Shoplifting

Tuesday Tara subbed for me.  The plan was to give a cumulative math quiz and then use her computer expertise to check on the students' use of the  ITTS online program.  She emailed me that the class sessions went well, but the problem came after class.  She was kind enough to give B a ride to Walmart so she could get some posterboard for a presentation for her probation officer.  When B did not return to the car, she went in after her and found her in police custody for shoplifting.  I am curious about what this will do to her probation status.  Surely she was not shoplifting the posterboard.  She must have seen something else that appealed to her.  I wonder if she'll be back in class.  She must have received my warning letter and still returned last Tuesday.  The saga will continue!  Or possibly my role in it will end.

Who am I? The AM teacher or the PM teacher?

I'm flying from South Bend to San Francisco.  We're near Casper, Wyoming right now.  It's a long flight.  

Earlier this week I said I couldn't wait to get away.  It has been a week of contrasts—and I feel as if I have two different teacher personalities as I meet my two classes.  Today I met the morning class only so I am able to leave with a warm feeling about work.  

This morning was an exceptionally cohesive morning with only five students.   I don't know why there were so few.   It was very cold and windy outside.  Attendance always seems lower on Thursdays. Four of the five who came are really adults and test at middle school level or above.  

They wondered where C was because she is always there.  I said that she was in trouble and when I had asked her foster mother how we could help, she said pray for her.  W asked immediately if she was locked up and I did not say—but that is exactly where she is.  Their concern is an example of the positive classroom climate that is beginning to occur.

Our group lesson was on the Pythagorian Theorem and they were really engaged in learning how it worked.  E's reaction was to  call being in class “sweet.”   He was concerned about how one could find a square root without a calculator because after all, in the old days, we didn't have calculators.  I really couldn't remember how we did it, but suggested trial and error or guess and check.  M went to the computer and found a you-tube video in Spanish, unfortunately, that showed how to do it.  The lesson went so well that I pulled out an example of a problem from the GED predictor and they were all able to solve it easily.  N said he was really learning things. When he did make a mistake, he quickly admitted he had not read carefully. He said that he knew this was the place to make mistakes.  N left today saying “Thank you for being the way you are!”  

So that's the morning class.  Yesterday's afternoon class went well enough too—mostly because A and D and B were absent.  I wrote up warnings for both A and B and mailed them this morning.  It was so clear that those three are the culprits behind making that such a difficult class to manage.  I was able to handle the very low-skilled students with patience when I was not distracted by the talking and inability to work that they demonstrate daily.  I contrast their rudeness with E's calling me “Madam" in the morning! 

Have I written about B's using J's lighter to melt her hair extensions—in class?  Did I say that A refused to move to a private place to test and to stop talking while testing?  For good measure, I added B's inability to make any gains in two months on post-tests and A's unexcused absences twice in the last two weeks on my written warnings. 

At one point, I really raised my voice in the afternoon class.  I don't want to be that way.  I can't seem to figure out a way to coax mature behavior and concentration and respect from those three in particular.  It will be better for all of us if they drop out, but it makes me sad.

So I will concentrate on the progress the morning students are making and the positive feedback they give me.  And I will be glad to have a week—almost two weeks away from class.  

It is definitely a new job!

A follow up on B is that she made absolutely no gains on the post-test she took.  She did work quietly on the test and took a long time to do it.  She told me of a friend who got a GED in just 20 days when she was locked up.  She said she was going to take the test herself in December.  I told her it was very hard and she needed at least a 9th grade level in her work to pass.  I asked her if she wanted to try a practice test.

She spent probably two or three times the time limit in taking the reading predictor test and still failed it by quite a bit.  When I showed her the score, she said she'd have to try another one.  The idea of actually learning something in order to improve a score doesn't seem to be a part of her outlook!

On Tuesday I lost patience with D who had failed to take notes on my presentation on something last week and then refused to write an essay this week.  I gave her a topic of writing about a person she admired and she said she didn't admire anyone.  I told her she would not have options for the real GED, but eventually I gave in and gave her a topic of a job she would like to have.  Getting her to write one paragraph and then two paragraphs was so difficult.  She was defiant about not working.  So I wrote out a warning for her,  had her sign it and gave her a copy.  She was angry and said she would transfer to Bendix.  I asked her if she wanted to make the call right then!

