The Life of a High School Teacher in an Urban School . . . . . .

It seems that the drama never ends at my school.

We've been dealing with all sorts of problems the last few weeks. I think partly because the bad economy impacts our kids (we have a high percentage of students that come from low socio-economic backgrounds) and partly because the few weeks before any school vacation our kids go into "crazy mode" - you see, we provide stability and safety for a lot of our students. When their usual schedule is disrupted in any way, they react to it by getting into a lot of fights or causing serious problems within the school community.

Example 1: Last week, there were three REALLY bad fights in the cafeteria. One of the fights involved one student using his keys to stab another student in the kidney (yes, the keys punctured the kidney). There was blood everywhere. :-(

Example 2: A freshman boy (one of my kids) is being accused of forcing a girl to perform oral sex on him by knife point (the incident didn't happen on school grounds but the school is involved). The boy is out of school for the rest of the school year pending the investigation.

Example 3: One of our students was beaten up by her 21 year old boyfriend in front of our school while holding their 1 year child while a lot of our students (and teachers) watched it (this happened in the morning while students were being dropped off at school so teachers and students were walking into the building and witnessed everything). The police were immediately called. The police were in the building on Thursday questioning everyone on what they saw.

Example 4: One of my freshman gals had a baby back in November (yes, if you do the math, she got pregnant in middle school). The father of the baby (17 years old) was just arrested for robbery (he tried to steal a safe from the local movie theatre and got caught).

Example 5: In one of my classes, at least half of the parents in that class are laid off from their jobs. I've noticed a significant difference in behavior like acting out, being disrespectful to me or other kids in the class, etc.

It's been a very tough few weeks having to deal with all of this AND try and teach these kids World History. All of these events are impacting the kids in some way. They bring it into the classroom every single day. And, as the adult, I try and provide a fun learning environment for the kids since they are dealing with all of this drama around them. I will admit that I do take a lot of this emotional stuff home with me since it is impacting me too. I worry about my students.

I am VERY grateful for the long weekend (we get Good Friday off from school). I will admit the past few weeks have been double stressful since 3rd quarter ended and I had to do grades. We have next week in school and then we get the following week off for April break. I have never been so excited to have a break in my life. I just hope that I (and the kids) can make it through the end of next week.

To end on a positive note: A colleague of mine asked me if I would go with her to North Carolina for April break (her daughter is looking at colleges down there and she wanted the adult company). I said yes! So, I think this will be a good break for me.

Happy Easter! Happy Passover! :=)

I needed this at a time when all was icky in the world!

During the week of the cuts at my school, I received an invitation from a student to attend her National Honor Society Induction Ceremony (students pick one teacher to invite that has made a difference or impact in their life). I had this student last year in my US History Honors class. In the inside of the invitation, this is what she wrote (names have been changed to protect the innocent):

"Dear M-Dawg:
I would like to thank you for your immense effort in helping me academically in the past year or so by inviting you to my National Honors Society Induction Ceremony. In US History Honors, you helped me to enjoy and value history more deeply and I am grateful for all that I have taken with me into my junior year from that class. I enjoyed the Civil War Scrapbook project that we did and the current events at the beginning of class. These, among other aspects of our class, made me see history in a new light, as one of my favorite subjects. I am also appreciative of the fact that you challenged and encouraged me to take AP US History. I am benefiting greatly from that class. I look forward to our Harvard Model Congress trip and having you as a teacher for Current World Affairs in the 2nd semester. You are a kindhearted, down to earth teacher who knows how to make students feel welcome. I feel that you have made an influential contribution to my academic excellence and getting me to where I am today. Sincerely, M-Dawg's Student"

Words can't even begin to describe how I felt when I read this note. I received it at a time when all was dark in my world and I thought I might lose my job. I was very emotional all week because none of us knew if we were going to be cut.

I've received a few of these kind of notes in my nine years of teaching. As educators, we don't get this type of recognition very often. There are so many times when I want to give up teaching because I feel ungrateful and underpaid. And then ya get one of these notes or emails. Brings tears to my eyes!

I just received a nice payment in that note - it may not be monetary but it's the payment to know that I made a difference in a life.