A decade or so ago ago, I was teaching in an all female, Catholic high school. A few weeks before graduation, two female students were caught kissing in the bathroom. One student, Marla, was a current student of mine. The other, Diane, I had taught a few years before. Both were very good, serious students, …
4th period and I have my really bright kids, my honors class. I’m in Room 205, but, right at the beginning of the year, the very first form of the year put me down as Room 206. That’s Bob Spire’s room, a nice guy, special ed., went to Northwestern. I know where my classroom is, …
I have a long afternoon grammar class. It begins with Tom being called a “fat ass” by Tanya, to whom Tom in turn says, “Suck my dick, bitch.” Then it starts to get ugly. By the time I settle this nonsense down, I’m summoned to go to a mystery meeting that was just called. I …
Across the hall from me, Mr. Gates is having a wall installed in his room. He doesn’t need a new wall, and tries to explain this. He also tries to explain that he had plans to teach today, as opposed to suffering hammers and saws all day. The workmen respectfully listen. Gates is seven feet …
7 and I sign-in. I smile at the new secretary, Mrs. Dexter. She’s nice in a vacant sort of way. She’s got an IQ best described as unpretentious. I watch her type a letter. “deAr Msr. evans.” She has never used a computer, never even turned one on. She doesn’t answer the phone very well …
I have to turn in the weekly lesson plan that nobody reads, the one everybody knows nobody reads. But I got to do it anyway even though the district office hasn’t hired anyone to read lesson plans, and, even if they did, I don’t give a wank. It’s mandated. So I pretty much copy word-for-word the …
This week, the district is doing everything it forgot. For example, every school is to average six fire drills per academic year. Which someone forgot. We’ve had five fire drills in two days, including two back-to-back in one period. Most of the teachers aren’t angry. We’re dissociative. It’s Wednesday and first period my kids had …
There is today much hypothesizing about how to train teachers. In my three decades in the classroom, I have supervised student teachers from a variety of universities. I am certain that the qualities, which enable this career, at least in part are found in erudition, skill and emotional discernment. Regardless of how teacher education is …