One student, S1, walked into my room yesterday morning for advisory & was ecstatic to show me his new cell phone. He told me how much it cost & that he got it with "his" tax refund money.
I honestly don't have the energy to tell you how I feel about "Generation Me," their sense of entitlement, & the fact that the majority of my students know about April 14th because their parents give the 12 year-old children "their" portion of the tax refund because the parents claimed the children as dependents, therefore the children "deserve" that money. I can't talk about it because it makes me so mad that I start to curse.
Please note that the student I've mentioned above is the same student who refers to the topic about "food stamps" below.
I will not comment on the discourse below, I will simply outline the conversation I witnessed this morning in my advisory between three African American students, one of which was S1. Please know that I only highlight the race of the students (S1, S2, S3) so you can better understand my shock.
S1 (male): Mmm, we got candy at home in our cabinets right now. We got it with our food stamps. Yeah. Ooh, food stamps are good for that.
S2 (female): What are food stamps?
S3 (female): (burst out laughing) What? Are you serious? (Looks at S1 & rolls her eyes) She aint BLACK!
What do you say to that? In case anyone was wondering how I handled that... I looked at S2 & said, "Excuse me. How sad that you are putting yourself & every other black person in a box. Yes, she's black, but just so you know, not every black person is on Welfare. How sad that you think that. On top of that, there are Whites, Asians, & Latinos are on Welfare too, so there's no reason to discriminate. I am actually proud of her for asking what food stamps were since she didn't know because it shows she cares about learning, which leaves less room for ASSUMING things."
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Friday, February 11, 2011
Smacking Intolerance
I don't have a high tolerance for smacking. Not the kind of smacking that happens when people are eating (which I don't have a tolerance for either - close your mouth), but the "smack" that students do when they don't agree with something.
It's begins as a lip pucker, then a quick release of the pucker to an open mouth, creating a "smack" sound. It's not only rude, it's annoying that it has quickly become the default reaction of most students...in any situation.
The smack is commonly used instead of verbalizing phrases such as, "Pardon me, madame?" "That's not exactly true," & "I'm frustrated, please help me." ;)
Today, FN realized he had a subconscious problem of not being able to communicate without smacking. I pointed it out, which helped. I was so frustrated that he continuously smacked that I told him for each smack, he owed me $0.25.
I began a tally chart of how many times he smacked in the last 10 minutes of class. (Note: he put his hand over his mouth for 4 of those minutes, if THAT tells you anything.)
FN now owes me $8.25 (easiest $8.25 ever made in 10 minutes). I told him he had to pay & I'd put that money towards our class's Invisible Children Bracelet Campaign fund. He was ok with it, knowing it was going to a good cause, however, at the end of class he claimed, "Now, you're rich & I'm broke!"
My response: "This wouldn't happen if you'd practice using your words." Life is hard.
It's begins as a lip pucker, then a quick release of the pucker to an open mouth, creating a "smack" sound. It's not only rude, it's annoying that it has quickly become the default reaction of most students...in any situation.
The smack is commonly used instead of verbalizing phrases such as, "Pardon me, madame?" "That's not exactly true," & "I'm frustrated, please help me." ;)
Today, FN realized he had a subconscious problem of not being able to communicate without smacking. I pointed it out, which helped. I was so frustrated that he continuously smacked that I told him for each smack, he owed me $0.25.
I began a tally chart of how many times he smacked in the last 10 minutes of class. (Note: he put his hand over his mouth for 4 of those minutes, if THAT tells you anything.)
FN now owes me $8.25 (easiest $8.25 ever made in 10 minutes). I told him he had to pay & I'd put that money towards our class's Invisible Children Bracelet Campaign fund. He was ok with it, knowing it was going to a good cause, however, at the end of class he claimed, "Now, you're rich & I'm broke!"
My response: "This wouldn't happen if you'd practice using your words." Life is hard.
Friday, January 14, 2011
Two for Two
Today was a successful day in terms of student quotes. There are two stories in particular that made me laugh & I'd like to share them.
Thank you, Martin Luther King (aka, MLK)
YG is my mentee. We were chatting for awhile in my room today & I asked her what her plans were for this weekend. I reminded her, "It's a long weekend. There's no school on Monday, thanks to MLK." She replied, "Oh, I don't know what I'm gonna do, BUT when I told my mom we didn't have school on Monday, she didn't believe me. She asked me why & I told her it was Milk Day."
