An Update

So I am working with a beginning intermediate and a beginning ESL class. I have enjoyed both but the beginning ESL class has been a challenge for me. We are working on a grammar interactive notebook and we are currently on pronouns. In one lesson I pronounced “demonstrative” like demonstrate-ive and “interrogative” like inter-ro-ga-tive. However, they are not pronounced like they are spelled (funny how that works in English). None of the students knew that of course ; ) but I was informed by Ms. Therrell after the fact. It was funny, to say the least, but the lesson went well and it’s over.

Now we are on verbs (a much easier concept to understand) and there is a new student in the class. His name is Sergio and he has been at COMPASS for the last month and a half. COMPASS is the alternative campus that students are sent to after they are written up for behavioral problems. The intervention steps before COMPASS are D-hall and SAC (in school suspension). This boy has been disruptive enough to earn a stint in COMPASS, not an easy thing to accomplish unless you try. *side note* this observation shows just how biased I was from the moment I met him.

Sergio would not do his warm up because he didn’t have a pencil. So I offered him a marker. Five minutes later Sergio was still not working and had his feet on the desk. Like Ms. Therrell (who was outside) I told him to please take his feet off the desk and start his warm up. Instead of working he looked up at me and then at the student next to him Martin (who is a very, very attentive student). He started saying puta… puta… puta (1) repeatedly. Martin slapped his him to stop (2), and Sergio made a suggestive movement (3) with his hands.

My brain added 1 + 2 + 3 = he was calling me a bitch. I told him to stop and finish his work. After about 10 min I went to the adjoining classroom to inform Ms. Therrell what Sergio thought of me. At the end of the period Ms. Therrell pulled him out of the room to talk to him. She came back and informed me that he was saying point, point, point repeatedly. I was offended the most by the fact that Ms. Therrell wouldn’t believe me. I guess it stems from the fact that I hear Ms. Therrell rave about her students daily even though she doesn’t challenge them at all. They can chew gum, text, write notes, and talk during every lesson it doesn’t matter to her. I guess I was gearing up for her to support my discipline move with Sergio, but I was reminded of the fact that I don’t speak Spanish by my cooperating teacher. In the heat of the moment it was a spit in the face. Why would Sergio work when I ask him to in the future? Ms. Therrell wouldn’t enforce that.

Funny Story

Monday- talked with cooperating teachers about taking Friday off to spend time with my mother. They both agreed with enthusiasm.

Wednesday-told fellow student teachers at an Aldine District meeting. They were enthusiastic as well. 30 min later… the meeting on ethics began.

It was hilarious to receive a lecture about “excessive absenteeism” after admitting that I was calling in sick, so to speak. Thankfully these student teachers were not total suck ups like the others in the crowd. I have noticed that the BYU students (10 BYU students compared to 2 USU students at Aldine) are more willing to brown nose to the only 2 district representatives at the meetings. But love them or hate them they are from Utah and I miss my home culture a lot.

Student teaching is going pretty well so far. I have embraced the reality of teaching in AISD (Aldine) with an open and very cynical attitude. The students DON’T want to be there… have no notion of the real world… and think that you enjoy telling them what to do every two seconds. Teachers must teach to the test, literally, since they are evaluated on the results, but their number one focus is classroom management. I believe you could not truly enjoy teaching your content in Aldine because discipline and the students’ academic level are the primary focus in the classroom. Can a student grasp an intellectual question if they are worried about their boyfriend, appearing as a thug, and wondering what an adjective is? DIDN’T I TELL YOU I’M CYNICAL! However frustrating this district can be, I still believe it would be an amazing learning experience and I’m going to stick it out.

Another reason I am frustrated at the moment is the lack of future planning with my teachers. I can’t plan for a week in advance because the teachers themselves don’t know what they have planned for tomorrow. Grant it these teachers are under a lot of stress and their curriculum got changed by the department head for the first time this year. I have a lot of sympathy for both teachers, but that doesn’t help me please my University Supervisor or practice lesson planning skills. It’s been an interesting few weeks in limbo, but I hope I get accepted into the gates of heaven pretty soon. I don’t know if the Heatons read my blog… but if they do they should still move down here so we could have friends. That and I think Blake would be a great teacher in AISD.

