On bullying

Lately there have been some really sad stories in the news about kids killing themselves because of other kids teasing them. Because of this the district is really pushing us to teach about bullying and what it is and why it's wrong, etc. I asked my kids to generate a piece of writing about bullying and I got some very funny responses. Here is a sampling: (remember they're learning English so don't be too hard on them)

"I hate bullying, it is not nice. Bullying is a group of people who tease kids. They give weggies, they take their lunch. They hurt them and make them cry. And one more thing, bullying is mean."

"Think of the person you are insulting as a piece of paper. As you say something mean to them they start crumpling up into a ball."

"People who bully can't make friends because they're mean. Nobody should ever bully some other person. The end."

"The word bully is something hard to describe. Doesn't it feel sad when you hear bullies talking about you? Bullies love fighting with you sometimes they hit you in the back of the ____ (don't know what they wanted to say here, there isn't a word) with their hand and you really sense. You can even see them teasing others too. Sometimes you can smell their spit when they do it to you at lunch. sometime you are worried or thinking that they will keep on bullying you until graduation."

"My brother always bullies me by saying 'Brian' and I say 'what?' and he says 'sucks'. Also, he will take your girl."

"Bullying is a bad thing to do. Bullies can hurt you until you cry to your mommy. If you get bullied you speak-up loudly until you lungs die. You shouldn't be quiet like a mouse."

"The bullies no make caso to the teacher, persons, and ni a su mom. The bully kick to the others persons and the others childrens. The bullys los inside from the carcel." (In English rather than Spanglish that says "bullies don't listen to the teachers, other people, or their mom. They kick other persons. Bullies are those that are inside the jail.")

who says grading isn't fun???

Are you a Christian? OR...do you celebrate Halloween?

I was really excited about fall last night, so I bought a pumpkin for my classroom. Little did I know how much trouble that thing would cause me.

7:40am: First of all, pumpkins are heavy, and since I always have about 5 things to carry in from my car, it was very difficult. After this awesome twisty spin move where I almost threw out my back, I managed to hold on to my pumpkin all the way in from the parking lot and up the stairs to my classroom. Thankfully, there were some girls waiting outside my room so they held the pumpkin while I unlocked the door. Whew, pumpkin successfully carried in to Rm. 30.

7:45 am: the rest of the kids march upstairs and start getting things from their lockers. All of them start commenting on the pumpkin. "Miss! you got a pumpkin? Are we going to carve it? How much does it weigh? Where did you buy it? Can I keep it? Can I hold it? Is it real?"

7:50am: Students are seated in the class eating their breakfast. I have not had time to eat my breakfast yet. (bad thing for me if you know me at all) A student from the back of the room raises his hand and says, "Miss Maxwell, are you a Christian?" We've been talking a lot about religion lately because it keeps coming up in stories we're reading in class. So I said yes. He instantly shoots back at me, "Well, if you celebrate Halloween, then you're not a Christian."

Boom. the end. Because I brought a pumpkin to school, I no longer am allowed to be a Christian. Let this be a warning to you: you shall go to hell and burn in hell fires if you bring a pumpkin to school.

Just sayin...

One Year In

I've lived in Texas for a whole year! So far I've only...

-dented my car door with the neighbor's truck
-knocked off my front bumper
-been yelled at by one parent
-been hit on by 1 man over the age of 60
-eaten fried pickles and crawfish twice
-recorded one country record
-said "might could" once
-wore an Aggie class ring once
-ridden in the back of a pickup truck once
-danced a wild polka with a 50 year man once
-and bought only one pair of cowboy boots and NO HAT.

For a whole year in Texas, I think that's pretty impressive.

Things I have managed to do:

Learned to salsa dance much better
Become a runner!
survived my first year as a teacher
painted my apartment wall as a chalkboard
Introduced my students to African hip-hop and indie-rock
Learned how to have cute hair in the humidity
got comfortable driving on huge highways
still ride my bike once in a while
fell in love with the cute mexican percussionist at taco milagro
sang karaoke taylor swift to my 5th graders
Taught from atop a desk or sitting on the floor
Cried while reading out loud to my students about the Holocaust
Got kids who have never passed Reading EVER to pass
Got a Texas driver's license
and...made curtains for my apartment.

