Friday, November 12
The day stated out with a early morning meeting with the curriculum committee. I didn't say hardly a word during the entire meeting. When the meeting was over I went to class and about an hour into class, Ms. Big Fucking Bitch herself came to my room and announced that she needed to see me ASAP and that I should come at my earliest convenience. So during lunch I went downstairs to see her and what transpired really shocked me.

She began the session by asserting that I needed to understand the nature of professional courtesy and that the comments that she has heard from other people, that I had made, are bordering on insubordination. She added that she had already spoken to Mr. Miller about the comments and that we could have a conference for the record if this continued. I had a lump in my throat and was dreading what she was going to say next, because I was just so fucking shocked by what she had just said.

She began her story by stating that I told someone that I was chosen to go to the School Partners breakfast because 'she owed me one.' Next she said that during the curriculum meeting this morning that I was heard to say 'there is one administrator that I just don't deal with.' Now, I'm beginning to scratch my head in disbelief and in agony because even if both statements were truly said by me, nothing in these statements amounts to a level of insubordination in any book.

So I am sitting there thinking that there must be something else, but this was it as far as she was concerned. I told her that I have a sign in my room that says 'things are not as they seem' and that there are always at least 3 sides to a story. I continued by telling her that first of all, I did not need to come into the office and hear a lecture on professional courtesy, because if I had something to say to her, I would have said it to her fucking bald headed face. Second, I told her that I had already aired out my differences with her a month ago and that I had no hidden agendas. I explained to her again that I had a reputation at the school, so that regardless of what anyone had said to her, all she had to do was ask around about me and they would get the same answer: I am always on time, I cross all my t's and dot all of my I's, so that her comments may be better suited for someone who really has problems at this school. In the meantime, I am just sitting there feeling like she needs to go through this to belittle me. In any event, the words I have for her are so much stronger than the ones she alleges I said anyway. Even strong dislike of policymaking ideas that she has and voicing them does not nearly amount to insubordination. She is the queen of professional discourtesy so I really don't feel as though I need to hear a lecture from her on the virtues of being courteous. I also resent the shit out of her more and more now and wish that she would just go to another school, because she is a total loser.

Friday, November 19, 1999
Fuck it all to pieces. I just got totally reamed up the ass by the bald headed vampire herself. But this time, I made sure that she got it up the ass as well.

I had gone downstairs about 3 o'clock to call some parents and had left a security guard in my room to monitor the situation. When I had returned several kids had gotten into a fight, several had turned off the lights and a few had walked out of the room.

So I bring these kids down to the office and I stand in the AP's doorway. Of course, they are 7th graders which means that I have to deal with their wonderful AP. I stand there for a while and she ignores me. Finally, she acknowledges someone else who had just walked into her office. Then finally she acknowledges me. It went down like this: She asks how she can help me and I tell her what had just transpired in my class. Then she says, 'Are you teaching today, because I haven't seen you teach?' So immediately, I am put off and say, 'Of course I've been teaching, why would you ask me that?' Then she says, 'Well, that is what happens when you leave your room unattended.' So I say to her, 'I just told you that my room was attended by a security guard.' She then replies, 'You think that I don't do anything around here, so what do you want me to do, suspend your entire class?' At that point, I ask the students in her office to step outside for a second and she immediately instructs them to stay seated. I asked her 'Why are you being so hostile towards me?' She repeats again, 'So do you want me to suspend these kids?' I am so flustered that I again ask why she is being so hostile and she replies with the same response. So now I'm really fucking agitated and I say, 'If you are unable to help me then maybe I should ask another administrator.' She then stands up and and in a loud voice exclaims 'Maybe you should go do that right now' and sticks her thumb right up in the air as if to say, "I approve"

So now I'm fucking pissed and finally after waiting around for an half an hour to wait for the Principal to end a conference, I report the incident to him. He is totally shocked. He calls her in and basically questions her to verify if the story is true. She begins by referring to the notion that I had been saying things about her. He stopped her right there and said, 'We're not talking about that right now.' She did not dispute the recollection of the events and went on to say that my conduct had been 'manipulative in this situation.'

