Ups & Downs... Ins & Outs...

Whoa... what a day...

Morning: Up early to get to school to make copies for a 7:30 meeting. Attend and chair said meeting, pushed for what was best for a student despite the politics involved... turned out great... (may change if one boss decides politics are more important.) 9:40 finish said meeting and exhale sigh of relief...enter my classroom and work with kids... then lunch... alone... because my schedule doesn't workout for me to eat with other grownups on Wednesdays....

Post lunch: more work with more kids...planning/organizing coverage and accommodations for yet another week of school wide standardized testing...more work with kids... get yelled at by kid about whom the 7:30 meeting was held... marched his butt to another room and began a conversation... interrupted by teacher about whom the politics were involved in said meeting... teacher acts unprofessionally to and about the student... grit my teeth... have thoughts about kicking that teacher's ass... maintain composure and continue talking with kid who shares that he was treated like that in the middle of class today and he can't handle it anymore... by the way, from my perspective, given the history, his frustration is totally legit... and kid proceeds to fall apart... tears, everything... and this is a tough kid. Get him under control, ask him to trust me enough to get through a couple more weeks when I know things will get better, based on the meeting this morning, but can't yet share that info with said student... he agrees... I give him time to compose himself and in the meantime find another kid to speak with about an incident earlier in the week... he had lashed out at a third student who had spoken poorly about him and his family, including their agricultural livelihood...I told this student I cannot condone his behavior, but that I understood where it came from. Proceeded to engage student in conversation about his family and their livelihood and told him how much I respect how hard his family works and how much pride he takes in it... and his eyes got all teary... and he said lots of people don't get how much work it is... I told him that if he is ever in a similar situation at school to leave the situation and come to me immediately....that I would take care of any issues that other teachers may have with that.... and he smiled and asked me if that offer would still be good when he goes to the high school next year...ummm... don't think that would work.... he then shared with me how people in the farming community look out for each other... that his family is struggling and the economy is bad and he is now on free and reduced lunch... but that one of their farming neighbors left a bunch of apples on their porch yesterday to help them out... and how much he appreciated that... again getting a little teary at their kindness... me...thinking how sweet this kid is.... and how much he understands at his age, how tough things are... and wish he didn't...

School day ends... emailed parent from this morning's meeting to give her a heads up that she may want to chat with her son about his afternoon... and she emails me back thanking me for the heads up and offered compliments about our meeting and expressed gratitude that her son gets to work with me this year, saying she thinks I will help him academically and with his self esteem... awww.... that felt nice.... then talk with one of my assistants about the afternoon and conversations with the kids to keep her in the loop...

Evening: Class... hoping that I can avoid becoming a pirate this fall...meaning I go to that class and want to poke my eye out with a pencil... ugh... but I did spend time contemplating what I should do with/about the way that teacher interacted with that student and with me about that student. That's where the politics get played out... and it is a tricky tricky situation...but... I think this is one of those things about which I cannot bite my tongue.

I like my job - not the politics... but my job... working with kids... HELPING kids... not just with math or reading, but with life... maybe that sounds egotistical.. but I know those two kids felt heard today... and I feel good about that... I need to remember that tomorrow when I confront this teacher...

In the meantime... enjoying a good bowl of chili... mmmmm...