I was very frustrated with the immaturity of the afternoon class and was really unsure of how to turn it around.  Maybe I am not the person to teach young black low-skilled teenagers.  At 9:30 pm I had the idea of writing a letter for a proofreading exercise, but in it I would express my thoughts about what adult education needs to be and how it is not worth showing up if you are not ready to work.

Much to my surprise, D and her sister A showed up the next day.  D worked pretty well although A needed reminders to stop singing and talking.  We proofread the letter, but I didn't comment any further on it.

The following day, I gave D a note praising her for coming back and working.  She proofread her essay which was pretty minimal in content and had numerous errors, but I determined could be passing.  She actually had a smile on her face when we finished working on it.

Maybe it will be a turnaround for her.  I know that when I show students that they are worth my high expectations,  they can begin to meet them.  We'll see.  The street is powerful and there are so many bad habits of distractions and noise and frustrations to overcome.

The point about this really being a "new job" is that I do feel I am starting over in many ways.  In Family Literacy, I usually had students from the previous year who knew me and trusted me and helped me set the classroom climate.  Now I have students from Miss Sally's class and they tend to be some of the hardest ones to get to work.  Plus I have these very immature teenagers who were kicked out of school, are in trouble with the law, and have low skills--but expect to get GEDs by their presence in class, not by the hard work of learning to read and write and  do math.

I am not one bit sorry I made the change, but there are definitely new challenges!

"What can you do with a problem like Maria?" or B?

I don't know.  I asked B if she had to be in class because her probation officer said so.  She said she was there because she wanted to be.  I told her I was not sure it was the right place for her because she gets so little done.

Today she came in with her bosom almost completely showing.  I pulled her aside to ask her to cover up.  She pulled up her shirt but it didn't  help much.  I asked her to keep her jacket closed.

Then she wrote a letter and filled out some application instead of doing the assignment on the board or the quiz she missed yesterday.    I  left her alone for quite a while.  When I did ask her to do some work, it was done only after much insistence on my part.  She texted during my instructions to the group and then asked how to do the work.  She began a reading test and even though she had done this on at least three occasions, she wrote in the book instead of the answer sheet.  Then she had to erase and ended up with just a few answers completed in about 20 minutes.

I would find my life much easier if I told her not to come back.  I may have to do that.  I would like  a post-test gain from her but didn't get it on the language test.  I'll try for the reading test tomorrow again.

   She has had almost perfect attendance and has called to be excused when she couldn't come.  I have praised her for that and even wrote an article in the newsletter congratulating her.  But her accomplishments in class have been very little.

  I looked up her IEP and noted that her mother was incarcerated at the time of the case conference and her grandfather acted as her guardian--which was spelled "gaurdian."  Her attendance at that time was very poor and was blamed for her lack of progress in high school.

I have prayed about her tonight.  Maybe there will be an answer tomorrow.  One answer will be that I will allow no cellphones tomorrow.   Maybe I will assign seats again too.

A thank you from 1998!

LeRoy received a response to a blog post for MC3 in which a student from many years ago gave me credit for getting her through the GED class and encouraging her to enter college and the Welfare to Work program.  I do remember her name--but am not sure I remember much else.  I'll have to look up her file which is probably in our basement storage room.  It was a wonderful affirmation!

Patience!

Our afternoon class has too many young, immature and very social students.  It is hard to keep them busy and working.  They are a bit fresh.  D said today in a complaining voice, "I should have stayed in school." I said I agreed.  She said she didn't have any choice because she was kicked out.

R questioned much of what we did today.  He claimed he needed to work on fractions when I had given him a decimal packet.  I showed him how he had missed 3 out of 6 decimal problems on his test.  He said I did things all different than he had learned it before.  I wanted to say, "But you never learned it before!"

  A told him that I had a "smart mouth" but I think she said that with a bit of appreciation.  She made a gain on her reading level as shown on a post-test today.  Suddenly she was willing to try the Social Studies predictor again.  A little success goes a long way.

When I have just five or six in that afternoon class, I can keep it going with out too many distractions.  Today was a good enough day.  My job is to teach these young ones how to work and that work pays off. But it is hard not to get irritated at attitudes and lack of skills.  How can they have gotten this far and not know that you start to measure something with the end of the ruler!

Are you "still..."?

We have noted that after one reaches a certain age, many questions are phrased with the word "still."  Are you still working?  still running?  still living on your own?  still driving?  And today D asked me if I was married and then if my husband was still alive!  I couldn't help but laugh and I kept giggling to myself for the next hour--until I could tell Jim what I was asked!