Former Students

You never really know how your work in the classroom will affect your life outside in the community. Consequently, there is a certain amount of diplomacy involved with teaching. I’m proud that I can’t think of a single student that I would not want to run into outside of school, and that I don’t really harbor any guilt from any of the students I have taught.

We had a funny little reminder of this last Saturday night. My bride and I had just played taxi to a fellow participant’s students, and on our way back, decided to meet some friends for pizza. The restaurant we went to is an eclectic and vibrant spot that serves fairly gourmet pizza (especially for the Delta). One of my former students works at this place. Though we had our occasional issue last year, we have remained friends since his time in my classroom. He went off to a community college for a bit, but shortly returned home citing “boredom” as his reason for returning. He now works as at this place and is taking classes at the local community college.

We’ve joked from time to time about his ability to serve me beer at the restaurant, but we’ve never actually acted out situation. When we went to the pizzeria on Saturday, it was a fairly busy night and we were in a larger group of people. I waited in line, put in my order (without any beer), and grabbed my table number like any other customer in line. We found a table and conversed for a while, not anticipating anything out of the ordinary at all. After about 15 minutes, the first party in our group received their pizza. After about 18, the second came. I ordered last, so I didn’t think anything of it, and we continued to wait patiently. 25 minutes came, we were still pizza-less. “Please go ahead and eat” we said to the other members of our party. They were the picture of an etiquette stalwart, and refused to touch their steamy pies without ours in place. And we waited, and waited. We started noticing others who had ordered after us receive their pizza. Then we noticed people who arrived after we sat down began receiving their pizza. I hated to believe it, but the writing was on the wall - they had lost our order. This was a tricky situation, again because my former student and friend was the point person for this. Do I demand a refund? Do we wait longer? Again, he’s a friend so it was a somewhat tricky situation. I approached him, asked if he could check on our order, he did so quickly, then came back with an embarrassed look on his face.

“What was your order?”, he asked, I told him, then he went back to the kitchen in a hurry, barking orders and hurriedly shuffling pizzas around. I knew he had a lot going on, so I didn’t want to push the issue at all and returned back to my table. About 10 minutes later, my former student rushed to our table with our pizza. It was bigger than the size we ordered, a nice gesture I appreciated. I figured that was the end of it, thanked him for his help, and began devouring. About ten minutes later, our dinner was interrupted again by an enormous desert pizza, and the beer we had been joking about for the past year. Again, not part of our order, just a nice gesture from a former student, now friend.

I’ll never fully know the impact I’ve had on this guy, or really on of my students. This was, if nothing else, a fun reminder of the relationships that can and do blossom from my time as a teacher.

A day in the life of

All of last year, I had a constant hope that the second year of teaching would be a smoother one than the first. I was told time and time again by people more experienced than I that the second year was so much better, and I am happily living proof to agree with them (to a certain degree). Don't get me wrong, the school inherently has flaws that make every week difficult, but maybe the time here has numbed me so much from things that initially shocked me, that I have stopped caring. Eventually blisters turn into callouses I guess. In a way of demonstrating the difference between last year and this year, I thought I'd write another play-by-play of a day in the life of.

5:30 am - Alarm goes off, snooze button is pressed

5:40 am - Alarm goes off again, I actually get up this time

5:45 am - Bowl of cereal, scripture reading, sometimes coffee

6:05 am - I wake up my bride, she makes me lunch while I get dressed, I have an amazing wife

6:20-30 am - I give a good-bye kiss and depart for work

6:50-7:00 am - Arrive at school, clock in, prepare room, make copies for the day

7:30 am - Report to the gym to pick up my first period class - yes we have to come and get our first period class from the gym to try to curb tardies and skipping

7:42 am - 11:14 am - Stretch and mold the young minds of tomorrow

11:14 am - 12:47 pm - Recuperate from stretching and molding the young minds of tomorrow, plan next day's lesson, eat lunch

12:47 pm - 3:30 pm - Continue stretching and molding

3:35 pm - 4:30-5:00 pm - Prepare for the next day, make copies if possible, catch up on emails, do work, various things, depart for home

5:00 pm - 5:30 pm - Arrive home, debrief with beautiful wife, snack

6:00 pm - 7:00 pm - Work out

7:30 - 8:00 pm - Eat dinner, do dishes

8:00 - 9:30 - Spend time with wife, do as little as possible

9:30 - Bed (I sleep hard)

Things are less taxing than they were last year. I'm probably much more efficient than I was, but I do get concerned at times that I rest on this too much. One way or another, I am still anxiously awaiting May and the conclusion of the school year. It is bad when you start something only looking forward to the end of it, but that's another blog post in itself.

On joining MTC

Needless to say, there have been many times over the course of the past year and a half that I have thought to myself, "what have I gotten myself into?" I jokingly tell others that I envisioned moving to Mississippi, buying a truck and a boat, and enjoying small-town southern living to a soundtrack comprised of the Allman Brothers and Creedence Clearwater Revival. Obviously when I actually arrived, I found that the task awaiting me did not afford the aforementioned luxuries, and that a lot of me would be completely consumed by my work. The feelings of inadequacy, desperation, and frustration have been real in this place, maybe more real than any other time in life. Last year's fall was the hardest season I have ever lived through. I kept remembering, "at least no one is shooting at you", though at times it felt someone might try. All this said, I think I'm glad that I've taken part in MTC. It is hard to say for sure because an element of the MTC's satisfaction resides in its completion, but I know this is where I was called to be, and for all things at this moment seen, I think I know why.

