Tsarina Smiles

I never thought I'd be so glad for an uneventful week! Aside from the fact that my phone will be shut off any minute, it wasn't too bad. Two kids suspended- an incredibly good week, all in all.

I am a bit pissed about both suspensions- Ty was suspended for something I do not believe that he did. Several students came to me (not friends of his- in fact, quite the opposite), and they were upset that the stupid bitch (SB) had written him up for something that he obviously could not have done, as his back was turned, and they told her who did it (throwing paperballs, for God's sake). These kids were really mad at the unfairness of the situation, so I contacted GC who took them to the Ass Principal and told him their concerns. Believe it or not, he REDUCED the suspension to one day!!!! Miracles do happen.

The second was Marcus. The racist prick (RP) of a shop teacher and he got into it after school, and Marcus reacted LOUDLY. Now, I will not excuse his behavior- he must learn to be polite to those in positions of authority (note; I will not ask him to be respectful of a person's position, but I do expect courtesy). However, I will say that he calmed down immediately when I tried to talk with him and only began yelling again when RP stuck his stupid face back into the mix and ORDERED Marcus to the office. I assurred him that I was bringing Marcus down, and he could go ahead, but he refused, and rekindled the flames all the way down. By the time we got there, I wanted to tear his ugly face off.

I see this time and again with male teachers; they get into a pissing contest with the boys, then feel like they won because the kid gets punished. Let's face it, folks, any time a teacher and a student clash, the teacher will ultimately win (as long as we don't cross the line). So, wouldn't it be better to allow the student to learn a lesson about self-control than to keep pushing the issue? I'm not stupid; I know that if I hadn't entered when I did, RP would have kept inciting him until Marcus hit him. That's what he was trying to do. I am grateful that something compelled me to walk back to that hallway when I did. Nina was there when it started, but I am beginning to believe that she is only slightly less prejudiced than RP. She laughs at his imitations of urban dialects and other things that don't completely cross the line, but step on it hard enough to sicken me.

On the bright side, we did a huge project this week, which I am now taking a break from grading. I have three students who rarely do any work, especially something this involved...ALL THREE TURNED IN QUALITY WORK!!!!!! You have no idea what that means to me- I was giddy all day!

We turned in our Awards for each subject this week. For most improved, I chose James and another student who has made remarkable progress this year. My team did not feel that James deserved it because he has received so much help from me. I politely told them that any student who wanted extra help from me could have it; James was smart enough to take me up on it. Then (get this), I very nicely told them that it was MY class, MY choice, and they could fuck off if it displeased them! Four jaws dropped as I picked up my things, told them to have a nice day and left. I laughed all the way to my classroom! Sometimes the direct approach is the only thing that people understand.

I don't know if I've mentioned this, but I've discovered that if I buy HUD housing in the city, I can buy at 1/2 price as long as I agree to live there 3 years! Sure, it limits my choices, but imagine a $12,000 house! Sure, location is not perfect for most of them, but there are actually a couple that are in ok neighborhoods. God, I hope someone will buy my house (I guess I should clean it before I try to sell it, eh?).

One more bit of exciting news- I've found TardBlog again!!!!!! I'm going to link to it as soon as I can- the newer entries are not as great as the original Riti Sped posts, but the archives are worth the read. There are few in my "real" life to whom I could admit my love of this site, but to you who know me better than most, I will confess my affection. Go to the archives, begin at the beginning and read all the way through. Please do not mistake these as someone making fun of her students- she is merely finding humor in a situation that would drive the best of us over the edge. Special ed teachers are a rare breed, with spines of steel and balls of brass- I admire them immensely. ("Lunch lady gets the smackdown" is my favorite)

Ok, it's late and I'm tired- tomorrow is supposed to be fantastic weather again. Don't know when the phone will be shut off, so I'll talk to you ASAP. Have a great week!

Money, School, and Sex

Just when you think it's not possible to get any further in debt, something else creeps up. When my ex left, he promised to pay back the money he owed- including a huge amount of money to Verizon wireless for his phone contract. I've never seen a penny of it, and since it's in my name...you get it. Technically, my house has been sold for the 500 dollars I owe in taxes, although I have a while to pay it back- I'm planning to do that with my next paycheck. I'm going today to try to hock my engagement ring to pay my electric bill. Now, I am an intelligent person who preaches "good choices" all the time, so how do I end up so far in debt? Why am I sooooo bad with money? And, more importantly, how do I get better? If any of you have used credit counselors, could you please let me know how that worked? I'm willing to try anything at this point in time.

