Nikèl - Day 4 (3/16)

A Week in the Life of a Teacher

Day 4 or I Just Need This Week to End

6:45 - 8:30 Before School

I get to school and immediately get everything together to make my copies for today. I also get everything together to make my copies for Monday because I’m taking a personal day. Since I get there before most people are in the parking lot, I don’t really feel a certain type of way about making all of these copies at once. I do need to use the big machine downstairs since I need over 150 copies of a 5 page document. I walk back downstairs, and I realize when I get to the machine that someone has left a huge paper jam in the machine.

Copy machine etiquette is taken very seriously in a school. There are some things you simply do not do. If you have 1st block planning, you do not make your copies for that day within at least 30 minutes of the start of the school day. If you have a big copy job, you refill the paper when you are finished. If your copy job jams up the machine, YOU DO NOT JUST LEAVE IT IN THE MACHINE FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DEAL WITH. It’s obnoxious.

So once I get my copies made, I check outside to see if there are any students waiting in the cold, and there aren’t any. I make my way back upstairs, and sit down to begin finishing up the portfolio I’ve been working on this week. I bought a new binder for it last night, but as I start putting everything in it, it becomes pretty clear that I did not buy a binder that’s large enough. So I go on the hunt for a different binder. I go to 8 different classrooms before I find one that works (Thanks, Amy!), but I figure it out. At this point, I have three students in my room making up tests and essays.

It’s about 20 minutes until school starts, and a few students from my first period class walk in and immediately began being loud and disruptive. I tell them to stop because I have a student testing, but they ignore me. I say their names a second time. Nothing. Finally, I’ve had it, and I clap my hands to enunciate every syllable coming out of my mouth: “If👏🏻you 👏🏻do👏🏻not👏🏻stop👏🏻dis👏🏻rup👏🏻ting 👏🏻this👏🏻child’s👏🏻test,👏🏻I’m👏🏻go👏🏻ing to👏🏻lose👏🏻my👏🏻mind. Got it?” I have no choice but to force them out of my room because they just cannot get it together.

Another student who was quiet the whole time is allowed to stay. She looks at me and sighs and says, “Some people just don’t have home training.”

8:30 - 9:16 1st Period Essentials of English

At the start of class, I ask one of the disruptive students from earlier to move to a different seat from where he usually sits. He’s demonstrated that he’s not really focused today, and I’m afraid his normal seat is just going to make that worse. He does not like this request at all. He argues with me and is clearly upset, but I stand my ground.

He moves into another student’s seat, a student who is in class and will need their seat. I ask him to move to a different seat, but he refuses. I have to ask him three times before I finally just tell him to go out into the hall. Out in the hall we have a conversation about taking responsibility for his actions and following directions when they are given, not when it’s convenient for him.

He argues “But the other student!” I explain as calmly as possible that we’re not discussing the other student; we’re discussing his behavior. He finally apologizes and takes responsibility. Then I ask the other student into the hallway to discuss their disruptive behavior this morning, and this student takes responsibility more readily than the other student.

Students then work quietly on their assignments because they can tell that today is not the day. We move into our whole class activity: reading and analyzing “Lamb to the Slaughter by Roald Dahl. Things are going well, and the students are engaged and are picking up all of the relevant details that Dahl provides: “She’s pregnant!” “He’s drinking a lot!” “He seems mad!” I’m glad the class period is turning around. However, right before the bell rings, a kid says “Man, if I get someone pregnant before I’m 20. I’m gonna kick her in the stomach real hard. I’m not going through all that.”

I am horrified. The class is horrified. Some are laughing, but it’s that nervous “I can’t believe he just said that” laugh. Unfortunately, this student has a habit of saying absolutely horrendous things about women, homosexual people, victims of sexual assault, etc. Like all other times, I address the problematic statements right then. I explain why what he said is not OK and inappropriate. He apologizes and says he wasn’t thinking. However, I’m not really sure that he truly “gets it.”

9:21 - 10:07 2nd Period Essentials of English

This class is obsessed with snacks. They eat constantly throughout the class. I don’t really mind it, because threatening to take away snacks or promising to bring snacks in is pretty great motivator. However, one kid is attempting to eat his Snack Pack Pudding during journal time without using a spoon. Instead, he is using just his tongue as his pudding purveyor. It is distracting and bizarre. I ask him to please stop. Thankfully, he does, but at this point, he has the attention of the entire class.

Once everyone is quiet and focused again, we are able to make it through the beginning of “Lamb to the Slaughter” without incident.

10:15 - 11:05 3rd period English 2 Honors

The rest of my classes today will be reading and analyzing Rupert Brooke’s “The Soldier” as part of our World War I unit. We read his biographical information in order to provide the proper context for his work, then we “unpack” the poem. My classes and I joke about “unpacking,” because it’s such an English teacher thing to say. “We’re going to unpack this piece…really see what the author is trying to say.”

We get through the poem relatively quickly. It’s pretty short. Then I tell them to work alone, with a partner, or in groups of 3 to write a theme statement for the poem. I sit down behind my desk to check my email and do attendance while they work, and after about five minutes, most people sound as if they’re talking about things other than theme statements.

I stand up and say “OK it sounds like y’all are done, so let’s hear all these theme statements.” Almost immediately there is a chorus of “No! We need more time!” “We’re not ready!” I respond by saying “Oh yeah? Cause I heard this one talking about how much he hates the College Board, and I heard y’all over there talking about your brackets, so I just assumed you were finished.” They get quiet again, and actually start working on their assignments for the rest of class.