Grandma Merket

Grandma Merket passed away on Sunday night surrounded by her family. I am very sad to see her leave this world because she so graciously opened her arms and accepted me as family. I have not had the opportunity to get to know most of my grandparents before they passed and was able to enjoy experiences with Grandma Merket. Chris is also torn up which is hard for me to see. I love this family so much that any sadness is overwhelming.

Another sad fact is that I will not be attending the funeral. I feel very torn up about this, but must face reality. Chris will be able to go and spend some time with his family which is what he needs. I am excited for him to see everyone but madly jealous at the same time. My sympathies go out to the Merket family especially Grandpa Merket. I pray they will all be comforted in the knowledge that she is pain free and just waiting for them to join her.

Chris Is Hilarious!

Thanks to "A Happy Mood"

This post truly is about Chris and his funny, no, HILARIOUS personality. I usually laugh at all of his jokes because they are funny, but I laugh the hardest at his moments of pure “funny”-ness. Yesterday we had someone knock on our door… something that does not happen often. We were both a little shocked and didn’t know who it could possibly be. Chris opened the door to a 12 year old girl who quickly spun off a sentence, “Would you like me to walk your dog for $2 a day?” I mentally answered the question with, “Darn we don’t have a dog for her to walk.” Chris on the other hand answered, “I don’t have any cash.”

I couldn’t stop from laughing the moment he shut the door. Instead of giving the girl an answer that was more accurate and one that would keep her away, Chris gave her the answer that suited his frame of mind. In actuality he could not understand a word that she had said. Now the little girl will think that we will be willing to pay her to walk our nonexistent dog… if we had the cash.

Observations

Today I observed other teachers again and was introduced to classroom management in a math, Spanish, and English class. They were all so different it’s amazing. The most surprising and educational experience was the English teacher. The English teacher told me afterwards that the “on level” students at the corresponding high school were 10x worse. They didn’t care about failing a class or an entire year, and most of them were already into the gang life. I haven’t been afraid of any of the students that I have met. They think they are pretty “badass” but in actuality they are 15 year olds who can’t drive. But I’m sure 17 year olds real life thugs would scare the living daylights out of me. I wish I could go observe at the high school just so I would know if I was blowing it out of proportion.

In good news, Chris got a job that will help pay the bills. It doesn’t pay much and he’ll be working for a company that I hated… that’s right Wal-mart. Chris is such a sport for doing this with me and helping me out so much. It worked out that the Wal-mart closest to us was hiring. Now we won’t have to attempt to get a student loan to try to pay for a second car. I was starting to realize that we were naïve in assuming we could make one car work in a situation like this, but it just might work out in the end. I hope Chris doesn’t get stuck with this job for a long time. Hopefully he will keep looking and find something he’ll love…either that or go back to school!

