why we don't have to do any work

The day after Obama was elected, my classroom of (mostly) black children in Harlem was abuzz with excitement. This naturally led into a discussion and a writing response on what we did the night before, how we felt, what we were looking forward to, etc. Most everyone was participating, except one student who, frankly, was not in school often enough to keep up. But, this was an easy task and she wasn't doing anything. I walked up to her and asked why and she said, "I don't have to anymore! We're taking over, miss!" I spent a few minutes trying to explain the fallacies in her logic, but I have to say, I don't think I got through to her.

So much to teach them, so little time

My students and I were working after school on some personal writing projects in early March. One commented that St. Patrick's Day was coming up soon. I mentioned that I was really excited to celebrate since my family is Irish. One boy said, "I didn't know you were Irish, I thought you were just white."

There are so many people to blame for this failure, I don't even know where to begin.

My favorite/least favorite/most embarrassing story of all time

My 8th graders and I were taking a walking trip from the Salvation Army on the Upper West Side back to Harlem after dropping off some holiday donations. I had just moved into the neighborhood. We walked by a broken down couch sitting on the sidewalk, and one of my students cleverly joked that I might need the couch for my new apartment. I laughed and agreed that we should pick it up and carry it over to my new place.

When we get back to school awhile later, I sat with a group of 5 boys at lunch. One of them says, "Were you serious about that couch?" I responded, "Sure! Do you guys want to leave and go get it right now?" Another one says, "Are you gonna pay us?" I quickly retorted, "No, I'm gonna use you as slave labor."

Ok. So the words fell out of my mouth and I IMMEDIATELY regretted them. One millisecond later, I covered up my mouth and thought, "I'm gonna get fired." I looked around at the group of black and Latino boys sitting around me and there was a couple seconds of awkward silence where I just stared at them and thought, "OH SHIT OH SHIT OH SHIT." One gave me a really stern look.... and then started to giggle. The other 4... didn't even understand how what I said was so offensive. I started to laugh, then QUICKLY changed the subject and prayed that the subject was NEVER DISCUSSED AGAIN.

Probably my worst failure ever.