Leone High School Update

College Update

Lise, my senior, took her SATs and ACTs earlier this month.  She also submitted an application for admission to VCU.  Her Liberty application is due on January 15.  Sadly, her and my two juniors will only be in my class one more week.  They only needed the first semester to fulfill the English requirement.

Grades

I calculated grades about two weeks ago.  It was nearing the end of the semester and I wanted students to know their grade prior to exams.  I knew a lot of students were not turning in their assignments, but the grades shocked even me.  I teach 120 students.  66 of those students had a D or F.  I felt like a terrible teacher.  I felt like I was doing harming these students not helping them.  Then I looked at their attendance.  The majority of the students who are failing have missed 10-15 days this grading quarter.  There had only been 25 days of school.  None of my students with A’s, B’s, or C’s had missed more than 4 days.  That showed that attendance is a huge factor in how successful a student is going to be.  A student cannot learn or turn assignments in if they are not in class.  I gave a 50 point extra credit assignment out.  It was required for the students with a D or F.  We spend 2-3 days working on it in class and I still had students who did not turn it in.  I can’t help them if they are unwilling to put in any effort.

Fights

There was a girl fight and an almost fight in my room last week.  I am not suppose to get involved when there are fights in my room, but going to get help from another teacher or the office takes too much time.  Usually the guys in my class step in and break it up, but both of these I had to help break up. 

The girls started fighting.  A couple guys grabbed the larger girl and I got the smaller one.  I sent one outside to wait on me and told the other to stay in her sit.  I didn’t want to get the office involved.  I went out to talk to the smaller girl outside.  She was sobbing, but thankfully is one of my advanced students with near perfect English.  She was able to tell me her side of the story.  The other girl is still yelling and cursing at her through the window. I calmed her down and told her to walk to Sara’s room (about 50 yards away) if she got there and was still upset go inside and sit down.  I’d call Sara and tell her.  I go back inside to call Sara’s room and talk to the other girl.  Girl 2 runs outside trying to get the other girl again.  Thankfully, her sweatshirt got stuck on the doorknob.  I pull her back inside.  She decided to get an attitude with me.  So I decided to have her escorted to the office.  I send her with two guys.  I’m getting the rest of the class back in their seats when I hear “FUSU” (fight).  Girl two had found the smaller girl sitting on the steps and starting punching her again.  The guys and I separate fight number two.  By this point I call the office and have them send someone to get her.  I also had to send the smaller girl down.  I walked her down praying the whole time that they would not hit her.  I walk with her into the office and my anger towards the other girl came out.  I had her permanently removed from my class.  That was the second fight I had seen her involved in at school. 

I left the office and cried.  The smaller girl is one of my best students.  She is helpful, polite, and has an A in the class.  However, I knew that she would go home that night and probably get beaten.  Thankfully, she was not suspended like the counselor originally said she would be.

Fight number two of the week was an almost fight between guys. I was subbing for another teacher and a guy came in that wasn’t in the class (this isn’t unusual, it seems to be appropriate here to walk into classrooms in the middle of class and start talking to people).  We weren’t doing an assignment so I didn’t chase him out, but I watched him and noticed the signs of a fight about to break out.  I put the kid that is in the class in a chair and push the other guy out of the room.  I make the guy in the class stay after as punishment.  The bell rings and the other guy comes back inside, starts cursing, and throws his bookbag to the ground.  I push him back out the door and have a hold of his shirt to take him to the office.  Then something that has never happened happened.  He twisted around and slapped away from me and took off running.  He did get a week suspension.

Vandalizing

Some days I feel like I am teaching at an inner city school.  I went to open my classroom on a Monday morning and my key would not go into the lock.  Someone over the weekend had put stuff in the deadbolt causing my key not to work.

Administration told me to unscrew a screen from the window and climb in.  Then at the end of the day screw the screen back on.  They also told me to go buy a screw driver that night so I could unscrew it each day because they didn’t know when it would be fixed.  I found that solution unacceptable.  I walked to the vice principals office and gave my solution (while trying to hold back tears of frustration).  I would either have class in the library, outside, or I’m be sick until the lock was fixed.  I was given permission to have class outside as long as it was in the shade.  Well, two hours later and my door was fixed.  I hated acting like a brat, but their solution was not acceptable.

Exams

Exams start on Tuesday of this week and end on Thursday.  My advance classes will test on Tuesday and my mainstream classes well test on Wednesday and Thursday.  Pray that the students study and remember what I have taught them.  Also pray that they remember test taking rules.  Cheating (talking, looking at someone else’s paper, showing your work to someone, using notes) all equal a zero.