On the to do list:
-get a tat
-buy a vacuum
-talk to the guy at taco milagro

In all seriousness though, one year in to Texas life I'm content. I have a wonderful support system, I love my job, and I'm learning to know God...know Him, not just know about Him. I'd like a close with a quote that speaks to my heart:

"You may all go to hell, but I will go to Texas"
-Davy Crockett

(Just kidding about the speaking to my heart part)

I really did set out to write a serious post, I guess it's just not in me.

Hopelessness into hope...kinda

A few months ago one of my students just up and moved to Florida to live with his mom. His dad didn't tell us, he just left, we don't know what school he's at or how to contact him or anything. When he moved I was really upset because he was a kid I checked on all the time to make sure he was ok. If he didn't show up to school, we'd call or go to his house. If he didn't eat breakfast, I had food for him. His dad drinks a lot and his two brothers are crazy messed up. Anyway, when he came to school I knew he was at least alive, got two meals a day, and had some clothes to wear. When he moved it brought up this doubt again that God can be trusted with my students. I see so much pain in their lives and wonder often how He can let that happen to them. Without being able to see J every day I lacked trust that God would provide for him and put people who care for him in his life.

Well, this morning my principal came into my room and took me outside in the hallway. She told me that his older brother had been accused of capital murder and was on trial that day. He is 15 years old, and was the person that my student was at home with because his dad was always gone and his other brother was in jail. Apparently this brother killed another teenager and after the kid was dead took the money from his pockets. And it's all on camera so there's no way he will get off. As horrified as I am, at least my little student isn't here to witness all of this. It makes me sick to even think about it--but imagine trying to deal with that if you were an eleven year old and your parents were completely absent from your life and you brother, who you really love in spite of his craziness, killed someone and is being shipped off to prison, probably for life, at 15.

So my little J, wherever you happen to be--I'm glad you're there and not here even though I can't check up on you.

It All Depends On How You Look At It

It All Depends on How You Look At It

I.


Terezín is full on beauty.
It's in your eyes now clear
And through the street the tramp
Of many marching feet I hear.

In the ghetto at Terezín,
It looks that way to me,
Is a square kilometer of earth
Cut off from the world that's free.

II.

Death, after all, claims everyone,
You find it everywhere.
It catches up with even those
Who wear their noses in the air.

The whole, wide world is ruled
With a certain justice, so
That helps perhaps to sweet
The poor man's pain and woe.

-Miraslav Kosek, 10

Died, age 12, in a concentration camp.

Reflections on standardized testing and holocaust

This morning I sat down at my desk in my classroom before any kids got there and I looked over at my bulletin board that has a note pinned to it. It says "The way we honor the children of the Holocaust is to not repeat the world that they had." which is a quote from a 5th grader I think I've shared before. Last week I read my students an article about how classrooms are becoming standardized test prep centers and when I finished the article I asked the kids if that was how they felt. All of them immediately answered "yes!"

So today, after reading that note and realizing how my students were feeling, we had a little chat. I asked them how the Holocaust happened, and they talked about how people weren't educated, how they ignorantly followed Hitler because they were in a depression, etc. and so then I asked them how we kept something like that from happening again. Our discussion led to understanding how to decide what is true and what is false by researching it. The beauty of the conversation was that we were able to give a purpose to learning to read and understand what we read that went beyond passing a test at the end of the year.

I hope that someday my students will grow in to people who WANT to learn...I hope.

Time for a lighter post.

Yesterday I pulled a piece of paper off of my overhead cart and all my papers came cascading down. One of my students goes "See Ms. Maxwell! That's why you gotta CLEAN" Then she stayed after school with me and helped me clean up the room.

Last night my roommate and I and our friend watched Muppets in Space, which if you haven't seen it, is absolutely hilarious. Anyway, the little Prawn Pepe made me laugh so hard that today in 3rd period reading class I did his voice...for most of the time. We were laughing so hard, I loved it.

I read a story out loud to my class about this guy that worked at the zoo and there was a funny trick ending. It was really funny to see the reactions of the different classes because my first perioed class has 3 gifted students in it who got the joke right away and were laughing like crazy. However, my next period is my ESL class and no one really got it at all. Finally in third period, there were about 2 seconds of silence after I finished reading and then they all started laughing really loudly. Today was one of those days when no matter how many kids get in trouble or don't bring their homework or how inadequate I feel as a teacher, I love it.