Posts under ‘drama’

It’s been a while.  A new grade, a new curriculum, new standards, 33 beings each with his or her own concerns and quandaries, and not to mention my own in-house proto-teenager draped over the couch in poses of iPodded distress.  Not a lot of energy to write.  Complete sentences.  Even.
When there are that many kids [...]

Today a mother came to visit after school, four children in tow.  Her son Efrain was a 2nd grader with me last year, and her son Elijah is a fifth grader with me this year.  They are both behind grade-level in all subjects.  They are both small, sweet boys with broad, white smiles and a [...]

Do you know those moments when suddenly a different path opens up before you?  There you are, doing something that’s second nature, talking to your child or colleague or spouse or friend, in the comfortable, well-worn groove of a conversation whose basic path you’ve walked a hundred times before and you’ll walk a hundred [...]

We had a lovely day last Monday.  Worked excitedly on all sorts of new words: yank, topple, wince, wide grin, heartwarming, corduroy, infant, sum, addend, process, cobble, shards, pulverize, currents, grains, weathering.  Read them in context, discussed them out of context, acted them out, placed them in new contexts, shared personal experiences that related to [...]

I had to do it again today.  Call the Department of Child and Family Services to report a parent.
This one haunts me for different reasons than the last one: last week, I knew the mother intended well but just needed some parenting help; today I know the mother intends bad.
This mother instructed her seven-year-old child, [...]

This week I had to make the phone call all teachers dread.  To the Department of Children and Family Services.  The supreme form of tattling.
Kelly walked at the front of the line holding a water bottle with ice in it.  The last time Kelly was carrying a water bottle with ice in it, she’d brought [...]

He’s back!  He’s better than before!  He’s José!
I met with his mother yesterday.
And his brother.
And his social worker.
You’d be surprised how many kids come with entourages these days.  It’s my second social worker conference this year.  The other one (surprise!) was Griselda’s (I just knew they had a connection).

If only their entourages brought them movie [...]

Every school has to have one. They’re loved. They’re hated. They’re sometimes ignored. A charter school in New York is working hard to minimize them by choosing to pay its teachers principal salaries and its principal teacher salaries. 125K for the teachers, 90K for the head guy. But minimized or maximized, they’re still [...]

Last week José smiled. On a fairly regular basis. When he wasn’t frowning, that is.
And, he sat downstage right or left most of the time we were at the rug, rather than practically out the door and with his back to me.
I considered all this enormous progress and worked hard to acknowledge [...]

The first month of school is a crucial time in the life of a classroom. Don’t meld them into a working group, and you pay for it for the rest of the year. Classroom life is chaos. Teaching and learning are repeatedly interrupted by stretches of wildness. Days are exhausting. [...]