Consider it Pure Joy

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.

Believers in humble circumstances ought to take pride in their high position. But the rich should take pride in their humiliation—since they will pass away like a wild flower. For the sun rises with scorching heat and withers the plant; its blossom falls and its beauty is destroyed. In the same way, the rich will fade away even while they go about their business.

Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

James 1: 2-12

This week has been hard to say the least. Tonight I came home from work and Chris and I talked through how hard it is for me to separate my emotion of my job from the rest of my life. While it's exhausting, depleting and frustrating I do consider it pure joy that I get to invest in these kids lives. 

In reflecting on last year, it's such a huge joy to get to focus on my students. Last year it wasn't even an option. I was constantly consumed with fears and anxiety of being fired, going through the depression of having an oppressive boss and difficult co-worker. I couldn't invest in my students because of the rest of the crap I had to go through.

This year I get the privilege of walking the hard road with my students. I get to be concerned with their depression, anger, and behavior issues. I get to privately tutor my students who are reading at a Pre-K level because the energy wasted in my anxiety is now freed up. I consider it pure joy that I am here, in this difficult, frustrating, emotionally draining classroom because in the suffering with them, we get to persevere, we get to mature and we get to go to God for wisdom. 

Thank you Jesus that you have entrusted these kids to me. Let my heart always break for their suffering, let me always be their advocate and protector, break my heart for what breaks yours. Let me have the energy to keep up with the emotion so I can love them the way only You do. Thank you Jesus that you put me here and that you promise you will walk this road with me.

Exhaustion has hit

This past week has been hard. My body reacts to the stress, exhaustion and frustration of the day to day rigor. Last Thursday I went home sick, I was dizzy, nauseous and had a raging headache. My wonderful husband drove all the way to my school to pick me up. As soon as I left school I felt so much better. By that evening the anxiety of going back to work on Friday was making me sick again. I finally decided to listen and just take some time to rest.

Coming into work today I was feeling similar to last week but reality is I only get 10 sick days so I had to go. Part of why I dreaded today was I knew I had to have a meeting with an irate mother and the principal. My student had twisted a conversation we had as a class and the parents was threatening to report me to the district. While I knew her complaint had no validity or weight but I still didn't want to have to deal with it. Like I thought it wasn't a big deal, the mom had calmed down significantly and the meeting was over in 3.5 minutes.

I thought that would be the hardest part of my day but after the mom left my principal asked me to stay. She let me know one of my students probably wouldn't be in class today. This student has struggled with anxiety and depression which we believed were from bullying. Over the course of the past few weeks it's become much more serious and my student, in an attempt for help, made some sad and desperate decisions. Since day one of school this student hasn't said a word. I'm learning a lot about "selective mutism" and how to communicate with a student who won't even look me in the eyes. It's frustrating, exhausting and baffling. Without ever using their voice, my student spoke out loud and clear of the inner turmoil they've faced for a while now.

What I thought was going to be a frustrating day turned out to be a spiritually and emotionally draining day. Please pray for understanding and grace for this student, but also protection of them physically, emotionally and spiritually. Pray that I can love the hurt in my students even though it makes me want to run.

On a little lighter note...rumor spread quick that I am pregnant! My first period knew I went home nauseous and light headed so in their minds that automatically meant I was pregnant. I took 5 min to clarify that it was not true which turned into an argument about why I'm not pregnant yet. Without realizing it I opened a debate with 32 ten year olds about my fertility...yikes! Sticky territory, I quickly stopped the conversation and gave them their benchmark assessment...how's that for revenge!

I can't believe it's only Monday

We Saw Endeavour

I was so excited when I heard the space shuttle Endeavour was coming to L.A. We are directly in the landing path to LAX so I was confident we would get to see it. My kids were taking a test and I was following posts on twitter trying to keep track of it. My kids finished their test 2 minutes after I saw that Endeavour was over Santa Monica so we ran out and got a quick glimpse of it. I knew it would still come back to land so we stayed out an extra 10 minutes over lunch and boy did we get a great show. Endeavour and 2 fighter jets accompanying flew directly over us. My kids were all screaming, waving and clapping. Numerous kids screamed "We just watched history." They sure know how to make this history teacher's heart happy.

We are so excited to take the kids to the Science Center for a field trip later this year. They will get to see it up close after getting to see its last flight.

