I have now survived 2 weeks...going on week 3.  Like I said before I came a week late to the school, so the kids have a week of plotting against their new math teacher.  I lost my voice by the end of the second week completely.  Now I am going on week 3 without a solid voice.  I sound more like a prepubescent boy, and let me tell you, I wouldn’t take myself seriously sounding like I do.  By the end of my first week I saw two mothers of children in younger grade get into a verbal and physical fight in the school bus line Friday afternoon.  It was something out of Hollywood.  One woman threatened another and the newborn she was holding was passed to one of our learning support teachers while they threw fists and pulled hair.  End result...the women had their children pulled from the school because parental behavior like that is unacceptable AND both of their weaves were laying in the middle of the street...even after all the buses pulled away.   Two kids told me they hate me and want to transfer.  Only option for them is going back to 6th grade.  I’m the only 7th grade “mathie” in the bunch!

Week two brought on 2 fist fights in my classroom and awful behavior from the children.  A lesson learned: on your first day...don’t smile.  Don’t show emotion.  Lay a strict policy and don’t let anything slide.  Unfortunately it took until week 3 to get a disciplinarian in the school to take care of violent behavior...so I had to deal.  It’s easier to pick out the bad apples now.  I know everyone’s name!  YES!  I gotta tell you, I thought remembering 3 “Katie’s” was bad....now it’s 3 “China’s” spelled Chynna, Chyna, China oh and a Chyenna – pronounced Chyenne!!!  And just as I tell the girls apart by their hair styles, they go and change it over the weekend.  I freaked out on the kids last Friday.  I officially did not have a voice 1/2 way through the day on Friday.  It was BAD.  So when my homeroom came back to be at the end of the day, I wigged out.  They were unruly, and no matter how hard I tried I couldn’t get their attention verbally.  I resulted to throwing down a desk.  They looked at me like I was insane...and I felt it.  What was worse, they looked at me and continued to do what they were doing.  They yell.  They scream.  The hit “playfully”.  They throw things. They contradict.  You name it they do it.  Eventually reinforcements came to the rescue and I ran to the bath room to scream...well yell silently since I didn’t have a voice.

So now we are at week 3.  It’s been a rocky start.  In two days I have had 2 kids saying they are going to kill themselves in the midst of a nervous breakdown.  One kid has come back – he’s my star student, almost as if he was bipolar.  Fantastic one day asking for challenging math questions and the next he was yelling at me, talking back, giving attitude, accusing me of not helping him understand and not “being a teacher” because I didn’t have a sharpener for his pencil.  But post Monday night, I was ready for Tuesday.  After all, not only did I get to watch Dancing With the Stars, BUT the Bears beat Green Bay!  AND Tuesday night was going to be the Britney Spears Glee episode...so I had a LOT to look forward too!  BUT...Tuesday was the worst day I have had here.  Really.  The kids were terrible.  The bad apples were rotten today.  One student ran around with her hands in the fly of her pants trying to touch people.  She also told me that her perfume smells like “a girly part of the body”.  WOW.  I was shocked!  Another kid starting ripping down my bulletin board and making paper airplanes out of my fraction pizza pieces.  Needless to say, 4:30 couldn’t come quick enough.  I was gone – home and ready for a night of homemade enchiladas and Glee!

Today was amazing compared to yesterday.  Student’s listened.  Well...the best they have all year.  I have gotten the art of speeding through the lessons...they catch on quicker when I move at a quicker pace.  I have those I am concerned about, but I cannot really do anything until I see a failed assessment.  Quiz on Friday for them!  Checking homework EVERYDAY and even grading in class work, to make sure they get good habits for doing the work properly.  Amazing how some students can’t even take notes.  They complain about everything...taking notes, doing problems on the board, taking out a pencil not a pen, sitting properly in a chair.  What I think is common sense is totally foreign to them!  Sometimes I feel like the only thing I can do is walk away in awe.  Seriously.  As of tomorrow I am starting raffles.  I now see why teachers LOVE their job...yet don’t make any money lol.  But if it gets them to listen and we reach AYP (annual yearly progress) I get a bonus :)  Kids get raffle tickets for exceptional behavior.  At the end of each week I pick a ticket.  Better behavior better chances of winning!  Prizes are going to be things like $5 giftcards to Target, Walmart, McDonald’s or iTunes.  Once a month a bigger prize will occur...1 big prize for the grade.  We will see how this works.  I am trying anything and everything at this point!!!

On another note I have begun to write some grants for my classroom.  The lack of supplies is astounding.  Students don’t have pens, pencils and paper.  I know some are lazy but some parents cannot afford new sneakers for the school year!  As a math teacher I am trying to get the students to the level of pre-algebra.  Without calculators this is near impossible.  I have students who can convert mixed number in their sleep and input numbers into functions.  Then I have the kids who are still adding and subtracting on their fingers.  It’s really sad.  They understand many of the concepts but the simple multiplication facts keep them from progressing.  So right now I have begun a fund on www.donorschoose.com.  It is a website for teachers to write down their goals and dream projects for funding, including critical supplies like calculators.

Check it out:  http://www.donorschoose.org/donors/proposal.html?id=446529

I am willing to match every dollar that is donated!  If anyone has information about any other grants available PLEASE let me know.  Every little bit helps.  They are also selling Christmas Décor from Yankee Candle...so if anyone is just DYING to get a spruce scented candle let me know!

I probably could go on and on and I think I am going to try this blog thing again (for like the 10 millionth time!)  It’s a good way to get out everything that is in my head and actually document it.  Some of the things I see everyday are amazing.  I am being opened up to a world that I knew existed but had no personal connection to.  Yes it is a trying job day to day.  Yes the kids drive me bezerk sometimes.  Getting up at 5 every morning sucks.  But I love what I do.  So once the initial alarm goes off and I am in my car and drinking my DD coffee “light and sweet” its not too bad.  I find honesty with the kids works.  I told them how I had to go to summer school to boost my GPA to get into grad school cause I goofed off in college.  I told them that’s why 7th grade is so important for high school.  Junior year in high school for college.  Showing them I am human.  Some appreciate it.  Others say...”well you screwed up...that’s your problem not ours.”  Those will be the kids who don’t get into their high school of choice and don’t break the mold of their poverty stricken families.  If I can reach a couple in each class, I will be successful.  It’s a day by day process.  I have little glimmers of light in my tunnel – like Columbus Day weekend...Veteran's Day....oh yeah and in-service days when we get to wear jeans!!! YES!

If you want to catch a glimpse of what my school looks like, check out http://www.pfpcs.org.  I have some photos on Facebook, but for those who don’t have it, I will try and take more photos this week....


Kisses, Pencils & Erasers!