the Necco Hispanic sweethearts foster their own brand of critical thinking.

Along with the aforementioned activities, I served up pan dulce to my eighth grade Spanish Onesies.  I ordered it just prior to the Christmas vacation, while we were working on the foods unit.  Pan dulce is difficult to explain to native-speaking U.S. born students. So, the best thing to do was to actually expose them to it.  After some Internet searching, I located an online store called, mexgrocer.com.  I also presented the origins of plan dulce, courtesy of this website.

As usual, contemplating projects which will engage kiddos, and supply the appropriate degree of rigor in order to promote mastery and proficiency.  In fact. I have such an idea percolating as I type.