Homework Tonight is to Study

Those words to my kids mean "Night without homework." After struggling to get my kids to study last year I realized this year....they actually have no idea how to study. We have a major district test coming up in a week and we just happened to have an extra day to review. I took the day to teach them study techniques and then let them practice. One major problem of this generation (or this generation in LAUSD) is they can't create anything. They are experts on taking in information and then spitting it back out but for them to creatively think up a concept on their own is like pulling teeth.

So after 45 minutes of teaching them techniques  (flashcards, foldables, re-writing notes, listening to notes, reading their notes, drawing pictures)...then 20 minutes of me refusing to tell them what to put on their flashcards etc. here is what they came up with...

Wish I could show you her sweet face but she decided the method she liked best was to re-write her notes.

Others chose to make flashcards and got really creative with them! This student did the word on the front and then drew a picture as a "hint" she had a separate color coded flashcard with the important information

 One of my most challenging students was totally silent and caused no behavior disruptions. When I finally went to check in on him I was so excited to see waht he came up with all on his own (I know it was all on his own because he is too disruptive to sit with anyone else so he is completely alone at his desk)!

It may not seem like much but it was a huge improvement!

Another student combined flashcards, re-writing notes and pictures

 Another decided to make his into a comic

And yet another made a foldable with the 6 major components of civilizations and specifics about Mesopotamia on the back of the flap

Easily the hardest part of my job is teaching my students to think for themselves. It's awkward and uncomfortable for them and slow and frustrating for me. But in week 7 or 40, I'm proud of their work and can't wait to see what they can create at the end of the year.

The Calm Before The Storm

Every Monday and Thursday I get to enjoy the sacred silence of my classroom during my prep period. I live for this time, it's a great time of reflection, prayer and reaming for the future of the kids who will fill those seats.  I'm enjoying this year so much more than last year. It's amazing to be able to focus on the kids, what they need and how to best grow their hearts and minds. So thankful these quiet times are filled with planning and not worrying this year!

Back By Popular Demand

I started this last year to remember all of my first year. My goal was to record all the triumphs, struggles, the little details etc. Now I would do anything to forget that year...so I'm trying again. I don't think anyone other than Kat or my parents actually read this but I figure eventually I will want this written down.

So for starters...the entire nation is about to revamp their method or assessing students/teachers. With the new Common Core beginning in 2014, my charter is well under way in preparing for it. It basically will require a lot more written work in all classes. To get our students ready early we are implementing a full scale, highly interactive and specific reading program. Basically, it will involve students reading, discussing and writing about their reading for about an hour every day.

I'm really passionate about getting this up and running. Probably the most discouraging and frustrating fact I've ever learned is that California (maybe all states) take the reading scores of their 3rd grade students. Based off of that number they build the states prison cells. For years there has been a direct correlation between the score of a 9 year old kid and the likelihood of them going to jail. Evidence shows that students who fall behind by 3rd grade rarely make up that deficit. After administering a diagnostic to all my students I have 2 (of 95) on grade level. I have most reading on a 2-3 grade reading level and I have 3 reading BELOW a PRE-K! Some where along the way my kids have been failed...It's a huge task but I'm excited to help these 95 kids break that statistic!  

It takes a lot of planning on my part and a lot of books...check out my genre library

I just taught genre so this is fun to see them talking about their favorite genre and then being able to identify what books are part of that genre.

Here is the rest of my library. I'm so thankful I found I could work at Scholastic Book sales and make $20 in book credits every hour. 2 summers ago I spent weeks working in their warehouse so I could build this...some of the best hours I've ever spent.

And Then Everything Changed

In the middle of this mess Chris left for Rwanda, he was only leaving for 17 days but I cried at even the mention of him leaving.  He is my rock, he hold me when I'm hurting, speaks truth into a dark situation and is there to comfort me always.  I didn't knwo how to do it without him.  We went to community dinners with our close friends and then said goodbye.  I can't remember the last time I cried that hard. On the way home I was listening to a Christian radio station and numerous songs came on about God coming to our rescue.  Nicole C. Mullin's song "When I call on Jesus" came on and I almost pulled over I was crying so hard

When I call on Jesus,
All things are possible
I can mount on wings like eagles' and soar
When I call on Jesus,
Mountains are gonna fall
'Cause He'll move heaven and earth to come rescue me when I call


I needed just that, I needed Jesus to radically intervene and save me from the mess of lies, manipulation and fear that was strangling me.  I woke up the next morning and began reading through Psalms.  It's amazing how deeply the words spoke to me, it was as if they written specifically for me.