I need to type up a proposal for the school district- if I can create a summer class, they'll pay me a lot of money to teach it. I'm thinking about organic gardening, which would probably appeal to 5-6th graders. That would be nice because then they'd know me by the time they got to my class. Otherwise, I was considering something about Illinois biodiversity and/or environmental concerns...I need to get this done soon, so any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

I'm about ready to kick James' ass- those of you with teenage boys will understand. There's a girl on our team who WANTS to get pregnant. She's slept with at least 5 of my guys that I know of, and told each of them that she's pregnant. Two of them have sobbed and asked for my help. The most recent was one of James' best friends. Now, she's after James, and he's very accepting of her attention. This is a girl who followed his friend into the bathroom at school and had sex on the toilet! I have referred her to a counselor, who just says, "she wants to get pregnant, and won't listen to me". I kept James after class one day and (without mentioning her name specifically), I told him that just because something was easy did not make it a good choice. I discussed that any girl who wears baby shoes from her belt loops (yup) or carries a pacifier in her bookbag (yup) is not a girl who is looking for a "no strings attached" relationship. I reminded him of the horror of his early years with his mom, and told him that much of the abuse he suffered would have been because she was not mature enough to be a mother. I told him to think before he acted... IN ONE EAR AND OUT THE OTHER! If they haven't had sex yet, they soon will. Two of my kids were caught having sex in the auditorium at lunch- they found a broken gate and snuck in. WTF? At least they used a condom...it had to be confiscated in a baggie to use in their suspensions. Can you imagine being the parent, sitting in the principal's office, looking at a baggie with a used condom in it filled with...EWWWWW

On that lovely note, I have to get to the pawn shop- have a great weekend.

Moving Right Along

We came back from spring break this week- I'm happy to report that none of my angels were locked up or in the hospital. The district is looking into year-round school (they're going to try it in 2006-7 at two schools), and I think it might be a great idea to help keep the kids occupied. Ty did get suspended on Tuesday...the stupid social studies teacher asked where something was, and he suggested she look up her ass, since her head was already there! Bwahahahahahaha! I love my kids!

I never understand what happens to boys at this age, but I swear that in 5 days, most of my guys have grown six inches! I have one kid who suffers from an illness that has stunted his growth, but otherwise, I am now shorter than ALL of my guys (and many of the girls, too).

I've started looking at houses in the city- I know I'll have to sell mine before I can get another one, but it never hurts to look. I've found two that I love- one is probably out of my price range, but the other is a beautiful brick two-story with 4 bedrooms and 2 full baths (I'm considering becoming a foster parent once I get moved), a garage and a fenced-in back yard. I asked some of my kids about the neighborhood, and some said definitely not, while others said it's not bad. James said he lives near there (as much as I love my kids, I'm not sure I want to live next to them...Ms.Tsarina would like to keep her private life PRIVATE). In class, in front of his friends, he said it wasn't a bad neighborhood, but after school, he came up to me with a serious look on his face and said, "Don't buy that house, I don't think you'd be really safe". I found the concern touching. However, Ann lives near there, and she said it would be fine. Most cities have one side that's dangerous...this one has a few square blocks that are safe spread out here and there- it's really strange. I'm also worried about the stench- it's not your normal city smell, like Chicago. There is a plant there that emits the most noxious odor I've ever smelled (and I've lived near a dog food plant, cows, pigs, and drug houses). Sadly, you can smell it from even twenty or thirty miles away (there are actually days where I can smell it at my house, 50+ miles away).

We had the most fantastic storms Wed night--- golfball sized hail, and perfect storm clouds! The timing was perfect since we're studying storm formation. I've got to start carrying the camera with me so I can photograph these things and show the kids.

We have this amazing man from the community who volunteers a lot of time at the school to work with our at-risk kids. He's going to arrange for a group of men and women who have been in prison to come to my classes and talk to my kids about choices- how bad choices led them into prison, and how good ones are helping them to get their lives back on track. I'm really excited about this, as I think the kids relate better when someone with "real-life" experience talks. Ok, I'm going to take Baxter for a walk, as it's beautiful outside.

Have a wonderful weekend!