So now it was my turn and in front of the Principal I told her that I would not allow her to treat me that way in front of the children. I added that I had a rock solid reputation at the school and that we were not there to talk about alleged things said or things whispered behind closed doors - we were here to discuss what actually transpired in her office. I was fucking pissed off and I'm pretty sure that I made my position clear: Don't fuck with me, Bitch!!! Moreover, I questioned how manipulative it was to bring children to the office and to be treated in a hostile manner. I stressed that if anything, that was a misguided excuse.

In fairness to the Principal, he did try to balance out the situation as best as he could, but he could not restrain himself from chastising her and letting her know that her approach was unacceptable. But he could have been much harsher. He did say that this has to stop. I agreed.

Now I'm more convinced than ever to get out of this smelly shithole of a school. Fuck this fucking place.

Friday, December 03, 1999
The holiday break came and went at a real good time. Just as the break was ending, I hurt my back, so I was out of school for like a week. After I returned, things were pretty much the same, but my outlook was more relaxed and dialed in on the bigger picture.

I sent out resumes and got a job offer at another school last week. However, the catch was whether or not my principal would let me go to another school. Of course he declined to let me transfer after letting me know that there are 'no other available social studies teachers to hire,' which is total fucking bullshit. I guess I'll just have to do some research and possibly see if my union dues are worthwhile. For now, I'm just counting down the days till the winter break so that I can just get on with my life. This school is a smelly toilet.

As I read over the events of the last few months, some things really start to come together in my mind. First, the school that I work at is filled with administrators for the most part that are totally pathetic professionals. Second, the kids are still funny. Third, I feel growing discontent towards the environment that I work in and it is definitely altering my feelings about my job.

Friday, December 10, 1999
I'm real glad the week is over and there is only one week until the winter break. I missed a few days during the last few weeks and I think it really helped me retool my feelings and approach just a bit.

First, the funny stuff must be mentioned. I had kids turn in history projects this week and I was continually amused by the poor quality of work some children. Two students turned in a display of army men fighting each other and said it was the Vietnam War. One said that the Americans fought the Brits and the other claimed that it was the Japanese who fought the Americans. Either way, I'm totally laughing the entire time. One group of kids tried to did a skit on Rosa Parks but couldn't even read what they wrote. Another student turned in a book report which began with the words "Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin," even after I told the students that I specifically did not want a book report on 'Abe Lincoln growing up in a log cabin.'

The teacher rotisserie game continues this week at Shitsville with Mr. Rodriguez the new science teacher on my wing calling it quits. During the faculty meeting it was mentioned several times by administrators that you 'have to applaud someone who realized that the teaching profession is not for them.' It is kind of the same typical response that we usually get from those assholes in the front office - often failing to address the real reason why the man left - because there was no respect from the kids and no support from the front office. Instead, they put some crazy bitch in the class to substitute and the kids were lined up each period outside of her door. The reason she gave for lining up the children is that they all had bad attitudes and needed to have each one of their parents called. I could barely contain myself from laughing as I saw each class go through the same thing and thought that this crazy assed bitch is not going to last a week at this school. I was right, they are putting her out as of Monday.

Just a quick update, the bathroom in the teachers' lounge has still not been fixed and I'm trying to collect the pool money now.

I met with the regional union representative today and discussed the possibility of transferring from this school. She told me point blank that the administration at this school has got to go. It was nice to finally talk to someone who had something meaningful and realistic to say.

They have finally wired my room for internet access but there is one catch: The computers need ethernet cards and they did not purchase any. This morning at the Curriculum meeting I asked the AP for Curriculum what the deal was and she told me that they had been purchased, which I know is a flat out lie. Anyway, this is coming from a person with so much vanity that when I asked her about her day, she gestured towards her face and told me 'See, I didn't even put on makeup today.' I guess that is the sign of a truly bad day.

I confiscated some more notes this week and used them as bargaining tools when I had parent teacher conferences. When parents came and basically beat up their children in front of me, I generally did not divulge the contents of the note for fear of serious bodily injury to the child. Last year a woman had her child by the throat, hanging his body over the balcony, and was ready to throw him over. I had to rush over to her and tell her 'Your son seems real upset, maybe he should calm down a bit - let me talk to him.' She replied, 'You DAMN right he need ta calm down!' Needless to say, the child owed me one for the entire year.

In fact, as I think about the kids last year, a lot of things come up. The kids totally crack me up. There was a constant flow of exciting days and classroom antics. But one of the things that I will always remember were the hilarious notes and written assignments that seemed to capture the vibe and spirit of Shitsville.

