Sally the Fashion Policewoman

Ok, the time has come for more tales from the front. Or rather tales of students. I just saw this student play in a game recently, so she is fresh in my memory, and what better time to blog about her than over break?

I'll call this girl Sally. I have known Sally since her freshman year, when I was on caf duty. I didn't know much about her then, except that she was a friend of some students of mine in homeroom, and that she hung out with a bunch of freshman girls during lunch. She also made a regular visit to the snack or soda machine every day (I can't remember which it was). Pretty boring. She seemed to be a jock, as she played basketball and softball. I saw her in a softball game once, which I attended because I had another player in my class.

Last year Sally showed up in my study the second semester. She and another softball player were in the same class with me. They liked to talk. It was a struggle sometimes to get them to be quiet. Having said that, Sally was not as bad as some of the other students in that particular study. However, I learned she had no compunction about lying if she thought she could get away with it. One day when I was questioning another student about an absence, and I knew that student was not there, Sally insisted she was. From that point on I knew she shouldn't be taken at her word. Some students seem to have no problem trying to back up a fellow classmate in their cutting of a class by lying and claiming they were present. Sally is one of those. Unfortunately such students don't seem to think about the consequences (i.e., they can't be trusted) of such actions. They think they're being cool or whatever, but really are hurting themselves.

During this time in study Sally learned that I could juggle, as I showed students once what I could do. From then on she practically begged me every day--at least it seemed like it was--to juggle for her and the class. I guess she was really bored with study hall.
Near the end of the year, when students got their schedules, Sally informed me that she had me for U.S. History next year. I did my best to let her know how challenging and demanding it would be, but that didn't seem to faze her. Not that I really want to intimidate hard working and determined students that much. But I do want to communicate to students that my class is not for those who are academically faint of "heart."

So Sally has been in my U.S. History class from the beginning of the year. She has continued to ask me to juggle, though thankfully her requests are not daily. I finally obliged the day before break.

Another thing about Sally is her bluntness. She sometimes says the most random things, unrelated to class. One theme concerns my wardrobe, and personal appearance in general. She seems to have made it her mission to serve as my fashion police officer. One day when I was wearing brown shoes instead of my normal black ones, she informed me that my shoes didn't match. Another day when I forgot to wear a tie and made a joke about it being dress down day (didn't you get the memo?) she told me I should refrain from wearing a tie all the time, as I look better without it. Another day she told me (and the class) that my tie didn't match my shirt. If I do something different with my hair, she's sure to comment. And did I ask for someone to play surrogate mother/wife? I think not!

Hey, it just struck me! The next time she makes such a comment, I think this will be my reply: You want to marry me, Sally? Because you sure sound like a wife!

One might think that this girl lacks the social conditioning which typically, by age sixteen, has trained students not to make such comments about their teachers, in front of them and the rest of the class. My opinion is that this is her way to get attention. This is a little funny, given that she is also a talented basketball player, she just won the MVP award for the holiday tournament the team participated in, and she might play basketball at a Division I college someday. But sometimes it's the jocks who think they can play smart aleck and get away with it.

In case you think I'm really miffed with this girl, I'm not. She can be somewhat irritating, but mostly I think it's funny. Never a dull moment where I am!

Deeper Magic and More About Students

Did you know that "xmas" should not be considered offensive by Christians? A lot of people, myself included, thought that "xmas" is an attempt to remove "Christ" from the equation. Makes sense, right? I suppose this is the intention of some people who use the term. However, if you are educated about the word usage, and use it intelligently, there should be nothing offensive about it. Because for hundreds of years "x" has simply served as a shorthand version of "Christ." This goes back to the Greek, I'm told. Something about the Greek letter that begins the word Christ being close to the x in English, or some such thing. Anyway, hundreds of years ago Christians themselves used the "x" as shorthand for Christ. Obviously they were not intending to be godless.

I found this to be amusing, because I know that some people do use "x" in an effort to secularize the holiday. It struck me today that it's like the deep and deeper magic of Narnia. The White Witch thought she was triumphing by killing Aslan, and removing him from the picture. But her efforts were futile. In a similar way it seems that those who have replaced "Christ" with "x" in an effort to remove religion from the equation have botched the job. Their best efforts have failed.

