Handshake

"It's your first chance to make an impression," my mother said while locking her eyes on mine. I didn't dare look away from her piercing blue gaze. "Shake my hand."

I gave it a try, attempting to mimic what I had seen from adults and in movies. Even her tiny, bony hand swallowed mine. I looked down at the floor, embarrassed.

"Look at me," she coached. "You don't want to seem weak. Grip my hand hard and look me in the eye." We practiced for a few more minutes until I got the pressure just right. Don't grip too hard. Don't grip too soft. Give it one good, firm shake and let go. Maintain eye contact. Smile.

That routine quickly became ingrained in my habits. In my younger years, I often caught adults off guard by extending my hand and engaging them in strong eye contact and a firm handshake. It was second nature to me. It was something I was expected to do, or else. But as I ventured out into the world, I often realized how lucky I was to have been taught such things. I'm constantly shocked by the poor manners I see out of my peers, and endlessly frustrated by the same from my students. Please. Thank you. Pardon me. Nice to meet you. They seem to have been lost, sucked into a black hole somewhere between Hip Hop and Facebook.

Today I was reminded of this downward trend even as one of my sweetest students stayed after school for tutoring. About half way through, a fellow MTC teacher walked into my room to give me two books we had been discussing. Before we began a conversation about the books, I asked him if he knew my student.

"No I don't!" Mr. Gioia exclaimed as he extended his hand. "Nice to meet you, D!"

The handshake was pathetic.

"Well that wasn't a very good handshake," Mr. Gioia said. "Try again. You gotta really give it a firm grip."

Neither of them could see me, but I was beaming. I've talked to D before about his life outside of school. He has been mostly raised by his mother, a Mexican immigrant who did not graduate high school and speaks little English. He has a stepfather who is scarcely present. D is a wonderful kid. He asks to stay for tutoring almost everyday and he's polite to everyone. But until today, no one had taught him how to give a good handshake. When I try to make small talk with him he usually stares at the ground and grinds the toe of his shoe into the floor. I've tried to politely coax him into looking at me as we're talking, but I guess I had never shaken his hand. I'm ashamed.

So tomorrow it's my goal to shake every student's hand as they walk through my door. They're going to hate it and I'll probably get sick, but if one of my best seventh graders didn't have that skill, I'm sure there are more who need the same lesson. It will be my way of paying it forward... one germy little handshake at a time.

No Place Like Home

Clenching my coffee mug to warm my hands and wishing I could just shoot the caffeine straight into my veins, I tried to put on a happy face as I resumed my daily routine of greeting the little angels before homeroom. I passed a fellow teacher who said good morning, but my reciprocation apparently wasn't jolly enough because she immediately eyed me asking, "Break too short?"

Being the Southern assimilationist that I've become, I flashed a grin and even managed a chuckle. "Isn't it always?" Ugh. Quit being a pleaser. 

My mind jumped back to that break that was of course too short. I'd just spent five days back up north, back home, where if you don't want to say hi to someone, you don't have to. Back up north where a simple nod of your head or tip of your coffee cup is a signal that you're amiable enough, but you're not inviting conversation. Back up north where schools.... then I'm distracted. 

At first I thought I was hallucinating or maybe I just mixed up the shades of red in my mind. It was probably just an Ole Miss sweatshirt. Those are common down here. A red "O" on a grey sweatshirt... of course it's Ole Miss. But then I see him. Brutus. He's dancing under red block letters that spell Ohio State. His oversized, buckeye-shaped head wields a smile large enough to swallow itself. His elbows point outward as if saying, "Yipee! Everything is so much fun here in Columbus, Ohio... where our pants are grey and our skies are grey-er!"

I can deal with the icy, miserable drizzle that arrives about this time of year and sticks around until, oh... April. I can deal with it because there's something beautiful about it, right? In the evening, when the air is cutting and the rain turns to sleet, we Ohioans retreat to our warm and cozy homes, our frosted windows letting only the warm flicker of a crackling fire show through. Wiping away the frost would reveal a perfect little Midwestern family huddled around the dinner table, exchanging laughs and stories about their perfect little lives in their perfect little suburban schools, with their perfect little classmates and their stress-free teachers who get to teach what they want, how they want. Six more months. Six more months and you're there! Wait... three more weeks. Just get to winter break first. Two weeks of narrative essays. I'll enjoy that. Then exam week will be a breeze.

"Hiii Miss Beeee!" The little voice seemed to come from miles away. Sucked back to reality, I put on a big smile and replied with my usual, "Good morning, Little One."

