Back-to-School: Cutting, Cuffs and Inciting Riots

Tonight was Back-to-School Night! Last year, we planned way far in advance, organized a potluck, invited our Award-Winning student Mariachi group, showed slides of activities and I think I met with over 20 parents, which is about 20% of the parents, and a high percentage compared to what we usually get. This year, we weren't notified that this event was on the schedule until Tuesday, our student Leadership sold cold pizza and warm soft drinks (but not many!) and the police showed up to arrest one of our students and talk to the parents of three other students they arrested on Tueesday....oh, and I only met with 4 parents.

Remember DJ, who was reported to have been cutting herself? She was sequestered in our office this afternoon and evening until the Police hauled her off in handcuffs. Due to confidentiality rights, I don't know the charges, but I do know she's been stuck like glue to one of our female Security Supervisors for the past two days explaining some difficult situation she got herself involved in. By the way, I finally saw the cuts on her arms...she wears sleeveless shirts everyday and uses pen to outline the scars and fresh wounds. I don't know how I missed them the first time I looked, they're at her wrists and further up her arm. We've gotten help for her, but apparently, it's too little too late.

Yesterday our Assistant Principal called an Assembly at which she addressed the students. Citing confidentiality issues she said she could not talk about specifics of "the incident" but that how the students reacted on the bus was unhelpful and in appropriate and that she was proud of them for sticking up for each other. Confused? So were most of the kids and I. Turns out that Tuesday afternoon, as one of our buses pulled up to the main campus to unload our kids, the driver of the next bus observed a lit "firecracker" being thrown from the bus. An officer boarded the bus and removed the student reported to have done it. (That student was one of the students who was a recipient of a generous holiday donation I previously wrote about.) The other students on the bus were all trying to tell the officer that he was throwing the burning object back out of the bus after it was thrown into the bus from a car that had been following the bus. (Apparently this car had followed the bus before and its passengers threw rocks at the bus and the students, but no one had reported it.) In the confusion, one of my students began having a panic attack, so one of my former students helped him off the bus and sat on the curb trying to calm him down. At this point, the story goes, another officer told them to reboard the bus and when they refused and tried to explain, they were shoved by the officer, so they shoved back (not the brightest response!) and then they were thrown up against a car and cuffed. These two students were charged with felony "inciting a riot" and the first student was arrested on felony charges also (the exact nature of these charges isn't clear). All three spent the entire evening at the Police station in custody and were suspended from school for 3 days. The next day when the other students on the bus began talking with each other, word spread that the Police Officers did not have an accurate picture of what happened, so one of our English teachers asked the students to go see our Assistant Principal and write down what they witnessed....So, four Police Officers showed up to our Back-to-School Night (with their sidearms!) and interviewed lots of people. Our AP spent most of the past two days trying to have our students heard, and apparently tonight the Police were listening.

So, all of this kind of put a damper on BTS Night. Two unexpected happyish notes: one of the students' written statement as so incomprehensible that it led to a referral for learning disorder testing...and today in Biology we focused on the difference between observation and inference, and my students described how in the situation on the bus, different people made different observations and made different inferences! Exactly!

The new quarter

This is the second week of our 3rd quarter of the year, and that means I have all new students in Biology A. The week before the quarter began I freaked out because I saw the rosters. Second period had 35 students in it, about 10 of which used to be called "delinquents", and a cluster of 3 Special Education (SpEd) students. I don't mind having SpEd students in my classes, as a matter of fact, with all of the support they get from our terrific SpEd teachers and aides, these kids are much more focused, diligent and well-organized than regular students. And in my 3rd period class, there were 17 kids, half of whom used be called "delinquents", and 2 SpEd kids. I suffered a crisis of confidence; "Am I good enough to handle this or is it going to be a train wreck until June?" I had been hearing all year long how awful this particular crop of kids was, and I had to go into their classrooms several times when inept Substitutes could not establish a modicum of order. I also dealt with several of them in the hallways where they were roaming, talking on the phone instead of being in class. I tried to get to know them and begin to build a relationship with each one of them in preparation for they day they walked into my classroom. One of them, I'll call her VY, would always look at me with an "Eat $#!% and die, lady" attitude. So, I was braced for the worst!

Fortunately I had just attended a skills-based 3-day training on how to lower students' anxiety levels and build better reationships with them for the purpose of teaching the kids to manage themselves as a high-performing team....and I had been practicing on my existing classes so that I would be prepared. No way was I going to let these kids eat me for lunch!

Well, I have to tell you, it has been a slice of heaven. I told them I was preparing them to succeed in the professional world and that meant they'd be practicing how to shake hands and greet and unknown adult, and how to talk and behave in a professional group. They love it! They love shaking my hand everyday and they seek me out in the hallways to show off to their friends. They love cominng to class and their speech and behavior has been really wonderful. Today they worked together as a class to create their own Social Contract in which they detailed how they agreed to treat each other in class. I told them they did not have to vote for the contract or sign it, but they all did anyway. Last Friday I took the day off (to go skiing at Mammoth!) and the report from the Guest Teacher (Sub) was glowing; she said she'd love to come back to my classroom because the kids were so respectful and hardworking. So, I know this is still part of the honeymoon phase, but I've never had a class with this many clowns and low-skill kids...or any class actually....be this enjoyable and productive.

The "eat $#!% and die" girl? She walked into my classroom the first day expecting the worst...I could tell by the look on her face, the big sighs and the eyerolling and sandbagging. She is now one of the biggest smiles in my day and she speaks to me first when she's in a group of kids...this is huge movement for her. I just love how open and accepting these kids are; I feel so lucky to have this kind of people in my life every day! Wouldn't it be great if everyone were like that?

A follow up on DJ. I've seen her arms and I saw no evidence of cutting, so I'm not sure what the actual truth on that is. She is in one of my new Biology classes, so I can keep a closer eye on her, although she has already had several absences. I just hope those are for counseling...she wouldn't share the reason, just said it was for something she had to do. She's still struggling, but is showing a little spark of happiness now and then. Keep her in your thoughts!