Psalms 5 says
Listen to my words, LORD,
   consider my lament.
² Hear my cry for help,
   my King and my God,
   for to you I pray.
 ³ In the morning, LORD, you hear my voice;
   in the morning I lay my requests before you
   and wait expectantly.
⁴ For you are not a God who is pleased with wickedness;
   with you, evil people are not welcome.
⁵ The arrogant cannot stand
   in your presence.
You hate all who do wrong;
 ⁶ you destroy those who tell lies.
The bloodthirsty and deceitful
   you, LORD, detest.
⁷ But I, by your great love,
   can come into your house;
in reverence I bow down
   toward your holy temple.
 ⁸ Lead me, LORD, in your righteousness
   because of my enemies—
   make your way straight before me.
⁹ Not a word from their mouth can be trusted;
   their heart is filled with malice.
Their throat is an open grave;
   with their tongues they tell lies.
¹⁰ Declare them guilty, O God!
   Let their intrigues be their downfall.
Banish them for their many sins,
   for they have rebelled against you.
¹¹ But let all who take refuge in you be glad;
   let them ever sing for joy.
Spread your protection over them,
   that those who love your name may rejoice in you.
 ¹² Surely, LORD, you bless the righteous;
   you surround them with your favor as with a shield.


And Psalm 7
Arise, LORD, in your anger;
   rise up against the rage of my enemies.
   Awake, my God; decree justice.
⁷ Let the assembled peoples gather around you,
   while you sit enthroned over them on high.
 ⁸ Let the LORD judge the peoples.
Vindicate me, LORD, according to my righteousness,
   according to my integrity, O Most High.
⁹ Bring to an end the violence of the wicked
   and make the righteous secure—
you, the righteous God
   who probes minds and hearts.

I hadn't  ever prayed for my adversary to be punished or destroyed until I read those words.  God hates all who do wrong, he hates oppressors, he hates liars, those who are deceitful and arrogant. So, the morning of October 17th I prayed that justice would come, that he would be found in his lies and his oppression of others.

When we pulled into school I immediately knew something was up when our director's car was there.  I knew she was just as much afraid of him and since she had quit, he was even more angry with her.  The teachers were called into an emergency meeting where we were told our principal, numerous of his family members, and another staff member were put on emergency leave pending multiple investigations.  It was such an amazing, immediate answer to prayer.  It was a real validation that God hears our prayers, knows our hearts and is saddened when people are oppressed.

I didn't realize it then but that was only the beginning of a very long saga which is still continuing on....more on that soon, but I'm tired, its 8:04, almost my bed time and I need sleep!

This Is Where I Have Been

I quit blogging because I just didn't know what to say or how to say it well.  Almost anything and everything that could has fallen apart.  I had alluded to it previously but now I will openly say it, I really struggled with my principal, no that's to tame, I hated my principal.  He mistreated his employees, threatened our jobs daily, back stabbed, gossiped and created a culture that was extremely negative.

Within the first few weeks he had called me into his office to question my religion and faith.  He made an inappropriate comment about me being Mormon and then realized he could get in a lot of trouble for it.  I had to sit down and tell him where I went to church, how often, why I chose this faith etc...on and on. I was angry, frustrated and realized then this would be a long year with him in the lead.

More and more continued to come out, he arranged a "social gathering" outside of school at a bar.  Everyone was peer-pressured into drinking and when I did not I was made fun of for it.  He and others were completely drunk and the worst of it all was that it was paid for with our money in our "celebration fund."  We were also told at this gathering that those who did not show up were not on his good list. I thought it would put me on his good side but time after tiem I found myself in his office justifying myself.  I began to live in constant fear of loosing my job.  I have lost 12 pounds since starting school, almost daily I was waking up at 3 am with such bad anxiety I couldn't go back to sleep.  I wouldn't eat breakfast or I would through it up due to anxiety about going to work.  It was horrible, and the worst of it was there was no one to go to for help.

During this time he also began pushing teachers to quit.  He would never fire anyone but he would push hard enough that they would give up and quit or move on to another job.  We had one teacher quit a week for 5 weeks and we only have a teaching staff of 17.  Then, about 5 weeks ago our director of instruction (similar to a vice principal) said she was quitting as well. Most of us felt scared and unsure of the future of our school and job.  He had commented numerous times that if our students didn't perform well we would be gone by Christmas. 