11:07 - 11:53 4th period English 2 Honors

Bracket Boy comes in and immediately starts talking about how excited he is that March Madness officially starts today. I’m happy he’s happy.

It always takes this class a little longer to settle down than other because there is just so much personality, and more and more students are coming out of their shells as the year goes on. This class takes about 5 minutes longer than my other classes to get into the work, but then they also can get me off track much faster and easier than other classes. This class just tends to gel really well. Before we finish the Brooke bio, we have tangents concerning The Bachelor, Robert Browning, and hummus.

We finally get through the bio, and they start dragging through the poem. They just aren’t into it. We get to the end, and I say “I know that wasn’t the most exciting poem, because all Brooke does is talk about how obsessed with England he is, but we got through it.” A kid responds with “Yeah, it would have been much more interesting if it was about America.” The students then decide that I should re-read the poem but replace all references to England with America. And I should read it in a country accent. I oblige.

Then they start working on their theme statements. At the end of class, a student comes up to my desk, and says “Ms. B, did you know that ‘Live your best life’ isn’t trademarked yet?” I say, “Really? Well, I guess that makes sense.” I should probably explain for those of you that don’t know me very well that I say this phrase a lot. Some people might say too much. The kid continues and says, “Yeah. I’ve been doing some research, and it’s not trademarked yet. Can I start a collection in class to get it trademarked for you? It would only be like $70 plus government fees.” I tell him that I don’t think that’s legal, but I appreciate the sentiment. Maybe we can figure something out?

12:00 - 12:46 5th period English 2 Honors

At the start of the next class, a student comes in and says “So I’ve been talking with another kid, and we have an idea, so we made this for you.” I look in the bag she’s handing me, and they’ve made me a shirt that reads: “LIVE YOUR BEST LIFE ™” - B. It’s amazing, and the font is green, so I tell her that I love it and that I’ll wear it for St. Patrick’s Day tomorrow.

This class seems to be as sluggish through the poem as the previous class, and I resign myself to the fact that kids these days are just not into Rupert Brooke.

12:46 - 1:15 LUNCH

I eat my lunch with another teacher, and some of her current students and my former students. It’s a pretty lively discussion today, and everyone agrees that we’re still hungry after eating all of our food.

1:15 - 2:01 6th Period English 2 HN

This class always wants to do “Good Things” at the start of class. It’s a thing we’re supposed to do here in every class where we go around the room, and anyone who has a good thing is supposed to share it. Today we have time to do good things, and the first kid to share says “I saw Get Out yesterday.” And I go “Oh it’s so good. Did you like it?” And he goes “Well I didn’t really get to see Get Out, because it’s rated R, and I’m only 16. They watched me go into the theatre, and then kicked me out.”

I’m confused. “So how is this a good thing?” I ask. He says “Yeah I guess it isn’t.” Then another kid says, “Did you go to Town Center? Cause the lady at Town Center when I saw it was really intense about it.” And I say “Yeah, actually the same thing happened to me. She carded me. I’m 32. It’s pretty obvious that I can see the movie. I don’t think she wants people seeing it.” And the kid shrugs and says “Maybe she really likes racism.”

This class also gets through the bio and poem pretty easily, but when it comes time to write their theme statements, something we’ve been doing all year long, one student says “What’s a theme statement? Can ‘love’ be a theme statement?” I think he’s trolling me, so I don’t answer him. Sadly, it soon becomes clear that he’s serious. The class is flabbergasted. One kid even says, “Are you kidding me right now?” Some of the students seemed almost offended that this kid was asking this question, which was enough for me to feel better about it. Another student explains it to him, and then the bell rings for the end of class.

2:01 - 3:45 PLANNING

During my planning, I respond to some emails, and then I walk across campus to a different building where my friend works to show her something. It’s pretty cold today, so I’m trying to walk as quickly as possible. I get about halfway there when I notice odd clumps of adults forming outside, and then I remember that we’re doing a fire drill this period.

I pick up the pace, because I want to make it to the other building before the fire drill, but the alarm goes off right as I get to the door. Now, I have to wait outside in the cold.

Fortunately, an assistant principal sees me and says, “Hey, I have a job for you to do, and you can stand inside.” Sweet. Now, I have the important task of turning the alarm off after a minute. I complete my task, and then one of our Student Concern Specialist sees me and says “Hey, B! Come help me sweep the building.” On it. We sweep the building pretty quickly, then we sit in my friend’s classroom and chat until she gets back in from the drill. We all talk for a few minutes about school drama, then I head back over to my room across campus.

I’m doing a lesson tomorrow based on the podcast Radiolab, so I go to check with my partner teacher to make sure she feels prepared. When I go in her room, there’s a student in there who is obviously upset. I ask if I should leave, and the student says it’s ok and tells me that since they are transgender, their parents are refusing to pay for their college tuition. I try to give the student some encouragement and advice, but I can’t even imagine what that would be like. The student seems better, and then goes to hang out with the teacher next door.

I ask my partner teacher if she feels ready for tomorrow. She doesn’t. So we spend a little bit of time going over the content, the questions I always ask, the points where I pause the podcast for discussion, etc. The bell to dismiss school goes off a few minutes after we finish up our conversation.

Since I’ve had a pretty exhausting week, and no one is staying after today, I leave pretty much as soon as I can.