Posts Tagged ‘gangs in school’
The Importance of Urban Role Models
On Monday, I usually show up to the high school where I teach dressed like I’m about to go to a wedding. Black dress-pants, creased up nicely; a pleasant-colored shirt with matching tie of a slightly different shade; snake-skin leather shoes. I [...]
Navigating the Gauntlet
You’ll have to excuse me. I just broke up a fight between two gang members, by myself, without the help of security, so I’m writing this with some adrenaline. I want to keep that going because it is replacing the rage with which I usually write [...]
What Happens Two Months Into the School Year
I am scathingly certain the following circumstances I am about to describe are unique solely to low-income public schools. If I am wrong, forgive me, because I cannot imagine any other institution supposedly dedicated to education executing such [...]
Education’s Dirty Little Secret
Imagine the following scenario. After two years of working at Bank of America, your boss tells you that it would be almost impossible for him to fire you. From here on out, your salary will crawl along a painfully slow path that never reaches [...]
Passing Period: Oh, How I Hate You
Passing Period is the most dangerous part of my day, plain and simple. Those ten minutes where the students go from one class to the other is not only dangerous, but impossible for me to deal with. At our school, they ask teachers to stand outside [...]
The Insanity of Balancing
It is not lost on me that the first two most beautiful, sparklingly sunny days of summer actually didn’t come until August 23rd and 24th of this year. It’s not lost on me because I like to spot irony. Those were the first two days of school at [...]
Notes From the First Two Days
I’m teaching all 9th graders. Before balancing, my classes are at 42 students. Classes won’t be balanced for two weeks. Let me say that again, I have 42 9th graders in a small classroom. It’s cool though, they wrote poetry today-EVERY SINGLE [...]
Little Differences in Preparation
My buddy turned 30 on Saturday, and he had a party. He teaches in one of the most affluent school districts in the Bay Area. I teach in one of the poorest. When we get together, I love listening to his unbelievable stories. They are so crazy I [...]
Preparing for the Haters
High School starts in my district next week. I’m preparing myself in a variety of ways. I’m reading up on a lot of education theory and studies (Keeping Track by Jeannie Oakes is one I’m halfway through), I’m looking over unit plans here on [...]
My Boy Arthur, Who Can’t Pass Algebra
I had this kid in my 10th grade “Strategic” class, we’ll call him Arthur. Strategic is what we call sheltered at my school, at your school it’s probably just as strategically named to try to unsuccessfully hide from the students the fact [...]