Through it I tried to stay positive, tried to keep my head up and remember I was there for my kids.  I went into this job thinking my kids would be the hardest part, I never realized how horrible a bad administrator could make it.

I felt like I was continuously praying for comfort, strength, my job...it was a hugely humbling time to know that I had no security except in the Lord.  I learned the comfort of reading my Bible every morning before going to work, spending my shower time praying and even the comfort of weeping to God knowing he was the only one who could fix this situation.  I learned to trust that even when others may be oppressive his love is quick and near, its bold and constant.  It was still a struggle daily to know that this was the place God had called me and this was the place I was called to minister.  I began looking for new jobs, talking with friends, co-workers about leaving the school but always felt like I had to stick it out for my kids. So I did, day in an day out the abuse, manipulation and fear only increased.  I began to see how much of a spiritual battle it was as well and felt caught in a spiritual battle that I was helpless to do anything about

I'm a Heartbreaker

I'm also engaged!! This past Saturday Chris proposed with the help of some of our friends.  We had a great weekend of celebrating and loving life and it was back to reality Monday morning.

Yesterday we had a professional development day so I didn't see my kids.  I also hadn't told them before that I was even dating someone so imagine their shock when I tell them I'm engaged.  Most cheered and clapped, many were super excited but not one.  I have a group of boys who have a crush and would spend every waking hour with me if I let them.  One of them in particular asks me everyday to have lunch with him.  Today was also his birthday.  He came into class, I told him happy birthday and asked if he was doing anything fun. I then made my big announcement, when others were cheering and clapping, he sat with his arms folded and a scowl on his face.  I knew he wouldn't be delighted but I didn't think he would actually be mad.  As he was leaving I told him happy birthday again and he said it is the worst birthday he had ever had.  He didn't even come back to have lunch with me. He then went to another class where the teacher noticed he was unhappy.  When she asked him what was going on he said "Did you hear about Ms. DeForest?"  Wow, I didn't know I could have that affect on him.  I'm hoping tomorrow he is back to himself, I actually enjoy my lunch partner.  I do find it comical though that he thought there was ever a chance.  Sweet boy,  Jr. High is such an awkward age.

Last week I was having a lot of trouble with a student who can be sassy but isn't generally rude.  She had a huge attitude one day so I asked her mom to come in.  She left pretty mad at me but the next day apologized for her behavior.  Today when I showed up to school she handed me an envelope with a note inside.  It said:

Dear Ms. DeForest
I'm sorry for being so mean and rude to you.  I promise to be on my best behavior in clas.  I hop you have the heart to forgive me.

I almost forgot to tell you I made some flashcards for my vocabulary words.  I also need some help on my homework.  It's the last questions on the homework.

Love, Student's Name

P.S: Some people are pretty some people are not, but I think your pretty.

Glad to see we have made a turn around...the true test will be tomorrow when I actually have her in class.  She did come up to me later though to show me the flashcards she had made.  Too bad we already took the test on those words and she won't see that material again until her state test in 8th grade...

More student stories

One of my 8^th grade students is a remarkable soccer player.  He might drop out of school to play soccer in Mexico but he has assured me he will continue to get an education.  I pray that really is true.  We were talking about where he practiced and how often.  He told me he practices in Long Beach which I assumed was then a long drive.  He replied “No, Miss, I live in Watts.”  I chuckled thinking to myself “ I know you live in Watts…I know all about this city I work in.”

Another of my 6^th grade students who is in after school tutoring suddenly started sobbing.  I didn’t know what was wrong and it happened so suddenly I was confused.  I let her go outside and write down what was upsetting her.  I got this note back:

“I was going to tell you that everyday when I get after school I have to ride the bus but first I call my mom and tell her that I got on the bus and I’m almost getting there were I always have to stop on and she will be right there waiting for me and when I get off she will be right there waiting for me but today I was calling her when I got out of class but she won’t answer me and I don’t know where to get out.”

I was able to get her to calm down a little and she was able to tell me that it takes her over an hour to get home on the bus.  It is often dark when she gets home and it is very scary for her. She has to do this alone and it is an incredibly lonely and scary thing for her.  My heart broke for her, I wanted to take her home myself but it’s against the law.  It killed me to know she does this almost daily and there isn’t an option for her. I am frustrated almost daily realizing the difficulties my students face that I never could have fathomed at 11 yrs old.

