Parent/Teacher Conferences

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NOTE: I wrote this during our district training the week following parent/teacher conferences (what we call Family Advocacy Day). Our job was to use a mentor text to duplicate style, tone or content. The mentor text I used was "Why Daddy Can't Write" from the Sports Illustrated archive. 

Family Advocacy Day was last week, so I took my laptop and my student work samples to school. Because who doesn’t want to stay at school until 7:00pm?

Maybe I thought that parents would be lined up at my door, desperate to talk to me about how to improve little Johnny’s grade.

Uh, nope.

It was a lot of conversations like this:

JOHNNY’S MOM: My son is failing your class.

ME: Yes, he is.

JOHNNY’S MOM: My little sugar-bear tells me that he never has homework, so when he’s playing his X-Box I check on his School Loop and see all the zeros and I’m so confused.

ME: I only give homework when a student doesn’t finish their work in class.

JOHNNY’S MOM; So you never give homework? I always had homework when I was a kid! I don’t understand why you wouldn’t give him homework!

ME: We generally complete assignments in class, but when a child doesn’t do the assignment, they must complete it at home.

JOHNNY’S MOM: So you don’t give homework? Then why is my angel failing your class? You should give more homework!

ME: Mrs. Johnny, your son does not complete his work in class, so his job is to finish it at home. This is homework.

JOHNNY’S MOM: I thought you said you didn't give homework?

ME: I said students may have to finish assignments at home if they don’t complete it in class.

JOHNNY’S MOM: Is that the same as homework?

ME: Yes

JOHNNY’S MOM: So you do give homework?

ME: Yes ma’am.

JOHNNY’S MOM; So why is my darling dumpling failing your class?

Thinking About My Dad

I've been thinking about my relationship with my father. He is one of the most influential people in my life and has taught me so much but I miss hearing those three little words from him. I worked on this poem yesterday about how I felt.

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Three Little Words: Dedicated to my Father

by: Amelia Grissom

2/7/2013

Three little words,

You share them with

that big, slobbery Basset hound,

wiping her chin gently with the

handkerchief you always have

in your back pocket.

Three little words,

I see them in the way

you dig out each individual dandelion,

on your hands and knees

in the Navy pants you’ve been wearing

for 27 years.

Three little words,

I feel them in your eyes

when you talk about helping those

who can’t help themselves

as a pastor, as a social worker, as a mentor

for as long as I’ve known you.

Three little words

Three powerful words,

Your father never said to you,

But meant.

Your mother never said to you,

But didn’t.

Three little words,

They surround everything

You say and do,

Why, when I say

Those three little words,

Can’t you?

 

Thinking about Poetry

Can't. Lesson. Plan. Any. More.

So, I'm thinking about poetry--specifically the Third Thursday coming up at the YMCA  (sponsored by Youth City Network). Just today I had two different (former) students come by to read me poetry that they had composed. I'm encouraging them to read it at the Third Thursday event. I attended last time and it was wonderful to see local teenagers so excited about sharing their talents with each other.

Poetry is an intensely personal art form, which is why it's so perfect for teenagers who feel that everything is happening to them for the first time ever and in the most extreme way ever. Poetry allows them to share those strong emotions and to connect with others who are feeling the same. I'm really looking forward to seeing our school represented and to hearing what others have to say.

In related news, I just received "Louder Than a Bomb" from Netflix. Recommended by fellow English teachers and poetry buffs, it's an account of a poetry slam/competition and follows a Chicago team as they prepare. I'm hoping to screen it for the club during the February Third Thursday. The truly exciting thing is that it's coming to Kansas City in 2014. How great is that?

Novels and other distractions

Love Christmas break for the chance to really dig into some good books! I just recently finished "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn and couldn't put it down. It was very twisty--in a good way--and even though there was  a dearth of sympathetic characters, I still cared enough to find out what happened to all of them. I'd highly recommend it if you enjoy murder mysteries with a serious twist!

We purchased a refurbished (new to us!) computer just around Thanksgiving time, so the kids have really enjoyed the faster, easier interface and the ability to use their game Skyrim. It has great graphics, but is not something I could get into--the storyline requires you to kill people and other beings and steal their things. Not my kind of thing. I have enjoyed using it for my games and for sending e-mail, which I can't seem to do on the Apple when using Yahoo. A bit frustrating. My work e-mail functions, of course. Yay.

