Monday May 08, 2000
This week is already flying by. Thank God Monday is over because, as most of you know, Mondays totally suck.

I had a really great teaching moment today. I was telling my kids about how the US Government had treated Japanese Americans during World War II and then later offered them an apology and cash to compensate the victims of this terrible tragedy. Then the kids wanted to know why Black Americans had not received any kind of apology or compensation for slavery. Kids were really into this issue and discussed it at length. Even kids who appeared to be sleeping suddenly woke up and were engaged in a wild yet semi-orderly discussion. Finally, they agreed that they would write letters to their Congressman to complain about this issue. Many requested that the letter be the daily assignment and appeared to be willing to do it. Before lunch was over, several students came to me with rough drafts of their letters. It made me proud to be their teacher and to finally see the light bulb go off in heads where there had only been a dark and creepy staircase.

Tomorrow morning is a faculty meeting and fortunately, I get to miss it to take the kids to the History Bee. I hesitate to say this, but I really think our kids are going to do well. I picked the brightest kids at the school to participate and in practice rounds they did well. When I told the principal today that I thought we would be competitive, he stated, 'if that were true, it would be the first time in a long time.' I didn't know whether to laugh or shake my head. Either way, it was truthful.

The best thing about being out of school tomorrow is that I get to miss my one class of seventh graders. They are such pains in the ass and are generally unable to do any kind of quality work. The other kids that I teach are mostly eighth graders and they at least are working towards getting out of Shitsville. However, the seventh graders are learning on a level that even my nephew in fifth grade has surpassed.

So I'm going to cross my fingers and hope the rest of the week goes well. I still haven't heard from any schools, but I did manage to send out a bunch of resumes today. At this point, I think I would pretty much take a job anywhere, but I know that patience will eventually pay off.

Tuesday, May 09, 2000
The history bee was a major good time. The kids really enjoyed themselves and did a good job. Most of them had never been out of the hood, so to go across town in a neighborhood that did not have crack houses surrounding the school was a major experience.

We were guaranteed two matches. They lost the first one, but in the second match, they beat a charter school. My kids were so excited, they jumped up and down and gave high fives. They promptly lost the next 5 matches but had a real good time doing so. They started to give funny answers like they do in school when they do not know the real answer. One moderator asked them the name of some general's horse and their answer was Fusiachi Pegasus, the recent Kentucky Derby winner. They just had a blast and afterwards, I took the kids to eat pizza at a buffet. Obviously, many had never been to this kind of restaurant before because they piled as much food on their plates at possible. When I told them they could get more, they could not believe themselves. One kid was actually hoarding some pizza on his lap to take home.

When I returned to school I heard that I missed a faculty meeting. Bummer. Anyway, during the meeting the principal supposedly said that he was unhappy with the staff's performance and that if the school was not in the teacher's future plans, then the teacher won't be in the school's future plans. Ooohhhhh. Heavy words. You would think when you have 47 applications to transfer the year before and even more this year, that something is wrong with the school. The kids are basically the same everywhere. Before I got a job at Shitsville, I substituted all over the city. The kids are relatively the same in the nicer parts of town, they just wear more Tommy Hillfiger clothes. So the problem at Shitsville must be the atmosphere that the leadership creates.

Thursday, May 11, 2000
Its' so damn close to Friday that I can almost feel it. Friday as in most any usual work environment is generally the most bearable of the week. Tomorrow morning when I go to work, I can't wait for the last bell of the day to ring signaling only 25 more days of school. Yippie!!!

I handed out progress reports over the last few days and told the students that if they were failing, they needed to make up their work by tomorrow morning. That way, if the students are serious, they will at least give it a try. Most will not even bother and then ask me during the last week of school if they are going to summer school. This year, I am trying to nip that crap in the bud to avoid re-averaging grades during finals week. I just want to be prepared this year to get out of the Shits in a hurry.

Today I was covering the development of the Atomic Bomb. I asked the children what were the basic building blocks of the universe - that is, what is in every rock, tree, human, tile floor, and hairbrush. One child insisted the answer was blood, but later recanted when asked if blood was in a rock. Another yelled out 'wind,' but later changed his mind. Finally, a student stood up and told me that he knew the answer - 'Jesus.' I had to let him down easy and tell him that his answer wasn't quite the answer I was looking for, but that it was good guess.

I tried following up with some other schools today, but was left leaving messages and waiting for another day. I guess with my luck I will be at the end of the summer with no job in site and have to return to Shitsville.

Leaving school today, I found a note in my box indicating that I was late for a faculty meeting and had to provide a written excuse for me absence. Didn't the prick remember the conversation we had just the day before when he excused my attendance from the meeting? I guess I'll just have to remind him tomorrow morning.