And lastly, we are focusing on “no bullying” the next few weeks.  A student told our principal that he was considering committing suicide from the effects of being bullied on school grounds.  I hate how cruel kids can be on top of the struggles of living in an inner-city community. This past Friday a student at a nearby high school got into a fight with her boyfriend.  He attempted to strangle her and then stabbed her to death.  My students all heard about it and addressing it was something I was unsure of.  How do I walk through the difficult things with my kids while trying be transparent and honest.  It was sticky but we did it.  I hate this life that they know, I want to just shove it all away, this community so needs Jesus, nothing else can save them from the horrors they see and hear about daily.

Frustrated....

It’s been a while…

I haven’t known how to write this well since its been a pretty difficult past few weeks.  I wish I could say everything is smooth sailing but unfortunately it seems every time I turn around there is another issue with politics at my school. A teacher quit last Friday and emailed her letter of resignation to the staff.  Many of the issues she brought up are definitely true but there is a struggle between fighting the injustice that’s happening to the teachers and knowing I need a job.  It’s the most frustrating position I have ever been in.  I’m so tired of not being able to focus solely on the kids because of the “out to get you” attitude I feel daily.  So, in two weeks we have had one teacher forced out and another quit.  

Last Friday I went home early because I felt like I was going to pass out.  I couldn’t walk through the hallways of school without stopping to keep myself from passing out.  It was scary but I didn’t feel like I could leave my class with a sub since we have benchmarks (our charter organization’s form of a standardized test to check progress) this week.  Numerous other teachers commented it is ridiculous that I would be that sick and still feel the pressure to be here.  We have been told numerous times that if we do not perform well our job could be on the line.  This is one of the most caustic situations I have ever been in.  I love my students, I thrive when I am in the classroom with them but as soon as I leave my 4 walls I start to panic.

I’ve lost 7 pounds since starting working 8 weeks ago…I now regularly wake up at about 3:45 with a horrible stomach ache from feeling anxious about coming to work. This wasn’t something I wanted to blog about since it’s not something I want to remember but it consumes my life at this point.

I’m desperately trying to find the balance between working myself to death and knowing boundaries while the fear of losing my job is constantly in my head.

Today we had a staff meeting where things were made a little bit better.  I feel a little more content with the job situation but it definitely feels like its going to be a long difficult road this year.

We've Got a Bug Problem

Yep, you read right, our school has a bug problem.  Not we have a few cockroaches running around ora  few crickets.  We have had 2 teachers and a few kids bit by a mysterious bug.  Our office manager has been in the hospital for 5 days and another teacher has been in and out all week. And yes, we are still in school...why? Cuz we have testing next week.

Our health insurace doesn't kick in till Saturday but this bug bite becomes serious within 24-48 hrs. And, our students rarely have health insurance or access to quality Drs.  Many of us are extremely frustrated and numerous people have commented that they have had it.  Good to know I'm not the only one extremely frustrated here...

And on teacher "left" last week.  It's unclear about the circumstances but most of the feelings are he was either fired or pushed out. I also found out our charter organization is known for being "fire happy." Instead of working with teachers our organization feels it's easier to just fire them.  I'm at my breaking point and feeling like this is all too much.  If I didn't adore my kids I couldn't do this.  It's such a joy to go into them every day but the rediculousness of the politics needs to stop.

If you can't tell I'm exhausted

On a better note, I spent some time today praying over my kids as they took a test.  It's amazing how great of students I have, they are awesome, little, fun and still innocent.  With almost every kid I prayed they wouldn't loose their childlikeness or grow up too fast. I love that they are still little and ignorant.  I wish I could protect them from the world they are in but I know it will slowly get to them and it makes me so sad.

Sorry this post is kinda down, especially after not posting for a while but I'm just tired...really really tired

Student Work

Here are some pictures of the fun projects we have done!
While learning about early humans, we studied cave drawings and each kid made their own using what they had learned.

I have two boards in the hallway to post my kids amazing work.  Here is one filled with all the kids who earned a 100% on their vocabulary test!

The first week we also made family crests as a way for them to be introduced to history.  They had to pick colors and objects that represented their families.  A few kids were even willing to present and they really put their hearts into it!

This girl talked about how the rose represented her family and how every time someone died they would put out a red rose.  She commented that they had put out roses constantly, to her it seemed there was always a rose out because so many people have died in her life.

All of them did a really great job on this assignment.  It was one of my favorite ways to open up the class and get to know a little bit about their stories.

And Finally, Some Pictures~

I'm excited to finally be able to show some pictures! It was weird setting up a classroom for middle schoolers, I had always dreamed about my cute 1st or 2nd grade classroom.  But I made do with what I had!