I couldn't take the risk of seeing that sweatshirt again. A dull, faded beacon of what I was missing back home - all the good things I remember wrapped up in Brutus's toothy smile. I know that in these last six years I've grossly romanticized my home state. Everything I loathed about it in high school has been wiped away by what I love... or think I love. Reality has been replaced by a painting on a postcard - not even a photo - but something completely fictional like a painting with frosted windows and glowing fires. I understand that this is unhealthy but also probably natural. I also realize that it was magnified this morning by the fact that it was the Monday after a break... and by that damn sweatshirt. 

Stop being ridiculous. Eyes off the sweatshirt. Check dress code instead.

"Tuck that shirt in.... Those are jeans, not navy blue khakis.... Take those orange socks off.... Tuck that shirt in.... Tie your shoes.... Tuck that shirt in.... Spit your gum out.... Tuck that shirt in...."

I wonder if one day I'll be able to romanticize this.

Untitled

I'm aware that this topic is unoriginal and overdone. I'm also aware that, as a requirement of Teacher Corps, this is supposed to be a blog about my life as a teacher. But this year I have a lot to be thankful for personally, so I'm going to write about it... and I promise I'll connect it to my job.

I've spent approximately fifteen Thanksgivings with my dad's side of the family. If you're doing the math, that is slightly fewer than the twenty three for which I've been alive. Yesterday was the first Thanksgiving I've spent with them in five years, the last one being my freshman year of college. At the time, that one was my first in a couple years, and it didn't end well - hence the five year hiatus.

All the history aside, this year I was more excited than nervous to see my family. I knew it would be a familiar scene - one I've missed dearly. We all stood around the kitchen holding hands as my dad said a prayer. He got choked up at the part where he thanked God that I was there. My aunt jumped to his rescue, but it felt more like mine. She gracefully ended the prayer and saved us all from an awkward moment. She winked at me, signaling that I could relax. Nothing bad was going to happen. We sat down across three tables and ate our dinner over laughs and old family stories. We played cards and games and sports and we ended the night with charades. We laughed at each other. We made fun of each other. We argued with and stuck up for each other. I beamed at how well I fit in... I had forgotten.

I spent most of yesterday observing, pondering how my family has affected me... but I've thought plenty about that in the past. What I thought mostly about was what effect I have or haven't had on them. The more I learned about my cousins' lives, the more my stomach knotted in guilt. My oldest cousin just finished her first semester as a college athlete. She talked about how it wasn't what she thought it would be - I should have been there to guide her through that. Her middle sister is a sophomore in high school now. She talked about breaking up with her boyfriend and getting a part time job - I should have been there to tell her it'll be another ten years before those high school boys are as mature as she is... and it's probably a bad idea to get a job at a clothing store. Their youngest sister is in sixth grade now. She's almost as old as my students... it's sad that I know my students better than my cousin. I am so proud of all three of them. They are so smart, so beautiful, so level-headed, so well-adjusted. And I've had nothing to do with it.

I worry every day about being a good role model for my students - one hundred and thirty kids who I've only known since August. But until yesterday, I had scarcely thought about what kind of example I was for my cousins - my own blood. I mostly tried to block out the fact that I was missing holidays and milestones. I was selfish. I was worried more about protecting myself than showing them what it meant to be a strong young woman. Every day I see kids who don't have enough good role models. I've gotten downright angry about the apathy that runs rampant in that community. If only they had adults who set good examples. I've said it so many times. And it has been pure hypocrisy.

I've written before about how I've changed over this last year and a half. Yesterday was another defining moment.  I see how important family is to my students, how important it is in a community where they have little else to value. I also see the effects family has had on them - good and bad - and regardless of what those effects have been, their loyalty remains fierce. This is something they have over me. It's something I need to work on. What I can say is that I'm thankful for this realization. I'm thankful that it came yesterday instead of in five more years. I can pray that it's not too late to influence my cousins or to repair the damage. And I can be thankful for the opportunity to do both.

Blog Assignment: Why Join Teacher Corps?

Here we go. Another cliche yet compulsory blog. Why should someone join the Mississippi Teacher Corps? Luckily I have experience with this speech lately because I convinced my two best friends to apply. I was elated upon their acceptance a couple weeks ago, but the more I thought about it, the more little twinges of guilt started nagging at the back of my conscience. Behind every hard sell I gave them, there is a darker truth that they'll have to discover in their own way. But I promised them it's worth it.

