Wednesday, April 12, 2000
It has been almost two weeks since my last entry and I feel as though maybe a corner has been turned. The spring recess was wonderful and it felt great to get away from Shitsville for a while. The problem with coming back to Shitsville is that the stink was still there.

The first day of vacation, I went for an interview at one of the local senior high schools. This is one of the newest schools in the county and I was impressed with what I saw. I hit it off well with the principal who scheduled another interview with some of the faculty for tomorrow. I hope I get the job. It would be a tremendous relief

.…but, that is still a long way off. Back to the daily grind.

Maybe because I have a potential job offer pending, or maybe because there are less than 45 days in the school year, but it is something that is making me feel more and more like this year is wrapping up. In the last few days, I have experienced two very positive things that have made my heart warm towards some of the children.

First, this beautiful child asked me that if I had some time, would I come by and listen to something she had written. When I found her later in the day, she told me that she had written something about me and she wanted to put it in the school paper. It was a flattering portrayal of my teaching ability. The student was beaming from ear to ear as I read the following words; 'he challenges me to think - he is the fairest teacher ever, and he makes learning fun.' They were pretty kind words from a real nice kid.

The second incident came today. A student, who recently transferred out of my class due to a schedule change, knocked on my door and handed me an envelope with a card inside. She said, 'read it please.' I opened it up and the card said, 'Thank you for being a great teacher…you had a major impact on my life. There will never be another teacher like you and I will always miss you.'

I don't know if it was my karma this week or what, but I was truly touched for the second time this week.

So as I stepped back into the classroom with eyes beaming, I began to talk about the first World War. I started telling the students about submarine warfare and torpedoes. A student on the front row replied that she had purchased a torpedo off of the ice cream truck. She wondered aloud how the Germans had fired those things underwater.

A dose of reality indeed.

Another student then cut in and said, 'shut up you stupid bitch.' And I knew I was back in Kansas again.

I have seen the one eyed weasel twice since my return and I have avoided any hint of conversation with her. Not even a 'Good morning or a simple Hello.' Inside she must be dying and craving some conflict. I will continue to deny her the potential for conversation and look right through her as much as possible.

A teacher on my hallway reported to me that a student had called her house and threatened her. She was quite scared and wished that she was working somewhere else. I told her that she should not fear her work environment and that if necessary, she should request to teach somewhere else. She agreed and will likely become the 4th teacher that has left the same group of students this year.

I saw one of my 8th grade students from last year in the office. She had a young infant with her. This was her second baby in the last year. I'm pretty sure that she never intended on graduating from high school anyway, but it was depressing anyway.

Thursday, April 13, 2000
I had my interview at the new high school today. What a relief that thing is over with. The only real conviction I have leaving the interview is that the two people who interviewed me were some of the most annoying people I had ever met. One lady obviously was dug up from a local graveyard, because she kept on saying that she had been teaching for 102 years. She looked it. The other was a prissy member of the Canadian Snowbird's Association. Between the two of them, I couldn't wait to get the fuck away, but they seemed to enjoy each other's company. If I had to sit next to either one of them on a bus I would change seats, but since they had some power to decide my fate, I decided to play ball and kiss their fury dyke asses as much as possible.

They asked me inane questions like, 'Where do you see yourself in 30 years,' and 'Do you think that you can adjust to high school kids?' The most stunning moment during the interview was when they asked me 'Do you have any problem giving a student a "C"?' I nearly rolled on the floor at the mere suggestion - the horror of giving one of their kids a 'C'. My kids jump up and down when they earn a 'D'. So I answered the question like this: 'I just give the grade that the student earns, so I would have no problem awarding a 'C' to a student who deserved it.' What total dolts these lesbos turned out to be. Anyway, they seemed to be the type who thought their job was more important than it really was. I hope to hear something from the school next week. Besides the two twits, it really is a nice place and the kids are pretty good kids for the most part.

Could this be my last moments in the toilet? I can only hold on and hope that I am not flushed down to Shitsville for another year.

Friday, April 14, 2000
My day started with seeing a child walking down the hall with a shirt that said in bold letters, 'Senior Citizen - Gimme my Damn Discount.' I knew it was going to be a great day.

I showed my kids the first 30 minutes of Saving Private Ryan. They pretty much freaked out on it. They had no idea that war could be so brutal. Most insisted that I show the remainder of the movie and I obliged them by showing as much of it as I could. It is nice to make a historical connection every once in a while with these kids.

The day went pretty smoothly. No administrators were in the building until noon, so they day was relatively uneventful. The only eventful part of the day was that it poured down rain. This lowered our attendance to around 80 percent. Many people keep their kids home so they do not have to walk to school in the rain, so it was a nice, quiet day. I'm sure this means that next week will be a rough one…

Monday, April 17, 2000
Mondays suck. Mondays at Shitsville are generally the worst day of the week. At this stage of the school year, most of the kids get grounded over the weekend, and coming to school means playtime. But when these kids have playtime, they run in the hallways and yell out obscenities at each other, rip posters from the walls, and bang on doors.

Rick Lopez is a guy who comes and speaks to my kids one time a week. They beg for him to come because no work is assigned during his presentation. Usually, the kids sleep during his talks, but he brings something different to the table. He talks to the kids about their belief system and stresses the importance of following your heart. Today Rick showed up and a few of the kids actually paid attention to what he was saying. I think Rick was feeling real good when he left.

During my planning time, I walked to the PE field and encountered two of my students; Chuckie and Barney. The dialogue went something like this:
Chuckie - 'So teach - you ever had a girl rub up against you and feel you all up and stuff and then come to your house and take off her clothes and bend over backwards'
Barney - 'And show you her hairy asshole?'
Chuckie - 'If that happened to you, what would you do, teach?'
Barney - 'Girls ain't supposed to have hairy buttholes, are they?'

As I ponder the 'correct' answer, I realize that these kids are just exploding into puberty and know WAY more than I did when I was 14 years old.

There are only like 43 days left in the school year. I can't wait until it is over.