A little background before we get started.
Monday May 19th - The Collector suspended for kicking a teacher.
Monday May 19th - Straw suspended for multiple violations mostly due to a parental unit failure. See commentary from May 16th in the KABOOM post.
Tuesday May 20th - The Collector still suspended. See Above.
Tuesday May 20th - Straw had a near perfect day as parental unit finally fulfilled their duties.
Wednesday May 21st
The Collector who is now off suspension fails to show up. That is an unexcused absence. Yo! Fails to show up. I believe he has again been suspended from the bus for disruptive behavior and apparently his parental unit decided not to drive him to school. That is an unexcused absence. BaseG and I are nearly doing cartwheels as we are down two scholars and we appear to be headed for a normal day. Ya right.
We get word that Floss had a bus incident and he is standing next to the bus kicking his backpack around. Eventually he arrives in the classroom and gives us his introductory speech. Shut up and leave me alone. A couple minutes later Straw makes his arrival. He is a bit animated. Not good. BaseG and I make eye contact and without saying a word we are thinking to ourselves no medication. CorP and EM show up and the day is about to begin. We recite the Pledge of Allegiance, recite the school motto and listen to morning announcements. Then it starts. Straw speaking. Mr. Schultz can you go get me some french toast. Sorry but if I go get breakfast I have to pay for it. Besides you have cereal, a graham cracker, orange juice and milk. Straw speaking loudly. I want french toast as a carton of orange juice comes flying across the front of my desk. Another scholar picks up the carton of juice and is taking it to the front of the room. Straw speaking. Give me my orange juice you..... BaseG is the first to respond. There will be no racist comments made in this classroom. Fortunately the incident died down but not for long. A short while later Floss and Straw are on the same side of the room. I didn't see what happened or hear what was said but I loudly hear Floss say don't hit me again. I'm up and moving but I'm not quick enough. Floss shoved Straw hard enough that he hit the floor. I have Floss and I'm guiding him to the opposite side of the room and BaseG is attending to Straw who is crying on the floor. It's pretty tense but we catch a break as it is lunch time.
Lunch is over but there was a lunch incident. The matter was discussed with the scholars in the classroom and then I take everyone outside for recess. We survive recess without incident and head back to the classroom to prepare for PhD? Sparty's Wednesday group social skills session.
Group starts off well as everyone is seated at the front table. Unfortunately Straw is seated next to Floss. That is not a good situation but we catch another break as Straw leaves the front table and sits down next to me in the back of the room. PhD? Sparty asks Straw to rejoin the group but he responds I'm not sitting next to the person in the light blue shirt. That person is Floss. There is no response from Floss but I can feel the early ground tremors of a volcano eruption. Within minutes the first eruption occurs. Floss yells loudly NO. PhD? Sparty tries to move forward with group. No! No! No!. Group in the classroom is adjourned and will reconvene in PhD? Sparty's office.
Floss is now in full eruption. There are seventeen chairs in the classroom. He has knocked over everyone of them. Some he picked up and slammed into other chairs or desks. There are seven scholar desks and he tipped the contents of them onto the floor and then knocked them over. At one point he grabbed a desk by the legs and started swinging it into other desks and chairs. BaseG and I are observing. So far Floss is not in danger of hurting himself or us so we do nothing. Approximately fifteen minutes pass and he is starting to wind down. Finally he sits in an alcove in the front of the room and all is quiet. We wait a few minutes and then BaseG addresses Floss. Are you settled down? Yes. Good now please put my room back together. He gets up and slowly places every piece of furniture back in it's original position.
This was a tough day. Eruptions started before the morning school bell rang and lasted until there was only fifteen minutes left in the school day. This who episode should not have happened. Why? First a parental unit once again failed to administer medicine to his scholar. Second at mid morning the parental unit was called and asked to come and get his scholar and take him home. The parental unit agreed to come and get him but never showed up. Third if the parental unit would have showed up and took his scholar home the entire episode with Floss would not have happened.
Several posts ago I mentioned the informal contract between the teacher and the parental unit to work together as a team so our scholars get the best education possible. Sadly once again a parental unit failed to perform their duties and face no consequences for their actions. The teacher on the other hand will face the consequences if any scholar does poorly on any of the state mandated tests. Please keep this in mind the next time you enter into a conversation with a family member, friend or coworker who is criticizing the quality of the teachers in the metropolitan area of Indianapolis. As you are learning most people who are critical of teachers have never sat in the back of the room like I do. So the next time someone goes into a tirade directed at teachers please give them my blog URL so I can set them straight.
No comments:
Post a Comment