Wednesday March 21, 2001
I am glad the testing is over with and happy to be moving towards spring break. 10 glorious days off work, with pay…Yes!!!

This week has been a relatively easy one. Yesterday we had an early release day when the kids leave two hours early and the teachers work on 'professional development' techniques. Today, we modified the school improvement plan. I worked with all of the ladies from the english department and I can tell you that it was a different kind of experience than working with the lazy ass fuckers in the social studies department. First, these ladies were all about business; they wanted to get things done. Second, they actually respected your opinion and solicited your advice. The reason I bring this up is because of the lack of diplomacy our department head has. When we have meetings, she talks at you. For example, she told us that she had changed the theme of this year's social studies fair and that the textbooks that everyone wanted was not the one she was going to order. There are people in our department with good ideas which are constantly thrown away because our chair has no ability to work with other people. At least in the english department, they work together.

Friday March 23, 2001
I had a real good teaching week this week and was able to really connect with the kids in a big way. Lots of kids raised their hands and asked questions about the events leading up to the Civil War, and were especially interested about the South's inability to accept that slavery was immoral. It was a pretty good week overall.

The program that I entered to get an administrator's certificate was not as advertised. I withdrew from the program and am signing up with another, more credible program which starts soon. It was a little distracting, but I think that this program will be much better for me. If I pursue things correctly, I could only spend one more year in the classroom. This would be an ambitious goal, but I'm going to give it a try.

On a side note, I was asked to visit some teachers during lunch. They were so eager to show me dirty emails. I appreciate good humor, but I am not stupid enough to view the email on my public school server where anyone who works downtown in the school board building could tell what I am looking at.

Tuesday April 10, 2001
I just returned from a long and taxing spring break. Just prior to the break, I was fortunate enough to be berated by an irate parent in front of an administrator. This parent was incapable of removing his lips from his son's ass and as a result, was unable to see that his son is a total fuckup and a disruptive member of the class. The kid turned in a report that was not on the topic that I assigned. The parent confronted me about the report and I told him to please make sure his son did the assignment correctly before the end of the nine week period. The parent said to me "we dropped the ball, we will take the F.' I never heard a parent take responsibility in that way for their children's mistakes.

So, this guy is in the office, reaming me out; cursing and screaming at me until he can no longer contain himself. He then looks at me and says, 'are you calling me illiterate?' I reply that I did not realize that this conference was about literacy and that he must be thinking of something else. The he stands up and yells out that he is going to call the region to let him know about my 'lying sonofabitch self.'

I inform my principal just so that he will not be surprised if the region calls about me. My principal listens and then says, 'If this guy calls, I'll tell the region that he is full of shit.' Those were his exact words…'full of shit!' I couldn't believe it.

So after the break, I returned to school and am ready to move these kids onto senior high school. I really feel strongly that this year I am truly teaching and not just giving boring, dumb ass assignments from the book. I gave the kids a project to complete this week. The assignment was for them to break a social rule; for example, sitting down in an elevator. The assignments that I got so far have been outlandish. I need to catalog them before I write about them, but so far the best has been called, 'Who let the Air Out?' It is about farting in church. Another student wrote about 'Cheese Picking' which I later learned was the term for picking the underwear out of your ass in public.

Friday April 13, 2001
There are only 42 school days left this year. I can't wait until the summer comes. This is the best time of year to be a teacher. I recall that last year at this time, I was really looking forward to transferring. Now I feel right at home at Sunnyland.

Some of the kids are hearing from other high schools about their applications to get into specialized programs. It broke my heart to see a beautiful child not get into the art school of her choice. This is a kid who is a top notch art student, but must have bombed in her audition. This is the kind of kid who really merits being in a specialized program and will likely suffer a setback in her art career as a result.

The parent from hell called the school again today. I guess it wasn't enough that he cursed me out in front of the AP. I guess he had to do it some more. I'm so tired of this asshole that I wish his son never took my class.We had two assemblies this week. One was a play about teen suicide. Just a few days prior, two of our kids got killed while playing on the train tracks. One was hit by a train and the other jumped from the tracks and drowned in the water below.

We had two assemblies this week. One was a play about teen suicide. Just a few days prior, two of our kids got killed while playing on the train tracks. One was hit by a train and the other jumped from the tracks and drowned in the water below.

In my personal life, one of my close friends died last week and my cat died a few days ago. It has been very difficult to stand up to the kids this week and actually pretend that everything is ok. Sometimes I think that this job has been a challenge in so many ways. This week just going through the motions was tough enough. I can never forget that people always see me as their teacher. Even this morning, I went to breakfast with my wife and there was one of my students in the booth across from us. I always have to act as a role model, even if I don't feel up to it.

Thursday April 26, 2001
I realize that I have not written in a long time, but frankly, after all of the things that I have gone through in the last month, I really did not feel like writing. Today, I will try to go back and document some of the things that have gone on lately.

First, my principal today announced that he would be retiring either this year or next. The space in the room shrank a thousandfold and it became suddenly obvious that many were having a hard time digesting exactly what he was saying. Colleagues were pretty much saddened by the prospect of losing such a damn good boss. I personally think that he is the bomb and will miss him if he leaves at the end of this year.

My department head has continued to drop the ball on a number of occasions. The latest episode came this week. A real young 'go getter of a first year teacher' who is so fucking hip on actually teaching and being with the kids, brought forward a non-violence campaign idea to the school. She called in some personal favors to schedule a pep rally and seminars for the kids on the subject. The department head never took the initiative to approve the project or block off the auditorium, so the teacher was left hanging once again. She exploded and told the principal that we have shitty leadership in the department. I guess that he was shocked by her comments but welcomed them at the same time.

In the classroom, the kids have not stopped giving creative answers. When I asked the students what country the potato famine was in, one student replied that she had just read a story on the potato and was certain that those 'pancake thingys had something to do with the country called Hannukkah.' Another student referred to Uncle Tom's Cabin as 'you know, that black book.' Finally, students tired of reading the Sports Illustrated or Entertainment magazines that I bring in suggested that I should order some copies of 'Word Up Magazine.' I nodded and told the kids I would find it asap. (whatever the fuck that shit is…)

I attended two conferences in the last few weeks. One conference had over 2000 attendees and I realized that I would never be missed if I simply signed in and left. The conference was on something useful like, 'Programming young adults to think professionally' or some bullshit title that has no real relationship to reality. The other conference I attended was only for a half day, but they told us that we did not have to report back to school. I love conferences.

After school tutoring has started again and I am working with a new batch of kids. These kids are real hard working kids who probably have not really tried in class. As a result, they are now being asked to come to tutoring to boost their grades. I really get to polish my teaching skills when I work with these kids because they are there for enrichment and are pretty much desperate to bring up their grades.

The kids have pretty much decided on some level that the year is over. Kids have been real loose with their tongues in class. One kid was telling another that he was the 'baddest motherfucker around.' I haven't really strictly enforced things lately because I am sure that being a hard ass at this time of year could only lead to problems that I don't want to even consider.