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It's the second-to-last day for seniors. Many of the seniors are actually out today -- attending a ceremony of some sort for state scholars. As a result, your morning class has three students, only one of which is a senior.
This senior is very bright, but regularly refuses to do his work and often resists your classroom management techniques. He knows full well that he does not need your class to graduate. His overall attitude towards you and the class could be described as "critical" -- his temper flares up if you press him about anything, and you get tired of dealing with a student who so obviously doesn't want to be there.
So on a day like today, where you aren't doing all that much anyway (finishing up the final project), and its his second-to-last day, you don't feel like giving him a hard time. He is very, very upbeat today. He comes in happily, begins quietly working on his project, contributes to the discussion, and even compliments you and the class.
But he is, to your eyes, obviously drunk.
What do you do?
Racial stereotypes of all kinds have always bothered me. One in particular has been rolling around my mind today - the idea that being black carries with it "coolness" while white skin automatically signals "nerd". I hate that students who are interested in school are branded as acting white, the ultimate "loser" insult. That in order to fit in with your race you must project a sort of 'cool' image, rather than embracing your inner interest in math, in chess, in reading, in computers, in whatever.
My kids constantly make jokes about white people that appear in movies, pictures, or cultural references around school. The first thing a student does when they get frustrated with me will be to imitate my voice -- I cringe when their exaggerated verbal caricature sounds so much like me, yet so obviously nerdy. The patronizing tone they use when they joke about white people doing something awkward makes me want to point out that there are plenty of so-called "nerds" at our school, and plenty of white people that aren't walking awkward dictionaries. Just another chasm between the races; perceptions that neither side can quite get over (or want to?), no matter what anyone might show them otherwise.
This all came rushing to my mind when DT said, out-of-the-blue, near the end of class, "Hey ms. m, you cool, for your color. Other people might not think so, but I think you are." This should have been a teachable moment, but the bell was about to ring, and I got caught off-guard. My first instinct was to take it as a compliment, but I can't let go of the left-handedness of it...
Wednesday chicken sandwich:
Notice the aforementioned "ice and sugar thing" which stands in for fruit (and makes the kids hyper all afternoon). The baked beans were eaten by about 40% of the kids around me. The chicken is fairly tasty, though VERY processed, and served on a quite dry white bun...
Thursday hot ham and cheese:
Notice the same white buns that appear yesterday. Today's vegetable? Fries. And the classic fruit cup from the can. Now, don't get me wrong, I think fruit from a can is fine (I can't get enough of canned pineapples!) but I think that, in an ideal world, we should alternate canned food with the fresh stuff at least once and a while... And the ham was gross, by the way... or so they told me.
Today two students argued over whose tray would be photographed -- "Take that to the government!" "Are you turnin' this in? Oh yeah, take one of mine -- turn those folks in!" I didn't try to go into the fact that it IS the government providing the food (this food comes in giant boxes labeled with stamps from the federal government), because the last time I mentioned that fact, it opened up a very frustrating discussion where my students argued that the government is against black people... and I couldn't convince them otherwise....
EDIT: My camera has turned against me, so the 4th and final lunchroom pictures (Friday pizza) won't make it to the site. Alas.
As demanded, photos. My students were embarrassed to be seen with me and my big camera....
Tuesday: Corn chips with ground beef topping.
Ms. G blogs again about a former student of mine - who, I am sad to hear, hasn't learned that his education is important, even though he is (thankfully) out of jail...
But her entry revealed something else though that is certainly worth pondering:
After miserably failing a state-tested class (he simply doesn't do his work), the student passed the state test and demanded to receive credit for the class anyway -- since he had obviously "mastered" the material. The case went to the State Department of Education:
The current State Superintendent ruled that, as a part of his new campaign on dropout prevention, any student who passes a state assessment can automatically earn the credit for the course. This essentially renders every classwork and homework assignment null and void. Why would we even give grades at all if they are to be overruled by a standardized exam, and a sub par exam at that?
This spells bad news for many state-tested classes, as I can see more than a few behavior issues stemming from bright students. If a teacher cannot hold a student's grade over their head, what's to stop them from refusing to do their work, or trying to cause chaos in class? On top of that, most of Mississippi's state tests are woefully below national standards. Students deemed "proficient" on the MCT might fall well-below passing on a similar NAEP. With this type of rule, we are essentially encouraging students to shoot for mediocre. Why go the extra mile to learn something above and beyond the test -- it won't matter for passing this class anyway!
Finally, it depresses me to think about the effects of this "rule" on English classes. By nature, English state tests are a different animal from the others. If you are a student who is a good reader, if you have grown up reading -- you shouldn't have a problem with the test. But there is so much more to English classes than preparing for a test -- things like thinking critically, engaging in discussion and debate, and being exposed to ideas, opinions and events outside your own sphere of existence. It is not just about whether you know the difference between "who" and "whom" or drawing simplistic conclusions from short passages.
Ideally, I think the goal of secondary education is two-fold: first, we need to give them the basic skills they will need as a citizen of our society (this is where those state tests come in) but secondly, and perhaps more importantly, we want to open their eyes to the world, and create life-long learners. There is already enough emphasis on the state tests -- telling the students that their score on "the basics" is more important than a year's worth of classroom engagement negates that second goal almost entirely......
