Bring on the Hot Weather!!

This is the neighborhood I used to work in. (note that this photo does not show the trash, prostitutes, police crime scenes, or drug dealers)

Last year when it got this hot, I would have trouble sleeping, knowing that the next day would be torturous in the greenhouse-inspired classroom with 20 sweaty little bodies and no fans or A/C... trying to get kids to care about math when they're too hot to move!

This year, I can go do my work in my favorite cafe's garden. Quietly. With no one coming in to tell me in front of the whole class that I'm doing everything wrong and that my job will probably be in jeopardy. (Fear seems to be a favorite motivational tactic in education). I can take a lunch that is longer than 20 minutes, I can listen to music, I can work while hanging out with my doggie...

I miss the kids, but seriously... it's hard to even think about deciding to go back when this is where I can work now... The cat is in the outside portion of the cafe and is a very nice cat.

However, I'd still like to be a part of the solution. I've got to figure out a way to be able to help withe the kids who need it without being sucked into the negativity and despair, and so far I have found no one who is able to do that for very long. Welcoming any suggestions.

Comments

A Loss

(I have been putting off finishing this blog post for months. You'll see why) Today, I was cleaning a bookshelf and I found the journal from one of my third-grade students, who I call Fred in my book , in 2001. I still had it because he didn't come to the last day of school to get his stuff this year and I guess it got put in a pile and somehow I've kept it with me. He didn't come to the last day of school, probably because his family was a mess: dad in prison, mom in an abusive relationship, all the kids (understandably) acting out violently. Fred was expelled from our school in second grade for hitting a teacher. Then he was expelled from the other school, I don't know why, at the end of second grade. He came back on the condition from the administration that he be in my class because I had him as a student in first grade and he listened to me and worked well with me. We had a really good relationship, although Fred was definitely not easy to have in class....

A New Prison, Part Two

Second very long part of the prison visit report. After we got all the paperwork filled out and went through the metal detector, we got visitation slips with the name of the inmate, and made our way over to the other building for visitation. This is not maximum security so thankfully you can just sit next to the inmates, and not be separated by glass or have to use a telephone to talk. First, you get a gate unlocked and go into a holding pen that is of course in direct sunlight (or rain if it's that season) and surrounded by fences topped with razor wire. You wait there until the gate at the other end is unlocked. This holding pen was a little bigger and less claustrophobic than the other prison (I do not have any claustrophobia and I came very close to a panic attack once at the other place) and they opened the other gate more quickly. Then you walk, again in blazing sunlight (or rain) to the visitation building. This one was less of a walk than the other pri...

A New Prison, Part 1

My former student, friend, and co-author was moved to a new prison during COVID. We (myself, Mitali, and his Abuela) have visited a couple of times via the video visit functionality they set up, but we've also been trying to visit in person, ever since in-person visits were allowed again. After four of them being canceled (sometimes we were told why, sometimes not), we finally got a visit. I was super nervous about this visit. (I felt better when Mitali mentioned that she was also, because she is an inherently positive and optimistic person!) I am not proud of this, but there was a large part of me that was hoping that the visit would be canceled, just like the previous four were. I felt a little better when someone I know messaged me privately to tell me that they had had very good experiences visiting a family member in that prison. But I still didn't sleep well at all that night, worrying about the guards, the many things that could go wrong, and the projected 111-degree hea...

Bronwyn Harris, Author

Search This Blog