Rock the Casbah

I can't believe I haven't mentioned this yet.. this year my school is doing something new that I'm actually really excited about. We're suspending regular classes for three days and trying something called School Without Walls (aka SWOW) or Project "Week". I'm really excited about it because my coworker and I came up with a project that ROCKS. Literally. Here's our sexy blurb...

School of Rock:
Do you have what it takes to really rock?

Playing expert level on Guitar Hero or Rock Band does not make you a rockstar. Come learn about the roots of rock, the movers and shakers in rock history, and where rock music is headed today, especially in the SF Bay Area. Highlights of this project include guitar lessons, a visit to a real rock studio, chatting with a local rock band, and touring a venue in the City. The last day we will finish up with a listening party where you can play a track from your favorite rock artist or perform a live piece in front of an exclusive audience. Rock, rock on!!

So despite the fact that our studio and our local band fell through, I'm still super-stoked. We still get to jam on the guitars, listen to some choice tunes, watch some rockumentaries, chill in the Haight, hang out backstage at the Fillmore..yes, you heard (read?) me.. we're hangin' out at the Fillmore. Which was my dream all along. Well that and getting Green Day to come by. But they're busy with their new album and tour y'know. So it should be fun.. got a group of 17 kids who are all interested in the project (imagine that, teaching to kids who choose to be there?!?!) and we're kickin' it off tomorrow morning!

Some other notable projects that my coworkers are running include.. using pinhole cameras to photograph the city, camping out at a pie ranch, a three day college tour, hiking and camping on Angel Island, getting noticed by college soccer coaches and recruiters.. the list is (not quite) endless. Pretty cool stuff, I think.

We'll see how it all goes! Until then.. rock, rock on!

Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of

The shit kind of hit the fan and I'm not where to start, but Vizzini says to go back to the beginning, so here goes.. (it's going to be a long one)

I have this one student, let's call him Ralph, who has spent his whole freshman year on the verge. On the verge of anything.. going gangsta, heading towards college, becoming a pothead, becoming a real person.. and for some reason I gravitate towards him. I've been pulling for him all year. Getting him to run for student counsel, planting thoughts of joining AVID and going to college, getting him excited to be in my physics class in a few years.. I really thought I was getting through to him. Maybe I was naive, but I thought we had a connection. I really thought I could save this one.

But lately he'd been slipping. It was no secret that he'd been experimenting with smoking the ganja and getting to know some questionable characters inside and outside of school. He started cutting class pretty often. And I saw a completely different side of him during his contract meeting.. with his teachers and family around him to support him as we explore if he maybe has dysgraphia (a writing disorder), he completely closed up and closed off and wouldn't even talk to us by the time we left it.

Well last week began the wonderful week of STAR testing. (California's state standardized testing) Notice the sarcasm dripping off each word. This translates into.. 4 hours with my freshmen advisory class each morning, grueling over a multiple choice test that's almost designed for them to fail but doesn't hold them accountable for their performance. It throws off our class schedules and most of the kids are so fried after the testing that they don't even come to class for about a week.. it's a recipe for disaster and mischief.

Last Thursday the scene of the mischievery just happened to be my classroom. Right in front of my nose, Ralph brought vodka into school and shared it with two of his classmates in their orange juice. We'll call one of those kids Emo-kid. He comes back into the story a little later on, unfortunately. Screwdrivers and STAR testing, sounds about right, no? I'm still kicking myself for not catching on because I would have saved us all a world of drama if I had. At least for now.

I don't know who did finally catch on, but by the end of the day the students had been pulled out of their classes and fingers pointed back at Ralph. He was suspended for a few days. (And I'll say right here.. that something is seriously wrong when I didn't find out about any of this until a full day after the vodka sharing. It was in my classroom, for God's sake, shouldn't I be informed??)

But the kicker is that when he finally came back to school, I overheard a pretty disturbing conversation between him and a friend as we were leaving an all school assembly.. I only caught snippets, but what I did hear was plenty.

"He's right there.. what are you gonna do? You gotta do something."
"I don't know man, what should I do? He snitched on me before.. he's gonna snitch on me again."

It was one of those conversations that you kind of wish you could unhear, but once you've heard it, you absolutely can't ignore it. At least, I couldn't. So I walked with Ralph out of the assembly, making small talk and hoping to thwart any further plotting for the time being. Once I got back to my floor I told my coworker what I had heard, and she told me to go straight to the assistant principal with the info. So I called down, and after a little trouble, finally got in touch with the AP. She thanked me for the info and assured me that they'd handle it.

