no, like a fake one

The other day, I was chilling with one of my co-teachers in the technology lab. I was on a prep period doing work from a computer as she was doing work on her computer while watching a kid who's behavior had been out of control. She started playing some music and singing along to it. Justin Bieber came on, and in irony, she started belting it out. The student turns to her and says, "Wow, so you're like one of those for real white people." Without missing a beat, my co-teacher says, "As opposed to what?"

a million degrees

So the DOE, in an energy slash money saving initiative, made us turn off our air conditioning units in mid-September. It was still probably 80 degrees outside, but we didn't have enough electricity, so we did as we were told and turned them off.

A few days ago, I guess the temperatures got low enough for the custodians to turn on the heater. Unfortunately, the furnace is up SO HIGH that I can't teach in my room for fear of fainting. I've turned my thermostat all the way down, but that apparently does nothing, because the temperature gauge still has us clocked in at over 90 degrees. In my classroom, in late October. All of my windows are open and kids are falling asleep on the tables because it is so muggy in there.

So much for that whole "going green" idea.

Want to be a teacher?

You will spend many a night like this, up creating lessons and rubrics and units and plans and worksheets and grades, when you would much rather be in bed. It's enough to turn anyone into a crazy person.

insane

One of my favorite things to call my kids is "crazy." Not just in the teachers' lounge, but like, to their face. It started last year when a bunch of my girls decided it would be best to sit on the ground, under the shelter of their desks, for independent reading. One day I got tired of fighting that battle, and I allowed. Reading time actually started to go pretty well from that point on. I said, "Ok, my crazies, let's get going." And it just stuck.

So it's not an insult, really, it's a term of endearment. I routinely will just call them Crazy Smith when I call on them in class, and we all giggle. I mean, find me a 13-year-old who isn't hormonal and insane in some way, and I will give you a million dollars. But, we have a new student who isn't used to my affections quite yet. When we were in the lab, I discovered that he was making WordArt pictures instead of typing his memoir. I said, "Ok, Crazy, you need to start with your real work." His response was priceless:

"I'm not crazy, I'm just very smart in a weird way."

I loved it so much, I wrote it on the board. All of the other students agreed that it should be our new class motto. Done and done. Poster will be up tomorrow.

class sizes

In a recent meeting, we were told, "We are very lucky, class sizes are really small at this school." They're right, actually, I only have about 25-27 8th graders in each class. You're not out of compliance until you're above 32. Even then, I think there's a way out of it.

Too bad two of our teachers have recently quit, thus causing the 5th grade to shrink from 3 classes into 2, and having all of the middle school teachers take on extra elective periods.

And really, we wonder why American kids can't read?

rock stars

Today I was writing the names of the class "Rock Stars" on the board as I often do to praise people who are doing the right thing. One of my girls shouted out, "What name is that on the bottom?" I pointed out another girl in the class. She said, "Oh, this whole time I thought her name was Isabella." I said, "Well, now you know." One of my boys drove this point home by then shouting, "If you don't know, now you know, nigga."

Thanks for the backup. Helpful.