A Teacher's Day

The day in the life of an inner city large urban school district teacher after the high stakes testing ends and there is still three more months left before summer vacation.

Name:
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States

I have taught school for over thirty years always in the inner city and for the most part always upper grade students. I have two children and I have been married for twenty years.

Thursday, December 21, 2006

AND ON AND ON

OK—I went to the doctor yesterday. Remember the blow to the head on Thursday last week during the best science fair I ever ran?. The day I collapsed. The day I thought—

He listened, examined and then ordered x rays of my neck and a cat scan of my head and told me not to go to school for the next two days.

Did I listen?

I didn’t listen the first time when my doctor told me on Thursday to go to the emergency room. Why should I listen to him on Wednesday?

So, yes, I’m here at school.

And what happened yesterday? Confusion down the hall and a room out of control.

CAN WE COME TO YOUR ROOM? Please. Please. Please.

And I would have taken them, too, but I had a doctor’s appointment.

Today: We are meeting before school on the security and safety issues since the big fights began. I, of course, am the chair person for the Professional Problems Committee and I had to call for a meeting. I mean how is it to come to school and there is a police car in front and then go home and there is a police car in front and when you walk down the halls during the school day, women teachers are so scared they lock their classroom doors.

Did I tell you about the man who made an obscene gesture at one of the youngest teachers on our staff? No. Well, now you know? How did hew get in? How did he get past the office?

For those of you reading this out there—

Help!

PS. I’ll let you know how the meeting goes.

PS 2, Good news. We finished reading Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol and in our discussions, both of my classes really took off. Today we are reading how Christmas was saved. Did you know Dickens may have done that too?

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