Neither Ralph nor Emo-kid showed up to class seventh period. I found out after school that the very next period, after the assembly, after my phone call to the AP, Ralph had jumped Emo-kid for snitching on him and then fled the campus. Not just got-into-a-fight, but full on attack-from-behind. The school sent the police to his house to pick him up. They handcuffed him, but didn't lock him up. My AP says they're going to push for expulsion. Emo-kid has filed for a restraining order on Ralph.

My coworker today asked me if I filed a report in regards to what I overheard at the assembly. It seems that the fact that it was a pre-meditated act of violence will really seal the deal as grounds for expulsion and pressing charges. And yet.. I'm still torn. I still see this kid in Ralph.. this kid that's on the verge. On the verge of anything.. and with this turn of events, he's found himself on the verge of becoming a true-blue juvenile delinquent. As much as I love and feel for Emo-kid.. I'm worried about Ralph. If he gets expelled from the school/district.. what's next for him? He can barely read/write.. he's not going to get a real education if no one sees his potential and pushes him back from this ledge. I fear that if I do file this report, I'm resigning him to a life of gang-banging and drug dealing.. precisely the future I hoped to help him avoid.

On the other hand, there's nothing forgiveable about what he did. Sure he was pressured into it by a kid possibly more evil than he, but he's still responsible for his actions and choices. And maybe the counseling staff could have handled the vodka situation differently so Ralph wouldn't know that Emo-kid had a hand in his getting in trouble. Maybe I should have noticed the orange juice wasn't right.. I don't know. But what Ralph did was wrong. He should face the consequences of his actions.. now. Rather than later, when the consequences are so much worse than getting kicked out of school.

And what happens to Emo-kid now? Will Ralph's posse avenge his fate by terrorizing him even more than he already has been? There's a reason why I call him Emo-kid, he's already emo without all this nonsense! I guess he's not entirely innocent either, he did share the vodka as opposed to being forced to drink.

I don't know how this story ends. I suspect it has something to do with what I decide to do (or not do) come Monday morning. And that's really, really heavy stuff to grapple with on a Friday night..

Take a Picture

Snapped off of a student's paper...


Message left on my board during my off period..

"DEAR MS. CHEW
I STOPPED BY TO ASK YOU WHAT DID THE "W" STAND FOR IN GREEK LANGUAGE & WHAT WAS THE OMEGA SIGN.
THANKS FOR YOUR TIME READING
YOUR FAVORITE STUDENT
FREDO (LJPB)"

Blurb from a student's assignment.. (same assignment referenced last year)

How might you save money on your next electric bill? Name at least three things you can do to use less energy at home.
1. Play more basketball then playing basketball in the wii.
2. Get my smart on reading a book than getting smart from TV.
3. Go chat with friends in weekends.

Words, Hands, Hearts

Thursday, passing period before Advisory. One of my freshman advisory students is cupping his cell phone to his ear, struggling to hear, speak, breathe, do anything. I almost tell him to get off his phone and get to class, but I let it pass. He's usually very loud, rambunctious, and ANNOYING.. typical 14 year old freshman boy. There's a difference in his demeanor that slowly creeps into my awareness as he finally comes through my door.

"Ms. Chew, can I have a pass to the office? I need to go home. Something happened, I need to go home."

I nod silently as I move to my desk to write him a pass. His friend comes over and asks what's wrong. I can barely make out their conversation.

"What happened? Oh my gosh, when?"
".. just barely today. I need to go home, I really don't feel like being here anymore."

I finish writing his pass and as I hand it to him, I quietly ask, "Are you alright? Is everything ok?"

He leaves without saying a word. Once he's gone, I pull his friend aside and ask him what happened.

"His brother just died."

I run across the hall to my coworker to tell her what I heard.

"Oh no.. that's why he was so upset this morning," she says. "He had his head down on the table and was crying. He wouldn't tell me what was wrong and didn't want to get sent down to Wellness."

I grab his counselor when I see her in the hall. She has someone call home and finds out that his brother was 23 years old. He died of a heart attack at home barely an hour after his mother had left for work.

I can't say that I know my student very well, he's only in my advisory period so I only see him once a week. But I didn't need to know him to read the grief and anguish on his face. Of course he didn't want to be in school anymore.