Hard sell number one: It's a free Master's.
Anyone who says they weren't motivated to apply to this program because of the Master's is lying. Of course it's appealing and of course it's something in which we all take pride. But here's the other side of it: If the degree is the only reason you commit to these two years, you won't make it. When you have a thirteen-year-old curse at you, or when you break up a fight between your favorite students, or when a kid you really thought had a chance gets expelled, you won't be thinking about that degree. When your alarm goes off two hours after you stopped planning tomorrow's lesson, that degree won't provide you with any caffeine. If you make it through the two years, complete with Saturday classes from 8 to 5 plus a full-time job, then and only then will you reap the rewards of the degree.

Hard sell number two: You'll meet some amazing people.
It's true. I've met some truly amazing people over this last year and a half. My classmates are easily some of the most intelligent, thoughtful, and genuine human beings I've been blessed to meet. They care about their students. They've shown me new perspectives. We've kept each other smiling even on those January Saturdays when the guys' faces grow scruffy and the girls' hair looks like it hasn't been washed in days. The other side? You'll drift away from those you have now. You won't talk to your family as much because all they want to hear about is your new job and your fun classes - all you'll want to talk about is nothing. Your friends won't understand your new schedule or your blase attitude towards topics you used to spend hours discussing. I'm not saying that your MTC classmates will replace your friends. You will eventually strike a balance. Your friends will get used to the new you and your family will always be there.

Hard sell number three: Do something that matters.
Ok there's really not a downside to this other than the fact that on most days, you won't think anything you've done matters. The kids will complain about the workload but that's only because they're used to subpar teachers. They'll fight your rules at first but that'll change when they realize you have them because you care. Your principal will complain about first year teachers but eventually he or she will realize that you're better than the alternative. You'll have kids disrespect you, yell at you, refuse to do your assignments, and fail to grasp the material. But what matters is that you keep coming back. They're not used to that and if you accomplish nothing more than showing those kids that someone cares about them, about their education, then you've accomplished something that matters. So when I say that the degree won't wake you up in the morning or console you when you feel stomped on, the little victories you experience every day will.

Hard sell number four: Change yourself.
I'm absolutely not the person I was a year and a half ago. And that's a good thing. It's not that I was a bad person... none of us were or we wouldn't still be here. But this experience will change you; it'll make you think more critically about this country's problems, about life, about people. It'll make you more compassionate for those from a background different than your own. It will teach you how to manage time and stress in a way that makes your worries in college seem laughable. You'll come out of it with so much more than an impressive resume complete with a Master's degree and two years of experience in a tough school. You'll come out of it as a better version of yourself, equipped to keep growing, keep thinking, keep helping. You will have built life-long relationships with people you never would have befriended otherwise, and at the very least, you'll have some really fantastic stories to tell your grandkids.

A Real Life Greek Tragedy... or Comedy

The kids have been writing Greek plays for their Social Studies class this week. Since they were due today, I of course had at least two dozen kids come to me last minute begging me to read and edit their dramas, tragedies, and comedies. As I read each one, some written on wrinkled pieces of notebook paper, some typed in colored ink, some scrawled out in 30pt Apple Chancery font, I began to notice that the same three teachers were in each one: Mr. J, Ms. X, and yours truly. Often times they had me getting thrown in jail or engaging in some sort of altercation. In one of them I got hit by a truck. In another I was shot. I miraculously survived it all. It also turns out that I am the "mama" of a couple of my students. Who knew?

What struck me as even funnier, as morbid as it is, was that Ms. X got killed off in nearly every one of the plays - sometimes by me. Now before I make myself sound too terrible, let me tell you that the teachers on my hall have a lot of fun together. We are constantly giving each other a hard time... about everything... so when Ms. X found out that Mr. J and I had in fact had several love children who were currently in the 7th grade, she took every chance she got to make fun of us. And we certainly returned the favor.

Pretty soon Ms. X was becoming visibly flustered. We stopped making jokes, but at that point, she had decided she was going for broke and there was no turning back.

"That's libel!" she half-yelled.

"Who's libeling you? The kids?" I asked half smirking, half rolling my eyes.

"Yes!"

"Umm... no."

"Yes, Ms. B. That's libel. I have a Master's in journalism. I should know."

"Uh huh..."

"You're not taking me seriously?!"

"Uh-uh... especially because it's not libel. We're talking about 7th grade plays that will be seen by no one besides us. And I'm sorry to pull this card, but as long as no one is defaming your character, it's not libel."

"They are defaming my character! They're killing me off!"

"Two different things."

Now at that point I was still unsure as to whether or not this was all a big joke, but deciding it was a situation I needed to remove myself from, I casually walked out of the room, saying that "I [had] email to check or something." At the end of the day, I found out that Ms. X had reported the incident to the principal, demanding that the kids either rewrite their plays or face disciplinary action. She had also apparently been reduced to tears in front of her 6th period class after taking a poll to see how many of them had also killed her off. Over half the class raised their hands.