It's no wonder Mississippi has the highest rate of obesity and one of the highest for diabetes. There are fast food restaurants on every corner, and very few restaurants which offer *any* healthy options. There are a few Subways, but that's about it. From the measly locally-owned offerings, most restaurants serve southern food -- thick with sauces, and often fried. The produce section of our local grocery stores leaves much to be desired. I have found myself cooking less and less down here because I am so turned off by the bruised, aging veggies on the shelves.
But I think the horrendous quality of the school lunches says it all - nothing is being done by those with power to stop unhealthy eating at an early age. From working at two different school districts, and from the words of teachers in other districts, I can tell you school lunches in Mississippi are pretty awful both in terms of taste and healthfulness.
Eduwonk linked to this article in the USA Today about rising food prices and their effect on school lunches. Apparently many school systems, especially those who rely on federal government assistance, are having an extremely hard time keeping balanced meals available for their students with skyrocketing prices. I really have no idea how our school district might keep pace with inflation - I don't see how they could cut any more from the meager meals they give these kids. My guess is that this money will have to come from another department.
If the federal government thinks 2.47 will buy, prepare, and serve a healthy child's meal (including milk) they must be out of their minds. Or they simply don't care about what poor children are eating. To have school districts "charge the math department overhead" to cover the cost of food is depressing. If the government is serious about making sure children are fed, they should be doing it right. As it is, they are simply teaching kids that what you put into your body doesn't matter, as long as it is cheap -- exactly what leads to our soaring healthcare costs when the children grow up into obesity and diabetes.
But the amount of the subsidy was much less shocking than the picture plastered across the top of the article --- which absolutely floored me:
The photo's caption reads: " A sample lunch tray in Miami-Dade School District".
Now, let me tell you, the lunch trays in Mississippi look nothing like this. Nothing. First of all, we do not have fresh fruit. The only fruit served with the daily meals at our school is very old-looking oranges (halved), a fruit cup (straight from the wholesale can), or one of these, which essentially amounts to ice and sugar. I have never seen an "entree" like the one in the photo. Our entrees do not have any vegetables -- they are typically one of the following: pizza, sloppy joe, fried chicken, chili, hot ham and cheese sandwich, or hot dog. They are filled with grease, and usually taste accordingly. The mornings that I forget to pack a lunch cause me to cringe; I hate the thought of spending 2.75 for this junk almost as much as I do the thought of eating it.
Perhaps the ridiculously bad meals in Mississippi stem from the fact that the state requires both a HOT lunch and a HOT breakfast served each day. Meals would be cheaper, and much, much healthier if we could serve cold lunches. Instead students are often given a warm donut for breakfast, and a slice of pizza with fries for lunch (oh, and don't forget your "fruity sugar ice" on the side). It's ridiculous. I have half a mind to petition the government to change the law -- it must be a state rule if Floria is allowed to give students this fantastic, healthy-looking wrap. I wonder if the Mississippi State Legislature knows, or cares, that their rules have this unintended effect...
E, a senior, at the end of class: Ms. M, you've changed me.
Me: Really? How so?
E: I never used to like reading before this class. But now I love reading.
Like I really love reading. So, I took my book in the car to Jackson, and I took it to work, and I read it all
weekend. And I really think I am going to keep reading in college... because I really like reading now!
I occasionally find myself paging through education blogs (when I should be grading or lesson planning, of course) and one in particular stood out to me today. Coach Brown writes about the high standards teachers are held to when it comes to education -- often the media seems to point all blame at bad teaching, when there are so many other factors at work. Considering how little support, compensation, and oversight are given to the types of schools we work in, its laughable that teachers should be held accountable when it comes down to the "state" of our national system of education.
My favorite lines:
....firemen are never blamed for starting the fire, policemen are never blamed for committing the crime, and doctors aren't blamed for people getting fat. Teachers are most certainly a target of blame for the lack of education of children, even though they have no control over a multitude of variables. Teachers still teach, firefighters fight fires, police control crime, and doctors treat patients, but only one of those is actually held accountable at the end of the day to entities that they have no control over; the other factors of a student's life.
This is why I wouldn't join myspace, and why my facebook profile can't even be searched if you are not already my friend.
After school ends for the day, you coach an athletic team until around 6 pm. Many of your athletes live miles away from school, and their parents often have more-than-part-time jobs. The school district does not run any after-school buses for lack of funding. Some of your athletes can't find rides home at night. (One walked for 45 minutes after the first day of practice). You know that the football coaches drive students home routinely, so you begin driving 2-3 of them home a few times a week.
A month later, you receive a memo from the superintendent. "At no time should a student be in a teacher's personal car". You tell the students, and a few begin missing practice.
Later that same week, you run into a problem. The biggest competition of the year is on Tuesday. You have an important practice scheduled for Saturday, the last time you'll be able to really work with the students before the big day. Your best athlete calls on Saturday morning: his mom is gone for the weekend, and he won't be able to come to practice because he has no ride, and no team member lives anywhere near him.
Do you go pick him up?