Those who know me best would agree that I have always been excited about my academic institutions. I didn't study education, but quickly found that the educational world was one that fit me well. I knew that faculty experience would never be harmful to a career in education, so I began researching programs that would put me in the classroom. I didn't feel I was qualified to teach anything at that time, but knew that if I was admitted to an alternate-route program, it would be a good foot in the door. After doing some research, I remembered I had a friend who was an MTC alum from a few years before. After speaking with him, it seemed like MTC was a far better alternative to the most well known alternate-route program, Teach for America. So I applied, essentially putting all my chips in the MTC bag. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't apply for TFA as well, but the appeal of a free computer and master's degree while teaching in the exact same schools was a pretty compelling argument for MTC.

Now that I am 3/4 of the way done with the program, I can confidently say that if you are thinking of doing any kind of alternate-route program on the Mississippi Delta, MTC is the one to do. It will not be without heart and headache, as the problems of this land are so much greater than any one person (or even one town), and you have to know that you are coming down as damage control. That said, Mississippi is a wonderful and charming place in many ways, and MTC is a good conduit. It is the land that I now call home and will be until we are called elsewhere, and I'm grateful that MTC took a chance on me.

My second year has passed by much quicker. Though the students at the school are probably worse than last year, I've found that a year of experience adds a keel to even the most turbulent of days. I even find much more time to ride the dirt roads of the Delta and sneak in some Allman Brothers from time to time.

Round and round

Gone are the days of the innocent child,

soft and sweet their tempers once mild

Replaced come now the bruises and scars,

symbols and hardships of deep broken hearts

Battles rage on the champion unsure,

Facebook or he said or she said the lure

The cycle roll on like the river due west,

wider and stronger, wider and stronger

Round and round we go

Playing favorites

Hello World,

We're now well into the fall season here in Mississippi. Leaves are finally changing and we're having the occasional 30 degree morning. School has now been in long enough for me to know the personalities of most of my students, the ones who don't skip class that is. One thing I've noticed is it is hard not to develop favorites. Some students are really great to have day in and day out, while other kids are just less amiable. The interesting thing is that your favorites aren't always the ones who make the best grades, or even act right for that matter. On one hand, you'd love a classroom full of kids who come in quietly and get straight to work, but on the other hand, the occasional ornery one makes things a little more interesting. That said, it is kind of hard to pinpoint a favorite student. I have one girl who is sweet, diligent, quiet and very bright; I would call her a favorite. On the other hand, I have a student who is loud, obnoxious, foul-mouthed, and not particularly bright, and I would honestly call her a favorite as well. Both make me laugh in different scenarios and both make teaching worthwhile and interesting. Girl one, for example, has so much potential. She's very bright and has a great work ethic, so she could go on to a four-year institution and actually get out of the Delta culture that stifles so many. Girl two, on the other hand is not nearly as bright or driven. She is quick to quit on things when confused and will probably not attend any institution of higher education (if she graduates). She is funny though, in a ridiculous, I can't believe you just said that kind of way, and has found a way to curse and fight her way into my hardened teacher heart.

Students of all shapes and sizes walk in and out of my classroom. These are just two and for all the personality that they both bring, there are roughly 88 more like them under my instruction. Hate it or love it, no two days are ever the same.

DonorsChoose.org

Hey Team,

Quick post time. There is a neat organization called Donors Choose that is focused on helping teachers in poorer areas of the country with classroom supplies. They service all grades and subjects and you can support an array of projects through it. I have a project for a laser printer that I am trying to get funded right now and if any of you would want to donate toward it or think you might know someone who would, I would be incredibly thankful. Just click on the link below for more details. More later, hope all is well with you and yours!

http://www.donorschoose.org/mr.ware

Murphy's Law - Tuesday

After monday’s charades, there was a noticeable tension in the air. Again first, second, third, fourth periods and first lunch went fine, and second lunch, during my planning period I had to go to a professional development seminar. When it concluded, I was walking back to my classroom when one of the hall monitors, one of the sweetest ladies I have ever met, said with a smile from ear to ear, "Mr. Ware, you wear your running shoes again today?" to which I said somewhat jokingly, "haha why Ms. Campbell, they fightin' again?" and she replied, "sure are, look at 'em". Suddenly I realized they were in fact fightin' again, so I bolted out to the scene to find a recently ended girl fight. As I tried dissipate the crowd and herd the students toward their classes, another girl fight broke out of equal magnitude, thus sending things into frenzy again.

This would have all been enough for tuesday, except Tuesday morning I noticed that the air my cooling unit was blowing was not exactly cold. If you’ve been following my blog, you know that a relatively common thread throughout my time here is non-trustworthy air conditioning. Some places that would be fine, maybe even pleasant. Mississippi in August is not one of those places.

The first four periods were still “cool” enough that the students didn’t complain (and sweat). After lunch it was definitely hot enough outside for my classroom to be downright uncomfortable.

So with fighting on the mind and an abundance of heat and humidity in the air, I tried to teach trigonometry. Most of my students put up with it and things were going ok until the academic coach came by my room and told me that the school was temporarily on lockdown. “Oh lockdown? How splendid” I thought to myself. Turns out these girl fights were related and the police were in the process of investigating it. While they did so, we were to hold our students where they were to prevent further fighting from taking place.

Luckily, ingenuity kicked in in the form of manilla folders (or vanilla folders as one of my students said). Manilla folders are not only helpful for general storage, but can also serve as a makeshift fan quite easily. Before long I had my students determining the cosecant of 7π/6 with as much of a breeze as their wrist could afford. All in all, there were two fights, 0 air conditionings, who knows how many tardies and many frazzled teachers.