A weekly assignment for the children was to write current event questions for homework. My goal was to get these children a certain amount of basic knowledge about political and social events which helped shape our culture. Instead, what I received from these students was usually a cryptic message. For example, one of the early questions that I got was "Who is the US History people is?" Yes, you read that correctly. So I'm thinking that this child may be trying to tell me something, but after reading "Who is the US History people is?" about five times, I realized that the answer might yield some clues. The answer was 'Martin Luther King.' Maybe this child was trying to tell me something, but I'm not sure I will ever know.

The same student was responsible for writing another cryptic response to the question, "What were some of the problems with Washington's presidency?" Answer - "He did know that he had a brother who was president and would be his future president." When I am old and ill, I want to be on whatever drugs this child was on.

Then there was Tisha Lucas. Besides coming in on the first day and taking off her shoes and putting her bare feet on the desk, Tisha had episodes which could drive a normal person crazy. Tisha was somewhat of a leader in several respects. First, she was ballsy - I mean as ballsy as an 8th Grader could be. She weighed about 225 pounds and had diarrhea of the mouth; There was nothing sacred to her. Anyway, she wrote a note to her friend which stated very clearly that if she didn't continue to "fuck her boyfriend, her pussy have closed up (sic)." Needless to say, I took Ms. Lucas to the side and explained to her that since her friends looked up to her, it was incumbent upon her to relay reliable information, and that the information in the note was anatomically inaccurate. Tisha nodded in reply acknowledging the error.

Tisha was also involved in another incident last year. Her friend Lakievia was banging on the door so hard that when she was let in, her hand was visibly swollen. Lakievia held her hand high up in the air and said, "I'm going to sue this fucking school - I hope this shit happens to all of ya'll." At that moment, Tisha stood up in the back of the classroom and yelled, "Bitch, I KNOW you ain't talking to me!" I was just cracking up inside, but on the outside, I was stoic; the kids would have to leave class.

No story of last year would be complete without mentioning Carlos Perez's infamous weekly assignment. Instead of writing on the values in the first amendment, Carlos insisted on writing me a documentary testament of how he had "Whipped up on some little boy's ass" and how you should "Always travel in packs of 11 or 12 on school grounds." This was a young man's machismo clearly trying to send a message to his teacher. In any event, I had written 'please see me' at the top of the paper and placed it on my desk. Imagine my surprise when the assistant principal walked in my classroom for an observation and randomly picked that assignment out of a stack of like 300 papers and began to monitor the children's progress. I have never seen someone's eyes roll into the back of their head faster than Ms. Winston reading that note.

No recap of the past year would be complete without mentioning Willy Wooden. Willy was a child who was undergoing a gender identity crisis. People would knock on my door at the beginning of the year and ask if Willy was inside. Then they would peek inside and yell "Willy, you're a faggot," and run off. Willy was painfully conscious of his crisis but had a wealth of other problems. The most obvious problem he had was his inability to read. Willy made this apparent to me when the first assignment I requested of him was a paper on the American Dream. Instead, what I received was a cryptic diatribe about the pains of heaven and hell.

Willy struggled with his identity to the point of actually writing a note to this girl asking her to be his girlfriend. He begged her to let him buy her anything, and then proceeded to state that he was 'not gay, I just walk funny.' Hmmm. No Willy, I'm not sure it's the walking funny that is the issue. Anyway, Later in the year Willy wrote a note about how 'men don not (sic) need pussy for a good time.'

Last year fighting was commonplace at our school. One of the more memorable fights involved a major slugfest over what amounted to a dispute about who owned a piece of gum. A piece of fucking gum! When both kids were taken to the office, one student insisted that it was not over a piece of gum, but who had rightful ownership of a hot sausage. I guess that was a subtle distinction that I really didn't see.

Another fight involved both a spurned ex girlfriend and her mother beating the shit out of a student who had jilted the little girl's heart. Classic. The two students were Shawacka and Dwight, a typical inner city couple. Shawacka was actually involved in another fight with a young lady who ended up pulling up Shawacka's dress over her head exposing her tattered underwear full of holes. As a result, Shawacka earned the nickname 'Holyfield' after both the boxer Evander Holyfield and her 'holy' boxers.