..and the insanity continues

I'm beginning to feel like I'm in a teen movie.  So far we've dealt with guns and knives, now we can add alcohol and sex to the mix.  Some students went on a band trip.  The next day, word got around that some of the students were drinking whisky on the bus.  The central office watched the bus video to find out who was drinking and while watching the video, a female student was seen giving a hand job to a male student on the way there.  Central office immediately sent the video to the school and the assistant principal had to watch the entire video, which showed the same student giving oral sex on the way home.  The fun part of it was when they had her mom come in and watch the video without warning her about what was on it.  Wish I could have seen that!  Say what you will about the teaching profession, at least it's not boring, right?

What a crazy week! Guns and knives and insanity!

I'm not sure what the deal is with the 9th graders this year.  I've never been real fond of teaching 9th grade.  The students seem to be whiny and helpless.  This year is particularly bad.  The student they warned me about turned out the be the best student in the whole class.  He sits in the front row right in front of my desk, writes everything, is quiet and friendly.  Basically, I just adore him.  On Monday, the assistant principal came to my room and asked to see him.  When he got up, she told him to bring his backpack.  The expression on his face when she said that told me he had something in his backpack.  I was thinking drugs.  As he walked out the door, two police officers escorted him through the building and to the office.  An emergency faculty meeting was called after school where they told us he had brought a gun and given to another student in the bathroom.  A teacher got suspicious about the other student's behavior and he ratted everyone out.  I was completely shocked.  Shows how good a judge of character I am!  Then on Thursday, another student took some scissors and broke them apart.  He broke off the plastic handles and put tape around the end of the blades to make two "shanks".  Then he taped them to the inside of his thighs.  The teacher was counting scissors and found a pair missing.  The thing that's bothering me is what is going on at this school that has the students thinking they have to bring weapons?  Apparently, I'm going through my day completely oblivious to something and it's driving me crazy!

$600,000 is missing from our budget?

I was talking to some of the other teachers today and found out that this year's budget is short $600,000.  Interesting since our superintendent and all the principals got big bonuses this past year.  Teachers got a 2% raise and the superintendent gave himself over $20,000 in a big ol' bonus.  Hey, it's good to be the king!

My teacher friend (the one who was threatened) is about to lose her mind with our assistant principal.  Apparently, the same assistant principal who came running to my class last semester when a student texted her during class, went running to this teacher's room when the same kid texted her.  The funny part is that last semester when it happened to me, the AP kept promising never to do it again.  "It'll never happen again." "I won't ever do that again."  Right.

We lost last week's football game, so I wore my volleyball shirt to school instead of my football shirt.  Some of the players asked me why I wasn't wearing the football shirt, so I told them that I didn't have that shirt in pink and they played like a bunch of girls. LOL  Sometimes I crack myself up.  We have a game tonight (that I'm about to head to), so let's hope we improve.  If we don't, at least I have something to pick on them about.

My first annoying parent. Great.

Progress reports came out yesterday.  Which means that students who hadn't done their work turned in everything they were missing on Tuesday.  Since I don't have a planning, I have to grade everything after school.  I worked until 7pm and got all the core stuff graded.  I am also teaching a non-core ACT Prep class.  I handed out progress reports first block and before second block, I had an email from a parent.  She informed me that her daughter is showing a failing grade in my class and if I couldn't get the grade right, then I shouldn't post it on the report.  (Now remember, this is a progress report, not a report card).  She also copied the email to the principal and the guidance counselor.  I responded by telling her that the grade was correct and that the zeroes were there because her perfect daughter hadn't turned her work in until yesterday  and since I don't have planning, I graded what I could until I had to leave to set the alarm and the late work wasn't showing up yet.  I corrected the progress report during class. and I also informed her that since I just passed them out and she works at another school, I wasn't sure how she already had her daughter's progress report.  She responded that she wanted a copy of all her daughter's grades in my class.  I informed her that she needed to check online.  Anyway, I ended up getting 8 emails from her.  I think she is mad that her daughter doesn't have an A in that class.  I explained that the class was preparing her for the ACT test and she is tested on reading and answering 10 questions in 8 minutes, so her grade will go up and down.  Not sure if it helped or not.  On the positive side, I now feel very sorry for that kid having to go home to that kind of environment on a daily basis.  (and feel very glad that I don't have to go home to that crap).  I'm a little curious as to whether I have an email from her when I get there this morning.  Part of me wants to tell her that she may expect perfection out of her daughter, but not to expect it from me because she will be sadly disappointed.  Lord only knows what she'll send when report cards go out.

What an interesting week at my school

We have some gang members at our school - like most schools these days.  The other day, a teacher gave a student a zero on a test for talking during it.  That night, he commented on Twitter that he wanted to beat her over it.  A person came by her classroom to tell her of the comment.  We found everything he wrote about her and printed it off.  They finally got the boy out of her class and into OSS.  However, someone overheard the person who told her tell the principal, so that person needs to watch out.  I'm hoping it is just a case of a student getting embarrassed in front of the class and trying to be cool online, but these days you can't take any chances.

Geez! What a Monday!

What a day I've had today.  First, I had to post grades from Friday's test.  Just to give you an idea about Friday's test: they could use their notes, I only put 25 questions on it, and they had over 90 minutes to complete it.  22 of my 9th graders failed it.  Then today, I got two new students in my monster class, which brings the total up to 3 new students in that class since Friday.  This was going to be an easy day.  I was going over their test answers from Friday, then letting them read their water molecule stories (those who actually did it, of course).  While a student was giving her report, a kid in the back of the class started rolling his chair across the back of the room.  I warned him that he was being inconsiderate and got him back to his desk, then he started yelling to a student across the room, so I moved him to a seat away from them and over by me.  I signalled for the student presenting to continue and the kid started banging on the closet door handle.  I wrote him up and sent him out.  As I was coming back in ti class, I heard words that stunned me coming from the back of my class. One of my new students wasn't in class 10 minutes before I heard cursing that would make a sailor blush.  Needless to say, she was starting a fight with another student.  I wrote them up before punches flew and sent them to the office. Finally the bell rang for lunch.  I spent my lunch time looking for goggles for another teacher.  When the students came back from lunch, the door handle abuser was back.  I asked him why he was in class and he said the assistant principal sent him back.  And I kid you not, he started rolling the chair across the room again!  I walked around the desk and emailed the AP demanding an explanation as to why he would send a kid back to class after a write up.  No response.  After school, I went looking for the AP to get an explanation and he was gone.  I really hope this new AP isn't going to suck.

Yikes! He finally arrived!

Well, he finally arrived.  The kid who is apparently so horrible that the faculty met with me to explain that if he screws up just one little bit, he gets sent back off.  Basically, it's his last chance for an education and a better life.  Oh goody.  And he happened to arrive in my class on test day.  I received the email before his class arrived.  Part nervous and part panicky, I wondered how I would handle it if he becomes violent or mouthy during a test.  By the time he arrived to my class, I had devised multiple reactions to his behavior.  It was to the point that I almost hoped he would pull something.  See how weird I am?  Anyway, it was a big relief when he walked in and sat down in the front row, right by my desk and smiled and introduced himself.  He looked like an angel.  I explained that everyone had to take a test and he would need to sit quietly and read or take a nap or something quiet.  He was fine with that.  Very charming.  And he sat quietly the entire time.  I felt like chewing out the administration for scaring me like that.  Of course, it was only the first day, so Herman 1 (new school, new names) could turn into a nightmare.  And I still have four dissections to do with that class before it's over.  Maybe he'll be fine.  Maybe.