How sad?
Whoever said being a teacher isn't hard clearly hasn't ever walked in a teacher's shoes. Today went well-class-wise. I learned more about my principal and I have decided she even more of a horrible person than I thought. Mind you that sounds terrible, but I am extremely judgmental of how people react to situations, especially involving animals.
At 8am I started my duty- as usual per Tuesday mornings. As I'm standing outside the band room door in the already hot sun, I see a dog running around the parking lot. He's hopping on kids, running back and forth, wagging his tail like there's not a problem in the world. I waited a couple minutes because I wasn't sure if he had maybe hopped out of a family's car or something, but no one seemed interested in said dog. I went outside and called him over, to find he's trained and oh-so happy! (I had gathered quite a crowd at this point and happily sat on rock holding the pooch so he didn't run away. The secretary told me she would call Animal Control, then came out and told me there was a 16 call wait and the principal said we had to get the dog out of there. The Janitor then went to take the dog across the street to see if he'd run back to his house in the neighborhood across the street, only to return with the pooch glued to his side.
Since no one was volunteering, I said I would use my time and go take the dog to the Humane Society. I went to let the Principal know and she actually told me no. She said there had been a problem with people leaving for silly reasons and she "was not going to affect the climate of the school that way". Are you kidding me? 1) I have 15 sick days and 3 personal days. 2) You cannot tell me "no". 3) I have not taken off ONE day this year; not for anything. She then informed me I would have to get a sub for at least 4 hours to personal time, I said fine. I would do that my kids will work on projects, no big deal. Well, then she tells me that they wouldn't be able to get a sub on such short notice and I couldn't do that. I stood there, waiting for an option. Honestly, if she didn't say anything to help with this solution, I would have gone anyway and just taken whatever consequence she gave me. Finally she says if another teacher will take my first hour, they'll deal but I won't get paid. I found someone and left.
I took the dog to the Humane Society and then the Vet's by my house and it turns out it was chipped, but who the hell suggests to let the dog back outside and run around in traffic? I think that says a lot about a person. What makes me even more upset is that there are teachers there at the school who are never around, bail constantly on commitments, and constantly leave early or come in late. It's okay to have people cover their classes, but I am just schmuck. Anyway, I called two days later and the puppy had gone back home thankfully!
When I got back I was like a hero to my kids, (awww, they're so sweet), and the rest of the school day went smoothly. 3rd hour rolled around and one of my students was sent to me because of awful behaviors. This is a kid who has it rough at home and I worry about all the time. His mother, (who is really his aunt), treats him like shit (excuser le français). She is constantly trying to him more diagnoses so she can get more benefits and always telling him what crap he is. She's actually told him that she is trying to get him out the house because she can't stand him. Who does that!? I mean, like calling the police lying about sexual assault, trying to get him out of the house. This child always comes in with a smile on his face and his head held high. He's annoying at times and other kids don't want to bothered with him because hes always trying to make friends and being overly-helpful. He was being very defiant and trying to start fights with other kids; he was even very rude to me and this student had not been rude to me in the 2 years I had known him. I took him up to the office and had him call home to see if they could pick him up because he was acting so out of sorts. I also spoke to the nurse and she said he hang out with her for a while. I told the nurse if he is able to calm down, he was more than welcome to come back to my room and if not I would be back 4th period for him because I had plan. I went to inform him and he was scratching at his arms. He went in and sat; no emotion, no nothing.
After I got back to my class, about 10 minutes had passed and we got an announcement that the school was to go on Restricted Movement, meaning that no one was to leave classrooms. I had assumed it was because 2 of my former students were getting in trouble for pocket knives and maybe they brought police in... It turns out it was my student I left with the nurse. He had taken out a pen and was scratching his arms and when the nurse told him to stop he ignored her. She said they would have to have the SRO handcuff him if he wouldn't stop hurting himself and he continued anyway. When the officer had walked into the Office, my student stood up and punched the cop as hard as he could in the face. Two other units were called in because of this, it took 5 officers to calm him down. He was screaming profanities, "F--- you!" and calling everyone "b----". I have heard this student say "shit" and have heard him call someone a "fag" once after being made fun of; that's all. This is not the kid who fights or cusses... The nurse convinced them he was psychotic at this point, thank god, and they called an ambulance to take him to the hospital. It took more than 5 people to strap him to a gurney to take him out. After they took him away and the nurse was filling in all my blanks, I had gone back to my classroom. I was upset and had just gathered myself together. I was thinking that it's a good thing I get to know my students, and even better that I could recognize something was not right with him. I shudder to think what might have happened if I left him with my 11 explosive students in Writing class. The Nurse sent an envelope with a copy of a note I had given my student earlier this year. She found while clearing his backpack of sharps and put it in a plastic baggie so it would stay neat and clean. That set me off all over again. She informed me later he would not be returning to school and after they moved the following Friday, he would be hospitalized in Washington. He would go to Respite all day and only be at home only at night until they moved. We think he just finally broke, there were no illegal drugs in his system and we couldn't come up with any other explanation. It just breaks my heart that someone so young had to go through all that...
Early in the next week, I had asked the vice-principal if we would need to hold a Manifestation Determination Meeting due to what happened, I didn't know if the school would try to hold him responsible and give him a referral. The vice principal said not to worry about anything unless someone else tells me he's being written up, but that it was funny to watch him try to take on the cops and cuss like that. I politely ended our conversation and walked away, but who thinks that is funny? I'm sorry, but I think that is completely out of line and about as un-funny as things get. An abused child had a mental breakdown at school and freaked out on cops and had to be wheeled out to be on suicide watch? No, not funny.
Two of my favorite kiddos are being kicked out for the rest of the school year for playing with pocket knives in a bathroom. One of other favorites, (I really have a lot of favorites, I love all my students so much!), is gone for throwing spit wads at a bus driver. The kids with the pocket knives are being kicked out and they have no knives, only a kid who says they were. I think that's wrong; I mean I know they probably did, but if they weren't caught by a teacher and staff have no proof they actually had the knives, I don't see how it's more than hearsay. The other student should have been offered specialized busing months ago, his case manager didn't even know he was still causing trouble on the bus; no one told her he's had 3 write ups on the bus. I understand Zero Tolerance, but what are we teaching our students? I had a student get suspended for picking up and throwing away a kitchen knife he found at the bus stop. School isn't about test scores. School isn't just about academics. School is where we learn to socialize and where we learn about choices, consequences, and everything that comes with it. If students are not getting that home, how would you expect them to learn with no second chances? I can name students with families who set ground rules and limits with their kids on hand. What does that say?
Just remember what teachers deal with, and remember that teachers are not just teachers. We are advocates, actors, enthusiasts, parents, attorneys (at least Sped teachers), authors, mind readers, counselors, cheerleaders, data processors, detective, nurses, and oh-so-much more.
On a side note, I want to end happy. Here is my lovely student attempting to sleep in class:
He thought it would less noticeable if he tried to nap inside his book-bag. <3 How could you not love them!?