For a minute there I thought I had lost touch of the heartache and heart break that comes with working with my kids. Then it all came rushing back to me, a bittersweet, familiar sense of helplessness and hopelessness that reminds me.. I'm alive.

If This is Goodbye

I was going to start this post off w/ "Well the good news is.. I still have a job." But then I realized that I had already used that intro. Last year. To the day. Which shows really how sad and precarious education's position is in the list of the Governator's priorities.

Sure the stats may look better. Only five of our staff are receiving layoff notices today. Only five. Except.. we are a really small school. So "only five" translates into.. maybe 15% of our staff. 22% of our English department. 25% of our social science department. 33% of our world language department. 100% of our health department. So yes, the good news is I still have my job. The bad news is, some of my dear, beloved coworkers might not.

I went in to speak with my principal today. I asked her if I should be worried about being consolidated. She said no, especially because of my double credential. If we need to cut some fat in math and in science, instead of losing a full-time employee.. I can go halfsies on science and math. I knew it was a good idea to add the credential in math when I did it, I just didn't know my ass would need saving so soon. Teaching physics will always be my first love and my priority, but it looks like being able to teach math too is what it's going to take to keep my job.

So what I want to say (of course people who blog have something they want to say) is this.. there is something WRONG here. Have I mentioned that California is ranked #47 in the list of state spending on their students? FORTY-FREAKIN'-SEVEN. Below the national average, below DC.. above only Utah, Arizona, Nevada, and Texas. I don't think my coworkers should have to worry about losing their job every year over things they have no control of--how the state is deciding to spend its money and how long they've been at the job. The system is obviously broken. I just wish I knew who could or how to fix it.

Superintendent Starts Layoff Process - 504 to Receive Notices

[From an update email from our union]

Yesterday Superintendent Carlos Garcia officially announced the number of layoff notices that he intends to send out to certificated staff in the district. With Board of Education approval, he will send notices out to approximately 362 teachers and 144 administrators.

The Board of Education will meet tonight to officially approve the sending of the layoff notices. According to the superintendent, these notices will be hand delivered starting Monday, March 9th. Most likely this will happen by principals at school sites.

The anger and frustration that is generated by these layoff notices should be directed squarely at the Governor, and the state legislature. Because of their failure to enact a responsible education budget, SFUSD is facing a $29 million budget shortfall next school year.

Five city Supervisors attended the superintendent's press conference yesterday, all indicating their support for SFUSD to draw from the San Francisco Rainy Day Fund. However, at most the district will be eligible to draw $24 million, leaving at least a $5 million deficit. I have spoken repeatedly about the need to make any cuts as far away from the classroom as possible, and will continue to do so.

This includes protecting the jobs of all paraprofessionals as well. So far, we have heard no mention from the district as to what their intentions are with para layoffs. By law, district officials must send para layoff notices 45 days before the end of the school year.

Finally, layoff notices must be received by teachers no later than March 15th. In order to rescind those notices, the district must notify teachers by May 15th. Unfortunately, the official disbursement of the Rainy Day Fund does not take place until after the city budget process, which starts in June.

With Mayor Newsom taking the lead, last year the Board of Supervisors passed a resolution in May committing the city to providing the funds to the school district. It is our hope that the city will once again commit those funds early this year, in order to save the hundreds of teacher and para jobs at stake.

With the layoff process begun, the mayor will hold a press conference today to indicate his support and the Board of Supervisors is expected to consider a resolution at their 2:00 p.m. meeting today. Until the funds are fully committed, we will continue to make our case to them that our schools need their leadership and their support.

p.s. The dean got shat on today. Touchdown!

All the Things She Said

Emails from the kiddies..

Ms. Chew I dont get how to do the part of the omewrok that says "vocabulary and Equations" ... HELP!!! thank you

Hi Kevin-

Just pick three important terms or equations from the section. They don't necessarily have to be the ones in bold. For example, for Section 24.1, obviously you could pick "absolute zero", but don't you think "Kelvin" is pretty important too? And like I said, there isn't really a wrong answer, it's just for you to practice picking out the main ideas from the textbook.

Hope this helps! Feel free to email me about HW more in the future!
Ms. Chew

Thank You I love you Teacher

And

HI MS.CHEW,
LIL JOHNNY PAPER BOY HERE. JUST TO SAY HI. LOL. IM BORED.

LITTLE JOHNNY PAPER BOY WHY ARE YOU YELLING AT ME? See you tomorrow in class.

I wasnt screaming at you..thatz just how i type and tewt girl!..get
wit the program.