May 8, 2007

An In-Depth Look

This post is more for my stress relief than anything else, but if you would like an in-depth look at my day to day life then keep reading. I will start with last Friday since that was my first day back from Vegas and my only day to work last week. I will be telling about a particular student whom I will refer to as Roger since we all know there is no possible way any student at my school would ever be named Roger. Please note that times are approximate.
8:00--Roger enters classroom calmly and eats breakfast.
9:00--Class goes to cafeteria for Cinco de Mayo celebration.
9:05--Roger kicks chair of kid in front of him and tells him he is going to blow his head off since he can't see around him. He then continues to kick chairs and boo the performers.
9:15--Roger leaves cafeteria kicking chairs on the way. I follow him to monitor his behavior. He wanders aimlessly through the school, janitors closet, and into another classroom knocking over desks before he safely locks himself in a stall in the boys bathroom. (While he is wandering, our counselor is looking at me with the "don't get me involved in this" face and does not offer to help). I get a hand from another staff member on campus and she asks for the principal. I get the principal who talks Roger into coming out of the stall and then puts him in her office.
10:00--assembly is over and Roger is put back in my line to return to class with me.
10:05--class meets with Spanish dancers who teach them how to dance and yell. Roger is ok during this activity, but does not participate much.
10:30--we return to class and Roger tucks himself under the table in the front of my room yelling at the students to "go suck a turtle" and "shut-up" and many other things about their mama's. I get the same staff member from earlier to call the office for me and the principal comes and removes Roger from my room once more.
12:30--I pick class up from lunch and Roger is allowed once again to return to class with me. He climbs on my other students and hits them. I get the Special Ed teacher to take him with her and he reluctantly goes.
1:55--P.E.--Roger is told he cannot attend PE since he has been in trouble, so the Special Ed teacher says she is taking him to the office. I am not in my room since it is my conference period, but I have 2 boys who are in the room cleaning it up for me and getting it ready for dismissal.
2:30--one of the boys in my room comes running out yelling because Roger has come in and is hitting him. I remove the boys from the room, Roger climbs on top of them and continually slaps them in the face. It takes me and another teacher to pull him off of the boys and get him back down to the office.
3:20--Principal tells us our TAKS scores are in for the second round of reading and I go to look at them. I am a bit disappointed at the outcome, and am very overwhelmed from the events of the day so I start crying. The principal gives me a pep talk about how I need to accept that Roger is just a "quirky kid". I go home exhausted, frustrated and angry.
4:00--sleep until 6:00 and then go to my boys baseball game.

Monday morning was about the same as Friday with Roger coming in calmly and eating his breakfast calmly, then came restroom break.
8:30--Roger refused to get up and get in the line for restroom break. He threw 3 pencils and a shoe at another student, so I went and got the principal. She took him to another classroom and left him there.
11:50--Roger joined my class again for lunch. He gave kids wedgies on the way down the hall and continuously slapped them in the line.
12:30--on the way back to the classroom he continued the wedgie giving and slapping of other students. He then refused to enter the classroom and when I closed the door he beat on it and kicked it repeatedly yelling that he was going to "kill us all". I got him back in the other classroom he had been in earlier and left him there.
2:25--it is my conference period and I am out of my room, but I return for a paper and find Roger on top of a table throwing baskets across my room and barking at me like a dog. My lifesavers are also missing from off of my desk (they were given to the teachers for teacher appreciation week). Man, I need to start locking my door.
2:45--dismissal time and Roger puts another kid in a headlock and throws him to the floor. I have another teacher watch my class while I walk him to the office for parent pick-up. He throws himself on the floor in front of the principal and I go back to my class.

I also had my summative conference today where I found out that I need to learn to be less emotional when speaking with the students and get a little tougher (meaning don't cry like I did on Friday). I don't know, but I figure that in just these past 2 days I have described, I put up with more than most people would have put up with in a year.

Tuesday-- (today)
8:05--Roger enters class.
8:20--Restroom break. Roger fills his hands with staples from the bulletin boards and proceeds to stab other students and me with the staples. He refuses to give up the staples or follow any directions given by me.
8:35--Roger runs around the classroom stabbing other students with staples and asking them if it hurt. If they say no, he scratches them with the staple and laughs. He put the staple in one kids' eye and told him he was going to scratch his eye. I got the staple from him that time before he could do it.
8:40--I evacuate my classroom and wait for help to arrive. He is taken by another teacher.
10:30--He returns to class and continues stabbing others with staples and pencils this time. He runs through the classroom and will not follow directions. He then leaves the class and cannot get back in because I have locked my door, so he kicks the door and beats on it and yells that he is going to kill us all (sound familiar?) When I try to open the door, he pushes it back on me and stomps on my foot.
10:35--another teacher calls for help and Roger leaves the building. He walks across campus and out the gate at the back of the school. The principal comes out and starts talking to him and I go back in to my class.
11:55--lunch time...Roger comes and lines up with my class. He has ink marks all up and down his arms where he has drawn on himself. He then starts to draw on my other students. Another teacher is able to take the pen from him. He then puts another students' head between his knees and jumps up and down pushing the other child's head into the floor. He is laughing the entire time. I finally get between them (there isn't a teacher on duty at lunch line) and am holding Roger off of the other student while the principal comes to get him.
Thankfully, he did not come back in my classroom today during my conference period, but that could be because I had my door locked today.
On top of all this, we got our Math TAKS scores and found out we will be academically unacceptable this year. This is not good news, however I am not surprised by it. It is almost impossible for me to teach with days like this, and I have only described 3 out of the entire year.
If I have bored you to death, I am sorry, but I actually feel better having written it down.

6 comments:

Ben - The Waffle said...

You are one fantastic Lady! We should spend more time together!

Melissa said...

Wow, Roger's a gem! Ummm, does your principal know the word "expulsion". He is causing harm to other students and it doesn't take rocket science to know he needs to go!

Patti said...

The principal does not know the words "suspension" or "expulsion". However, she does know the words "emotionally disturbed". She encourages Caci to keep her "emotions" in check because the students are smart and take advantage of "emotionally disturbed" teachers.

Michael said...

Sounds more to me like the students take advantage of a lack of leadership at the higher levels of the school which creates "emotionally disturbed" teachers.

An emotionally disturbed teacher doesn't necessarily lead to a disciplinary problem, but a lack of consequences from the principal always will.

Caci said...

AMEN Michael!!! My emotionally disturbed state stems from the lack of support I receive from my principal...and the students know it all too well.

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work.