Corn Chips

I was thinking about this experience the other day and it made me laugh inside. I thought I'd share:
Last year I had a student in class, A, who was yelling at another student to leave, even though it was his class too. Then A started yelling at me to kick the student out. His big complaint was that he "smelled like corn chips." I was getting very exasperated at this point, because I wanted the student to stay, didn't smell anything (let alone corn chips), was frustrated at how insulting A was being, and embarrassed for the second student. I asked A to stop and to apologize and he refused, so I just leaned in real close and whispered, "Somebody should tell you what you smell like." I really didn't mean anything by it; I mostly wanted him to shut up and maybe think about how embarrassed he'd be if the roles were reversed. A, however, literally freaked and started asking all his neighbors "What do I smell like!? What do I smell like!?

I win.

Just Livin'

We were talking about World War I in my World History class the other day and I asked my students to think about if WWI was actually inevitable like everyone claimed at the time. One of my students (please keep in mind, this is the same girl who shouted down the hall "Don' no one got no chargers nowhere!" a few weeks ago) said something I wasn't expecting.

"You know, Ms. A, people always trying to get the things they want, never caring 'bout anyone else while people out there are dying just trying to get by. We don't need war. We don't need stuff. People just greedy. There's more to life than just livin'."

You know what, J, there is more to life than just livin'.

In the Classroom

Things in Baltimore have certainly picked up for us. Kelly's been promoted at work and just finished a huge project at the store that required him to go in at 5AM for two weeks straight. It made me ornery just because I had to drive him there that early, even though I got to come back home and sleep for an hour longer. But Kelly is always cheerful, even when waking up at 4:30 in the morning. (No human being should be awake between 4 and 5 AM unless they are mobsters planning to whack the chief of police. Seriously.)

When I'm actually conscious, things have certainly gotten busier, but also more enjoyable. I went from sitting in classes hearing "scaffolded learning," "differentiation," "classroom management," and "let's capture [fill in the blank here] on paper while we're thinking about it" over and over again (Capture. Everyone says it here. I don't know why.) to setting up my classroom and then finally filling it with students.

Teaching is so stressful! When I was in high school I never realized how hard teachers work. Lesson planning, setting up a classroom, dealing with that student who writes "F--- this class" on your classroom sign in, writing worksheets, and looking up that stuff you don't remember is a lot to do. (Thank you to all my teachers!) I always thought teachers had it pretty good: holidays and summers off, off work at 3. The only part that sounded not-so-fun was being to work at 7AM. But really, I've stayed at school late, and then I come home and work on teaching stuff here, too. But despite the stress of trying to give my students the education they deserve, at the end of the day I feel good. I'm doing something useful, and hopefully will be able to help a few of my students. I know I'm not exactly meeting the "excellent teacher" bar yet, but at least I'm passionate, and my students already know I care about them.

My classes are 100% African American and I've heard a lot about being white. One student told me I am the only white person he's ever liked. They like to laugh at me when I don't understand their slang, or even just the way they say things, and get frustrated when they don't understand my white/Utah accent. But we get along pretty well. They just love teasing me about my baby face, but I refuse to tell anyone how old I really am (especially because I have a few 21-year-old students.) One guy said "You guys! A real lady never tells her age, and this a real lady here."

The school I teach at is brand new this year, so a lot of things are not yet organized, including the scheduling. For the first week, they just grouped kids together and put them in some classes, so I have juniors and seniors in my 9th grade US History class, and they were not happy at all. I had a mini riot on Tuesday in 2nd period, because they were all frustrated with the lack of order and some classes they need to graduate are not yet offered at the school. We haven't hired a gym teacher or any foreign language teachers yet, although both classes are required for graduation. I was able to talk to them and they realized that I'm there to help them graduate, and even though the school is still disorganized, they just need to remember it's brand new, and I'm trying to make my classroom as functional as possible and we're all in this together. We ended up having a discussion and getting the principal and guidance counselor to come in and talk about the classes they need and getting everyone the right schedule hopefully by next week. The school tried a new temporary schedule partway through the week and as I was walking down the hall right before school started I passed a group of girls from one of my classes and they said "Hey! Mrs. A!" and then grabbed their new schedules and said "I hope we still have her!" I don't think they meant me to hear that last part, but it made me feel so good!

I started teaching content on Wednesday, because I already went over my syllabus and rules and procedures. It went so well! After I taught the material they got in groups and worked on posters about Reconstruction. I gave them National Geographics to cut up and markers and glue and they turned out so great. So anyway, I made it through my first week, and so did all of my students and now for some PICTURES!

The back of my classroom! (the front is just a blackboard and my desk full of paperclips and a latest-in-Soviet-Technology computer on top.)


My favorite poster--I had to edit out the names, though.

Well, there's a little update from the Aherns! We're still living happily and we're very much in love. Oh yeah, and we are nursery leaders in church now. Sometimes I think my 2-3 year olds are better behaved than my high school students, though. :) Love you all!

Teach For America!

Hey everybody who reads this! I made it into Teach For America! I've been assigned to Baltimore! I'll be teaching elementary school there, and I'll be able to get my teaching certification and a Masters of Arts in teaching through John Hopkins University! I am almost completely positive I'm accepting, but I'm waiting to hear back from Kelly before I do anything irreversible.

It's close enough to Washington D.C., Philadelphia, and New York City to make weekend trips out of it. There are a couple universities that Kelly could go to, and both I've looked into so far sound like they have amazing History and Literature programs, which are the two things Kel wants to double major in. I've been looking into some apartments and cost of living and it looks like everything is going to work out great!

So, when Kelly gets back we'll figure out exactly when we're getting married--probably either June or August. I have a five week training in Philadelphia from June 28-August 1, so we'll tie the knot before or after that, most likely. If not, perhaps we'll wait for Christmas. Then we'll move to Baltimore and begin our adventure!!! Wish us luck!