In other news, you know you are teaching in a public school when your conversation goes something like the following. I should preface this by saying this is one of the students I caught earlier in the year, who I don't believe has really had a change of heart in their behavior (allowing work to be copied, etc.) but is probably more careful now. Having said that, we have very good rapport in class. She's really a delightful person (on the surface), and I have fun teasing her. She's also fairly honest with me on some things, as the following will illustrate:

Her: Working at the food bank (or some such charity) is kind of fun. I think I want to volunteer there.
Me: Why are you working there in the first place?
Her: I'm doing community service.
Me: Oh yeah? Why is that?
Her: I got caught at a party last summer. But I wasn't even drinking.
Me: Ah, so has your punishment changed your behavior so you aren't going to parties anymore, or are you just being more careful?
Her: Just being more careful.

I guess behavior modification is not a very successful technique with her. If community service doesn't change one behavior, it's no wonder a lower grade hasn't changed her behavior with regards to sharing work in my class.

Second student story. I think this is the first year I've dealt with a student who is an excellent student, but is also a nervous wreck anytime she gets anything below a 90. She has burst into tears on multiple occasions now after approaching me about some project or assignment that has gone hard. How do you handle crying girls? This is a mystery I have not yet been able to figure out. I assure her that her grade is still very strong, (she has one of the strongest A grades in the class!), but it doesn't seem to help her mental state that much. Poor girl. It's like she's a total failure if she doesn't ace everything.

On that cheery note, merry Xmas everyone!

I Hate the Curse

I really do. No, I'm not talking about the Red Sox. That curse has been buried forever. I'm talking about THE curse. The one that keeps us from living in a perfect world, and cultivating perfect relationships with everyone. The one that keeps us crying, sighing, and hurting. The one that keeps us from transparency with each other.

The curse has made me cynical. Or rather, seeing effects of the curse has made me cynical. What do I mean by that? Well, I mean there is now always a little seed of doubt in my mind about the sincerity of students in many of the interactions I have with them. Most of them seem like great people, and I want to believe that. I also want to think they would respect me enough not to try and deceive me, especially if it's for something really, really small, like getting an extra point or two on a test.

Examples? When I pass back tests and we go over them, on occasion students show me errors I made in correcting. Usually I give them the points, as it probably is my mistake. But I also usually scrutinize the test to make sure they haven't tried to doctor the answer in some way. After all, pencil can easily be erased, right? And I can't watch 30 students at once. So there is the possibility they might try to change an answer. This has happened before, where a student changes the answer and then claims I corrected it in error, so I know this kind of thing happens. Isn't that sad? Not only for what it says about kids, but for what it does to our relationship. Now I always have those seeds of doubt about whether it was my mistake, or the student was able to doctor an answer behind my back.

Today I was going over test answers with students, and could have sworn I saw a girl writing something down when I was giving the answer to something. Then she tells me later that I missed her (correct) answer. Sure enough, there it was squeezed onto the bottom of the page. I asked her if she was writing anything while we went over the tests, and she said no. Again, I really thought I saw her writing something. She seems to be a hard worker, has done extra credit work when few others have, and does well in the class. I really like the girl. But now I have this nagging thought in my head: is she a cheater? Is she trying to pull a fast one? I will give her the point, because it's not worth arguing over it. It also seems totally silly that she would try such a thing. I suspect some reading this right now think it silly that I suspect she may have cheated. But because of my past experience with cheaters (I've gotten "burned," so to speak) it is very difficult for me not to have questions. Again, the cynicism has developed because there have been students in my experience who try to cheat. Now it is difficult to separate them from the good, honest, hard-working ones. If you ever want an illustration for how sin negatively effects groups of people beyond just the sinner, this is one to use. The sin of a few has tarnished the perception of students as a group.

Dealing with fallen human nature has had its repercussions in correcting papers as well. If a student writes a paper that just sounds too good for their ability, I check to see it hasn't been plagiarized. Sometimes it has, I catch them, and they get busted. But last year I also had a student write an extremely good paper that had no evidence of plagiarism. I was sooo impressed, and I sang her praises in writing and to her face about it. Her performance on it was better than any of her other assignments. Though I think it was a legitimate paper, and I really want to believe that it was, I still have that question in the back of my head: was it copied somehow? Did she figure out a way to escape detection? I hate that I have these thoughts. Again, the curse at work.

Part of the problem may be that I have a highly tuned sense of justice and fairness, and work hard to see that applied to all of my students. I also want to think the best of them. These are conflicting forces, because while I like my students, the thought of someone getting the same grade by cheating as someone who works hard kills me. Figuratively, of course.

Of course, there is a permanent and temporary solution to my dilemma. The former is when the curse is ended, and all of us are honest in our dealings with each other. The temporary solution may be to consciously give up all doubts because of the fact that justice will be meted upon those who err, even if it's not me who administers the punishment or catches them in the act. Fortunately there are better eyes than mine watching over and waiting to deal with lawbreakers. Having said that, choosing to give up doubts is easier said than done.