While I'm honestly trying to feel bad about whatever responsibility I may have had in the whole situation, I'm still more amused than anything. Maybe Ms. X has had a bad week or we accidentally struck a nerve. Maybe I just have a twisted sense of humor. In fact, come to think of it, I've been told that before. I blame my mother. Anyway... the whole situation really made my day interesting, and for the sake of saving myself from a real libel suit, I think I'll spare you the rest of my opinion on the matter. What I will say is I'm thankful for my ability to see the humor in situations like these. And I wish my colleague could do the same ;)

“The present is never our goal; the past and present are our means; the future alone is our goal. Thus, we never live but we hope to live, and always hoping to be happy, it is inevitable that we will never be so.”

It's that time of year. No... not the holidays. It's that time when teachers get to work when it's dark and leave when it's darker. Last year we were warned about this time of year. They told us our students would start testing the boundaries a little more, they'd get a little lazier... we'd get a little lazier. So after a Monday-Tuesday combination that drained me mentally and indecisive weather that's draining me physically, I took the day off.

I woke up to the incessant blaring of an alarm that even I can't oversleep. I let my hand slam the snooze button - a practice I repeat at least five times every morning - and the siren was pleasantly replaced by the sound of rain pounding the roof. Decision made. I rolled over, squinting through eyes dried by contacts I failed to take out the night before, and texted my principal. Guilt immediately washed over me. I wasn't too sick to go into school and, having started a new unit on Monday, it probably wasn't great timing. But there was that grade level meeting I wasn't prepared for.. and that baby shower after school for a teacher I don't really know... and basketball practice until 5:30... and an away game tomorrow... I let the sound of the rain take back over. I turned on my side, rolled myself up into a ball, and didn't open my eyes again until 9:30 when the rain had subsided and sunlight leaked in through the blinds.

I've always said it would be a waste to miss a day of work to do nothing. I've said I'd rather go to school on the verge of death than spend a day getting further behind for no good reason. I've missed school to go home to Ohio. I've missed school for workshops. I've missed school to go see Bill Clinton in the Grove. But never to do nothing.

I climbed out of bed and opened my closet door planning to grab some clothes and head to the coffee shop. I had planned on sitting there all day reading, curled up in a comfy leather chair, observing the comings and goings of college kids and business professionals... reminding myself what this town used to be like when I was able to frequent it during the week. Instead my eyes dropped to the floor, zeroing in on a basket overflowing with laundry I was too busy do over the weekend. I stuffed stray shirt sleeves and pant legs into the sides and lugged it downstairs. After I started the first load (and it would come to take 3) I walked into the kitchen deciding to make breakfast. The kitchen was a disaster zone. I guess I'll clean.


By 11:30 I had made the kitchen sparkle, I had mopped, I had scrubbed the half bathroom, dusted the bookshelf, folded a load of laundry and had two more going. My friend texted me asking why she saw my car still parked when she drove by this morning. We decided to grab lunch at the Greek restaurant we used to enjoy before practice in college. Sitting there in sweat pants with my hair in a messy bun - the ultimate deja vu - we laughed about the conversations we used have during lunch... I don't want to go to practice... We're gonna get our butts kicked... I can't stand out there for 4 hours and do drills again today... I can't wait until I have a normal day job... Dude, we used to have it so good!


I hung around the house for the rest of the day. I folded the rest of my laundry and made a small dent in the book I've been trying to read for weeks. I didn't open my computer and I kept myself from thinking about school. I know that when I go back tomorrow I'll be greeted with a messy classroom that the substitute didn't bother to manage and the frustrations I felt on Monday and Tuesday will not have disappeared. But what will be different is how I approach those frustrations. I realized while sitting at lunch that I have recently been entering dangerous territory. I've been thinking more and more about what my next step will be. I've been obsessing over my future and reminiscing about my past. Occasionally I do small things to enjoy the present, but I really don't appreciate things as much as I should. I guess it's unfair to say that I missed a day of school for nothing. I got a clean house and a much needed reality check out of it. So today I'm thankful for rain pattering on the roof, Greek food, laundry, and Pacal. 

Hard or Soft?

So far this year I've been preaching to myself that I need to work harder at drawing soft lines with my difficult students. Last year I unwittingly escalated countless situations because I thought it was important for me to appear strong, unwavering, authoritative. Needless to say, some kids just don't respond to that. Some kids have personalities just as strong as mine, and consequently we found ourselves engaged in a never-ending battle of "who will have the last word?" While I was afraid of revealing myself as a weak first year teacher in front of students who were waiting to pounce at the first sign of vulnerability, my middle schoolers seemed equally as motivated to save face. I've gotten a lot better at diffusing these situations. In fact I generally have a much healthier and mutually respectful relationship with even my most difficult students... but today I found myself reluctantly wading back into hostile waters, and I had to resist my urge to revert back to the old Miss B.

