Student walks in, reaches into his pocket and says, in a decent Scarface impression: “Say ‘allo to my little… “ Student pulls out a pen. “…pen.” Student smiles. Note: It has been pointed out to me that this little quote could be seen as threatening–at least considering the Scarface reference and the fact that the…
For Spirit Day yesterday, I used a project inspired by the book Tar Beach by Faith Ringgold. In this story a girl imagines she is flying above the night skies of New York and claiming it for herself. She reclaims the union building that won’t let her father join due to the color of his…
Earlier this year our little program was in the depths of student misbehavior. A couple of strong role models were pretty much running the place with chronic defiance and bullying. We had tried everything we could think of to change the tide and were at a loss. By this point students had lost nearly every…
J. showed up in my room today with a note from the teacher next door that said “Please keep him busy as long as you can.” This means that his constant stream of chatter (most of it inappropriate) had reached its peak and needed a reset. I reached in to the canyons of my Super…
M. has a cough. It is an obnoxious cough and quite distracting. M. comes to school anyway and does not have a ride home if he is sick. On such occasions it might be appropriate to serve hot tea. This caped teacher found some organic lime tea that comes, amazingly, in the form of a…
Teachers are like camels. We can hold our water all day if we need to. It is quite a hassle to orchestrate a trip to the ladies room, so some of us wait as long as possible. When I need to leave, I have to let the aide know, or I have to call someone…
Student–“Ms M.–how’s this?” (holds up what appears to be a pencil outline of California) Me: “Looks good!” (gives thumbs up sign) …a few minutes pass… Student: “Ms. M–how’s this? (holds what appears to be same pencil outline of California) Me: “Looks good! Is there anything on there you are showing me?” Student: “Nope!” …a…
We are reading the book Because of Winn-Dixie by Kate DiCamillo. In it, Miss Franny Block tells the story of Littmus W. Block, who created the Littmus Lozenge. The Littmus Lozenge has a secret ingredient–sorrow. Opal and Amanda share their great sadnesses with Miss Franny Block. I asked the class to write down their great…
Wear The Cape 