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.
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