As I walked into 6th period, the last academic period of the day, I found students leaning into the aisles, laughing with their neighbors, and completely disregarding the Bellringer I had on the board. I folded my arms, leaned against the door frame, and dropped my jaw in faux-shock. This successfully produced some grins as the noise ceased and they took out their binders. To my extreme pleasure I even heard a "Shhh! We're sorry, Ms. B."

If only it were always that easy.

One student remained standing, showing no urgency to sit down, to open her binder, or to even acknowledge that I was present. Last year I would have immediately taken this as a personal attack. I would have assumed the class was ready to line up behind the lone rebel in an all out effort to overthrow the dictator. I would have called her out by name and firmly told her to sit down.

Today I simply said, "You have five minutes to finish the question on the board. I also need to see your journal entries and assignments from yesterday out on your desks."

The lone rebel still stood.

Still leaning against the door I said, "S, you don't need to stand to do any of those things."

After a grueling few seconds of silence, she nonchalantly glanced over her shoulder and gave a high pitched, "K!"

More seconds ticked by... she still stood and by this point all eyes were on me to see how I would react.

"S?" I said.

Again a few seconds... "Huh?"

She knows how I feel about "huh."

Forcing a smile, I asked her to come talk to me. She hadn't done anything overtly disrespectful and this was pretty out of character for her, so I witheld my impulse to let her have it. When we were mostly out of earshot, I mustered my calmest tone and asked her what was going on. She shrugged her shoulders, kicked out her hip, and looked at the ceiling. I told her she knew what she was doing, and regardless of what had motivated such behavior, she needed to tread lightly for the rest of class and we could talk about the root of the problem later.

She made it through class - a ghastly boring lesson on sentence structure that I honestly just hadn't put enough time into planning. She volunteered to go to the board, she didn't shout out, she seemed to really be understanding the content.

When it came time for me to explain their assignment for the day, I did the first part with them and then paused, asking them all to "give me their eyes." I told them I knew the assignment would initially seem difficult, but all they had to do was break it down into pieces they knew. They had to write a story where each sentence had a requirement. For example, begin with a complex sentence that contains an adverb clause. They knew each piece, now all they had to do was put the pieces together. I told them not to immediately raise their hand to say anything like, "This is too hard!" or "But I don't get it!" I promised them that if they thought through it for a minute it would click, and if it didn't, that was the point at which I would be more than happy to come help.

S's hand had been up the whole time I said this. When I was finished, I looked at her and nodded, indicating that she could ask her question.

"I don't get this," she said with a tone louder than was needed to reach me standing 5 feet away.

"What did I just say?"

"I don't know."

One of her classmates repeated it for her.

"So you ain't gonna help me?!"

"That's not what I said. I said sit and think about it, and if you do so, I think it will come together. You did a great job with it a few minutes ago... it's no different now."

She slumped in her chair, slammed down her pencil, and (I kid you not) stuck out her bottom lip.

Again... last year I would have confronted this immediately. Today I ignored it. I circulated the room for about 10 minutes and eventually made it back to her desk. Crouching down, I told her it was clear to me that she just wasn't trying. She barely responded. I trudged on telling her she could come to my room 7th period and I would gladly help her, but first I needed to see evidence of some effort on her paper.

When she showed up 7th period, the attitude was still present and she had nothing on her paper. After coaching her through the first sentence more than I probably should have, she was clearly ready to give up. The second sentence in the story was supposed to be a compound sentence - two independent clauses joined by the coordinating conjunction of her choice.

"Let's start with just one simple sentence," I said. "Who is your main character? Make him the subject."

Nothing.

"S, you gave me a half dozen simple sentences earlier. I know you can do this. I'm not going to give you the answers -- If you're not going to try, you're wasting our time."

Nothing.

At this point my blood was boiling. I scrambled for ways I could next approach her. I knew that if it went any further, I might actually lose my cool. I chose to wait her out.

Nothing.

"If you're not going to try, you can go back to Ms. K's class now."

She got up, gathered her belongings, and peacefully walked out of the room. She'll show up to class tomorrow without her homework finished and she'll most likely blame me. This is the first time I can say that I honestly don't know how I could have handled the situation differently... usually I can look back and see each of my missteps along the way. Maybe there's something going on outside of school that I can't control. I've tried drawing hard lines with students like her and today I drew a softer line than my best judgement said I should, but what am I supposed to do when neither works?