Rap music

A couple of days ago, my last period was strangely subdued. One girl had a headache, another girl put her head on her desk and wouldn't open up about whatever was bothering her, another student was sad and opened up to me about all sorts of things (a friend was mad at him at lunch, he feels like he doesn't have any friends and can't be himself, and he's bummed he doesn't have a girlfriend), and the other three students were just eerily quiet. During that class period I decided I would rather have a wild, crazy class, than that scary quiet class.

As a way to lighten the mood, I told my class I was going to play a song for them. I told them to listen carefully to the words as I pushed play for Ingrid Michaelson's "Be Okay."

*silence*
*awkward stares*
*no change in atmosphere*

I personally love that song, but we aren't in Kansas (or Utah) anymore my friends! I used to play songs for my students all the time and some would sing along and laugh at my silly song choices. This is a different crowd and one student finally said,

"If you want to make us happy, you need to play rap music."

#shutdown #newculture #notinkansasanymore

-Ms. Damron-

"Stay Bubbly"

Let me introduce Monica - a sped teacher who also attended Brigham Young University (BYU) and recently moved here from Utah Valley. Her husband is attending Washington University and miraculously we are working at the same school. I don't believe in coincidences as big as this one, so I KNOW that Monica and I were meant to meet and work at the same school. It's fun because Monica was in the same cohort as the student teacher I had exactly one year ago. She lovingly calls me her "BYU mentor" all the way in the midwest. I of course love that. #gocougars

We have quickly bonded over the culture shock of moving from a fairly conservative suburban area to an inner city with a lot of diversity. Just this afternoon we were discussing a new cultural discovery: students here have to have the last word. I used to be able to calm a child or at least distill an argument with one or two prompts and a calm voice. Teacher presence was an effective strategy and considering I had established rules/routines and moved around the classroom a lot, I had a decent grasp on classroom management and didn't have extreme behavior issues.
Cue the new setting: today I had a student lose it on another student (who in all honesty may have deserved it, but then again, who deserves to be yelled at?) who apparently kept making comments and annoying him. I intervened by placing myself between the two students (who were sitting in desks) and calmly telling the yelling student to calm down, stop yelling, tell me what happened, etc. I was a glass wall that he saw right through. He continued his rant as he packed up his bag and walked out of my classroom. He never even looked at me. #cool
This particular situation hasn't happened until today, but I have been overlooked maybe 5 or 6 times in the past three weeks while students finish their conversations. #wut #norespect

ANYWAY, last Tuesday Monica and I were returning to the school in the afternoon to attend a student's volleyball game #support #buildingrelationships, when one of the instructional coaches asked me if I would be willing to be in charge of a club (National Honor's Society). It's apparently more about a tutoring opportunity than anything else. I had been willing to be in charge of a club, but didn't know what was available. I said I would think about it. The instructional coach then told me I was one of their first draft picks. I jokingly told her that I didn't know if I believed her considering I am a first year teacher and it probably means no one else wanted it. She then looked very seriously at both of us and said, "Listen. There is a stigma in [this] district and people get really negative about things. You girls need to stay bubbly. STAY BUBBLY."
Monica and I walked away deciding we would make that our motto this year. Despite what happens or how often we face the challenges of a new district, culture, demographic, etc. we will "stay bubbly."

-Ms. Damron-