The Beginning

Since I was so intent on getting internet quickly I might as well post an update before I get too busy. I’ve been in the school for about three days now and I have already learned a lot. This district is very different from my high school experience (mind you I was a complete nerd that followed every rule and wouldn’t consider talking back to a teacher or stepping out of line). These students are used to the average day’s schedule, but there are so many different aspects to school in Texas that I learn something new with every conversation. There is INSAK which serves as an in school suspension that students are in constantly, D-Hall which serves as detention for after school hours, and COMPAS which is the alternative school students are sent to constantly as well. There are misbehavior codes that the teachers have memorized and they can recite the trouble students in alphabetical order even though they only see them for one year. The students are shifted from one discipline program to the next with a blink of an eye. I was honestly completely unaware of such programs in my high school (mind you I was extremely, extremely naïve). The biggest difference for me is the change in the student’s attitude from in the classroom to in the hallway. In the class there is about 30 or so students and one teacher, but from what I’ve seen they are not entirely disrespectful to the teachers. In the hallway however teachers are constantly bombarded with profanities and disrespect. The students must wear their IDs on a lanyard at all times; if they are without it in the hallway the teacher needs to tell them to correct the problem. Students love to push every teacher's patience and rebel against authority in this manner, but the student ID truly is a starting point for every student to have a bad attitude. I witnessed a Biology teacher get cussed out while she followed two students down the hallway and another teacher break up a small scuffle by the bathrooms in less than 10 minutes. These teachers have to constantly be on guard to any disruptive behavior or possible “acting out” in their classrooms and most importantly in the hallway. The teachers honestly must assume that the students are in the wrong place and up to no good no matter the situation. I have one cooperating teacher who has “Gifted and Talented” (an actual class title in Texas) and Pre-A.P. classes. These students are loud but among the best in the school (I lucked out when I got assigned to this teacher). The other teacher is an ESL educator and her classes top out at about 8-10 students. The ESL students are by far the nicest students while in their classes. Tomorrow will be the first day that I will be able to observe an “on level” class and see what hell truly looks like :)

The second biggest difference besides school policies is the use of Ms. in everyday conversation. In Utah if someone has a wedding ring, appears older than 30, or has children I say Mrs; however, in Texas everyone assumes you are Ms. even if you have 50+ years. I asked my ESL cooperating teacher and she informed me that all the Hispanic students say Ms. so they don’t have to pronounce the teacher’s full name (and because of their native language) and the African American students default to Ms. because that was socially acceptable back in the day of slavery. It was honestly the smallest distinction that took me awhile to get used to.

I haven’t picked up ya’ll in my vocabulary quite yet, but I still laugh at any use of the word… in my head of course. I am amazed with the very, very diverse names here. The students have names such as Janericka, La’Charla, Ascunea, Deontrae, and the list goes on and on. I look at the seating chart and want to read Janericka as ‘Jane’-‘ricka’ but you actually put an emphasis on the ‘Ja’ only. One name looks like luxurious with alternate consonants… I didn’t attempt it when I read it. I honestly think the correct pronunciation of names will be my biggest challenge and when the students throw “you’re racist” to break me. I am among a mostly white faculty (compared to the student body) and I hear the students constantly claim that the teacher is racist if given the opportunity. So far I’m really glad I made the decision to come to Texas but of course I’m only 2 days in.

We Are Here!

We made our 24 hour driving trip to Texas safely! We made two trips: 14 hours to Amarillo and 10 hours to Dallas then Kingwood. It was a great experience and I got to know Angel a little more. Chris met Angel in Idaho Falls at Cafe Rio. He is a really sincere kid, but that's just it, he is a KID! Angel was making the move from Idaho Falls to Dallas, TX to live with his girlfriend and her family. He is currently 17 and she is currently 16. They are very cute and in love, but so young. He was excited as can be and a joy to get to know more. If I was in his position I would just want to turn around and go back home. However, Angel is very courageous and is going to stick it out.

We are currently in a Motel 6 in the Kingwood area and thankfully we have free wifi. I am glad to update the blog before we get all of our stuff tomorrow and cram it into our apartment. Oh! We finally got to see our apartment and its really nice. It is a bit small, but nothing we can't manage. The community is nice and the landlord/leasing agent was very friendly.

I am sadly already homesick :( When we moved to ID we knew we were just "visiting" even though we were there for 6 months. This move might become more permanent and my mind is missing everything about Utah. The first thing we have noticed is the use of ya'll. Everyone greets each other with ya'll. Its charming, but I used to make fun of that word. The second thing is the smoking and non-smoking sections in restaurants. They still have a smoking section that really is just a booth in the same room. I wonder if Utah is the only state to have no smoking restrictions. I'm just too lazy to actually research that.

I've decided that internet will be a necessity for us while we live here and I think we will be calling tonight to set something up. I hope everyone is doing good! Miss you already.