I died laughing. Don't worry, I used it as a teachable moment (after I laughed) & she now realizes that MLK are the initials of the extremely influential black man in history who she has seen, heard, & learned about SEVERAL times before. She gets how it all relates now. :)
Superheroes in Labor
In 6th gr
ade ELA today, we were discussing a Green Lantern poster in the room (seen left). We pointed out that the animators use colors to represent certain emotions or qualities found in each character. Near the end of the explanation, one student raised his hand & asked, "Does it still hurt superheroes if they have babies? Or do they not feel the pain?" I had to clarify to my co-teacher that the student was referring to childbirth. My co-teacher had the wisdom to say, "That's a good question..." Was it? Was it even on topic? No. But nonetheless, good question.
Thank you, Martin Luther King (aka, MLK)
YG is my mentee. We were chatting for awhile in my room today & I asked her what her plans were for this weekend. I reminded her, "It's a long weekend. There's no school on Monday, thanks to MLK." She replied, "Oh, I don't know what I'm gonna do, BUT when I told my mom we didn't have school on Monday, she didn't believe me. She asked me why & I told her it was Milk Day."
I died laughing. Don't worry, I used it as a teachable moment (after I laughed) & she now realizes that MLK are the initials of the extremely influential black man in history who she has seen, heard, & learned about SEVERAL times before. She gets how it all relates now. :)
Superheroes in Labor
In 6th gr
ade ELA today, we were discussing a Green Lantern poster in the room (seen left). We pointed out that the animators use colors to represent certain emotions or qualities found in each character. Near the end of the explanation, one student raised his hand & asked, "Does it still hurt superheroes if they have babies? Or do they not feel the pain?" I had to clarify to my co-teacher that the student was referring to childbirth. My co-teacher had the wisdom to say, "That's a good question..." Was it? Was it even on topic? No. But nonetheless, good question.
Friday, January 7, 2011
Eleven Knees???
One of our spelling words this week was "allusion."
Before their test today, we reviewed each word's meaning. An allusion is "a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication."
I gave the class an example. "FN has Hercules-like strength." When I asked the class for an example of an allusion, AZ said, "Ms. Schwarzlose is pretty like Shakira." (I can't complain about that compliment, can I?)
When I said, "Well, thank you. Shakira is half Lebanese too, actually," one student yelled out, "WHAT? SHE HAVE ELEVEN KNEES?? She can bend her leg in all kinds of directions!!"
Ahh, the joy of working with ESL students. :) Today was also a culture lesson on how people from Lebanon are called "Lebanese" and how subject/verb agreement is very important! She HAS eleven knees. ;)
Before their test today, we reviewed each word's meaning. An allusion is "a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, literary work, myth, or work of art, either directly or by implication."
I gave the class an example. "FN has Hercules-like strength." When I asked the class for an example of an allusion, AZ said, "Ms. Schwarzlose is pretty like Shakira." (I can't complain about that compliment, can I?)
When I said, "Well, thank you. Shakira is half Lebanese too, actually," one student yelled out, "WHAT? SHE HAVE ELEVEN KNEES?? She can bend her leg in all kinds of directions!!"
Ahh, the joy of working with ESL students. :) Today was also a culture lesson on how people from Lebanon are called "Lebanese" and how subject/verb agreement is very important! She HAS eleven knees. ;)
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Place of sadness
Yesterday was the first day back for the students after Christmas break.
First period, my ESL students came to my classroom for advisory & we were reviewing their new schedules for this semester.
AL (Brazilian kid - ie, drama king) was looking over his schedule & he couldn't stop talking about how miserable he was going to be this semester because he didn't want to have these classes. I, of course, was laughing because I can never take him seriously.
Near the end of advisory, I asked all the students as a class, "Ok, so is everyone comfortable & they know where they are going today?"
AL dropped his head & replied rather dismally, "To a place of sadness."
:)
First period, my ESL students came to my classroom for advisory & we were reviewing their new schedules for this semester.
AL (Brazilian kid - ie, drama king) was looking over his schedule & he couldn't stop talking about how miserable he was going to be this semester because he didn't want to have these classes. I, of course, was laughing because I can never take him seriously.
Near the end of advisory, I asked all the students as a class, "Ok, so is everyone comfortable & they know where they are going today?"
AL dropped his head & replied rather dismally, "To a place of sadness."
:)
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