This is the front of my class, It slowly grew more and more colorful as I put up word wall words and added a few things but this is basically what it looks like.

The school is very strict on our "white board configuration.  Every board and subject has to look like this, but since I teach 2 subjects mine is a little more confusing.

My desk and the college corner.  It's in the front of the room also but I've realized I never sit at my desk :( It just holds my things until the end of the day.

This is my view most of the day.  Imagine all those seats filled, there's a lot of them!

My ancient civilizations posters and a place for current events. Each week students are required to do a current event.

Those charts are now full of kids names and the standards they either have or have not mastered.

My history word wall which now has about 25 words on it since we're done with Unit 1.  After each unit I add the words from the small word wall to this one.

And my English standards and posters.  Those will be filled up on Monday since they have now taken their first English Unit test.


Hope that gives you a glimpse of what I see every day.  I'll keep posting pictures to show how much it changes in a year!

And Back to Stories About my Kids

Enough with all the political stuff...here's some more fun/sad stories from today.

I have one student who the first day I realized was very hyper, he can't focus, loves to talk and is really a sweet kid.  I switched his seat immediately to the front of the room and since then he and I have a running joke about me needing to constantly keep an eye on him.  We've developed a silly fun relationship and it's working, he got a great grade on his test!!  Today I was teaching about figurative language and while talking about hyperbole's I mentioned that one hyperbole was the phrase, "it's raining cats and dogs." I could see him thinking about something but let him mull it over.  I continued teaching and pointed out that the phrase is figurative language because it never literally rains cats and dogs.  To which he responds, "yeah, because there would be a ton of dead dogs." At first I wondered why he had not said dead cats as well and realized the entire time he had been picturing cats and dogs falling from the sky but since cat's always land on their feet, in his mind they would be ok.  I died laughing and had to completely stop my lesson. He realized I had caught on and we were rolling with laughter.  No one else understood but we sure thought it was funny.

I also have a little posse of boys who follow me everywhere, if you know me you know that I love boys.  Girls have always been difficult for me and my favorite students are always rowdy, rambunctious boys.  They're the best! I'm being careful not to allow them to develop a crush and I always leave a door open and am never alone with them but they make me so happy.  The other day one said, "Ms. DeForest, so you got like a boyfriend." "I'm sorry (student) but that is none of your business." He replied with, "well do you got like a husband or anything?"  Again...none of your business.  He informed me he was just asking so I replied, "Why? Do you have an older brother you're trying to set me up with?" All 5 boys died laughing, it was a great moment, its these moments of pure joy that keep me going!

We are also reading the book Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry which is set in the 1930's and it depicts in great detail the racial tension and racism of the time.  After talking through some difficult things one student in the back raised his hand and said really hesitantly, " Ms. DeForest, do people who....uh....you know...look like.... like you, I mean people who," I interrupted to say people who are white.  He responds, "yeah, do white people not like...uh, you know, uh, people like, like me" Aka...Hispanics.  Whenever students bring this up I give it to them straight, I don't think it is beneficial to hide it from them but I do try to protect them in my explanation.  I told him that many people do not like Hispanics, I gave him some examples and then told him about how I have people close to me who dislike Hispanics as well.  I really felt the need to open up and tell him how difficult it is for me to hear people talk about Hispanics poorly especially when my entire life is devoted to loving them.  It was a huge moment for my class, no one was talking, no one interrupted.  I'm learning that showing part of myself and letting them in helps them to feel connected and valued.

And now for a difficult one...
A girl in 8th grade wrote on one of her tests (her teacher is one of the people I carpool with so she shared this with me) about how she identified with a character in their story. The question asked if she had ever faced similar difficulty to the character (sorry I have no idea what the story was).  She responded with "I think it's the same but I have seen difficulty when my mom struggles to make enough money to feed us.  It has been especially hard since my baby sister has been born.  It hurts me and is very hard to listen to her cry because she is hungry but we have nothing to give her because none of us have food."

And lastly we had 4 or 5 kids expelled today for alcohol on campus.  One student brought alcohol to school, sold it to another student and that student passed it around to others. We're talking heavy alcohol...When I was 12 or 13 I barely knew what alcohol was and I had dinner every night on the table.  I love my sister to death and it would have killed me to watch her cry in hunger.  This is 25 miles from my house, not a foreign country.  It hurts to know how much my kids suffer.