Somehow, I've made it to Winter Break

This past Friday, I got to take my kids on a field trip to see a special performance of Handel's "Messiah," by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra with choir and soloists. It was really sweet. For many of my kids, just going downtown is something they do very rarely. Some of them didn't really care for the musical style, but I think some of them enjoyed it.

In what has been a tumultuous semester in terms of changes in my area of instruction, schedule changes, and new initiatives mandated by the new superintendent and his team, one more game-changer is set for the new year. Our principal announced that she is leaving to finish up her PhD research. Many people feel that we'll have little trouble attracting a qualified candidate. I'm excited while nervous about the change. There are many unknowns as far as what the new principal will expect. I'm guessing there will less of an emphasis on aesthetics, so that I can worry more about my actual instruction than my hallway bulletin board! Hopefully, the new principal will be more consistent. This semester has been anything but consistent.

On Thursday, Tydario rendered my expensive electric pencil sharpener inoperable by trying to sharpen a red crayon in it. Then, when I had a conference in the hallway with him about this issue, as well as how he cannot make violent threats to other students, he had the audacity to say to me, "Don't speak to me for the rest of the day." I was momentarily disarmed by the manner-of-fact and composed way in which the statement was delivered. But I soon recovered, eliciting a series of "Yes, Sir" responses and sending him back into the classroom with at least the guise of respect for authority. Then he fixed the sharpener.

This week I also had a breakthrough with Reginald, one of my tough-guy boys, a self-described "popular pretty boy." Yeah, I'll give him that. He's the one I've talked about before that has been approached by gang members. Our issue is always one of power. I suspect he has trouble with a male telling him what to do, as he lives with his Aunt and is probably in many ways the male authority in his house. And, in all reality, this dynamic is compounded by the fact that I'm white. He tries to seem tough to the rest of the class by resisting my instructions and then talking big talk. Such reactions include, but are not limited to the following: "Just wait til I got my mom and her boyfriend up here," "I ain't scared of you!" "I ain't doing this stuff," "I'm calling my mom right now!" I took him up on that offer the other day, and he was disappointed with the result. But anyway, about the breakthrough. This was on the "I ain't scared of you" day. I held him while the rest of the class went to support, and we talked about the necessity for mutually respectful interaction. He admitted that he lives in a home where people aren't respectful. So, I stressed that school needs to be a completely separate environment. Whatever he needs to do in the morning to detach himself from the negative feelings and burdens of home-life, he needs to do. If that means remaining silent, and just listening during our morning activity - "community circle" on the carpet - so be it. I ended the discussion by sharing our needs from the other, and for the rest of the week he almost always did what I asked of him the first time! When he didn't, I would give him a "communicative look," which seemed to effectively recall our conversation. Small victories.

5 days left until winter break (one of which I don't have to deal with any kids). I'm not dreading Monday like I normally do, which is probably partly because of the upcoming break. I'm going to visit my brother in Vermont. I think culturally, Vermont might be as far as you can get from Memphis - at least, within the continental US. So, for that I am excited! T'will be a multi-faceted respite.