I also got around to cleaning out the basement (donating a bunch of toys that hadn't been played with in some years, but that the kids weren't ready to let go of), getting family pictures taken and getting several doctor's visits out of the way. Also been thinking about lesson planning and have devoted several hours to that as well. I think for teachers that every holiday is a busman's holiday--everything we run across is fodder for teaching at some point. That's probably a good thing but sometimes it feels a little too busy.

Supreme Court Considers Gay Marriage

We recently left a church we'd attended for over a year. The issue was two-fold--both the pastor and several of the congregants had made public statements against gay marriage and the pastor had sermonized about disciplining children with a belt. When I mentioned these concerns to the pastor's wife, stating that the anti-gay message particularly disturbed my daughter, she asked, "is she gay?" I said no, but what I SHOULD have said was, "Why do you ask?" In a Christian church, we believe that God is the God of all. If all means all, that should include gay and straight, black and white, sinners and saints.

So, in the same vein, the Supreme court is considering the Defense of Marriage Act and Proposition 8 which both concern blocking benefits for married same-sex couples. The essential question being considered is "whether the Constitution's promise of equality for all persons applies to gay men and lesbians when it comes to marriage." (According to a recent article in the Kansas City Star, "Gay Marriage on Docket")

The question I'd like to ask is, haven't we already determined that the Constitution applies to all person? Not just white persons, not just male persons, but all persons. Seems we keep having to make the distinction about what being a person means. I think that each time this decision comes up to vote, we (humankind) are facing our fear of the unknown. Can women really be smart enough and capable enough to have an opinion and to vote? Are they really PEOPLE? Same question for African-Americans, American Indians or other "foreigners." At root, people who have a different sexual orientation are different than the majority and that is scary! I can only hope that at some point we will evolve to where different more often means interesting than fearful.

How Much Can You Help?

Another article in a (probably continuing) series about the murder/suicide of Kassandra Perkins and Jovan Belcher. A good deal more information as come to light this morning, including the fact that Belcher kissed his girlfriend after killing her and telling her he was sorry.

Immediately after the murder, Belcher drove to the Chief's stadium where he met Chiefs General Manager Scott Pioli. Pioli tried to reason with Belcher but that didn't work. Belcher had been in counseling with the Chiefs, who “were bending over backward” to help, Sharp said.    But Belcher told Pioli that the assistance wasn’t enough to fix their problems and now, “It was too late.” 

In the wake of this tragedy, my question is; once a person is to the point where they are willing to kill, is it too late to help them? Belcher had lots of problems, both financial (according to the article) and personal, but so do many people. He and Kassandra had a fight the night of her murder, but many couples fight. What else could the Chiefs, his mother or his friends have done to prevent this tragedy? Could anyone have stopped it?

Modern Life--WHEW!

This weekend we stopped moving only when we were asleep. There were school-related activities and work to do, household activities and work, Christmas activities and work and church. My whole family was on the computer constantly sending e-mails, grading (me), drop-boxing homework (daughter), playing Minecraft (son) and creating budget sheets (hubby). As soon as one task was over it was time to start another.

Modern life does not allow for a lot of down time and I'm craving it. I don't mean boredom--just time when all tasks are done, no expectations are upon me and I can curl up on the couch with a good book or an old, favorite movie. If I do that now I have guilt--I should be doing something!

Reading the Sunday paper this morning while I waited for my hubby to get out of the shower, I enjoyed an article by C.W. Gusewelle called "The Joy of a Simpler Type of Writing" in which he describes his pleasure in using a typewriter when his computer dies an untimely death. I can identify. Some days I wish we could just unplug from everything and all come out to the porch with a glass of lemonade to watch the world go by.

I'm holding out for Christmas break, just 18 days away. I pledge to take at least two of those days and "unplug" from modern life. I'll have freshly-made cookies and a well-worn book, dog at my feet, hubby and children happy and busy (somewhere else :-). A deep breath, a sigh and an acknowledgement that the world will get along just fine without me for a few, precious hours.