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There were more violent incidences at my school today. 16 students were arrested. 15 for one incident, 1 for an unrelated incident shortly before. I’ve been reading the news stories and hearing outsiders analyze our school’s problems, sitting as they come up with nothing but euphemisms and platitudes. Even as an insider, it’s hard to see where the waves meet the shore, where the storm stops.
If you go to www.fox8live.com or www.nola.com, you’ll see that, of the top headlines, about half concern recent violent crimes. One of my roommates came home tonight and checked on me (she’d heard about today’s melee on the news) and also told me that two hours ago there was another shooting, claiming two more lives, just five minutes’ drive away.
I love this city. It’s obviously much different than the city I grew up loving as I visited here once a year or less, now that…
I recognize it’s been so long since I’ve blogged that it’s probably more conducive to any real narrative to have a summary insert, but I can’t bring myself to do that. Suffice to say that time has passed, things have happened, and I’m still here. Lately, I’ve been reflecting a lot on the school year…
read more »Hello, all. It’s been a while. My first day back teaching kiddos was this past Wednesday. The week went well, but was very exhausting. My school chose to focus solely on re-culturing our students, and I think that was a very good choice, but it was also very intensive. Anyhow, my new year’s resolution as…
read more »Today, after yet another trying day at my school, I reached the (near) end and felt just as I usually feel at the end of a particularly long slog trying to get third graders to act like real, live, mini-people. My back hurt, my feet hurt, I was moving into unconsciously-rolling-my-eyes-at-everyone-for-everything territory rather swiftly, and…
read more »This weekend was a (much needed) three day weekend, although by the time Sunday rolls around, the feeling is still the same: Do I have to go back to work? Really? I can’t say if it’s getting harder or easier. Honestly, it feels stagnant in a part of life that’s just enough this side of…
read more »The last month, especially the last week and a half, has been especially difficult for me. It’s been hard to go to work every day, to stay at work for the whole day, and come home to continue working. I haven’t seen a lot of progress and it was shutting me down mentally and emotionally…
read more »That’s what I’ve written on all my lesson plans for the past two weeks. It’s been an uphill climb in every way. It is a rough realization, recognizing that you’re not being the best that you can be. It feels like a slap in the face, a crippling disappointment, a brick wall too high. I…
read more »This week my Proudest Mama moment came when I casually asked my students why I time absolutely everything we do in class, including our bathroom and water breaks and game times and how long it takes to turn things in. I didn’t have a plan to ask this, I just wanted to make sure they…
read more »I am trying my best. That’s what I keep telling myself, that I am trying my best, that I am surviving, that I am making gains, that things are never as bad as they seem, that it will get better and that eventually it’ll all be a collection of funny stories about my first semester…
read more »Disclaimer: some people who read this blog will probably not want to follow the links provided, just fyi. If you don’t like hip-hop, I’d leave it alone. Earlier today on facebook, I posted a status about listening to “Watch the Throne” while lesson planning… and how it makes me feel like a superhuman teacher who…
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