Talk To Them...

White Cherry Blossoms...

White petals flutter

Warm sun, gentle breeze, sunny

Spring has come at last

Summer School...

Summer school starts now.

I already adore kids.

Mischievous ones.

Second Classroom...

My second classroom…

I taught Japanese studies.

I was twelve-years-old.

I had a whole classroom full of peers that hated me.

I was the ‘weird’ kid who was friends with all the teachers.

Many of my peers left my speech on Japan wanting to visit the country.

It was nerve wracking but wonderful.

Tenth Classroom...

It is Summer School and too hot for a self-proclaimed lava monster to find much joy in taking her small class out for recess.

I have a mixture of English Language Learners, General education, and Special education.

Three of my students have unmediated ADHD…

I’m beginning to see myself in a whole new light…

I must have been an annoying kid to wind up on such strong ADHD meds by the time I graduated high school…

My third grade teacher apparently couldn’t put up with me being a disorganized mess.  She kept begging my parents to up my dose even though my grades were A’s and B’s.

There were no ADHD experts in our area…so I get to learn this now as an adult.

I’m in my thirties and I am often mistaken for my twenties…both in physical appearance and in my mannerisms…

How embarrassing…

Eleventh Classroom...

It’s been a year…

Still AroAce…

Still a teacher…

Still barely sane…

I went from being a ‘traveling ESL teacher’ to a paraprofessional at a Montessori school. I am not impressed.  Oh sure, Montessori is a wonderful learning philosophy but it is not for everyone.  It is certainly not for a teacher with ADHD that struggles with hyperfocus.  The individualized lessons given are often at the cost of classroom management or vice versa.

The parents who send their kids to a Montessori school do so in lieu of seeking out professional help for their unique or troubled child.  I have TWELVE out of twenty-six students who are either obviously ADHD or obviously Autistic to some degree.  Two have IEPs and the rest are ‘busy kids’ in their parents’ eyes.

This is a challenge that I have no problem with.  I LOVE my students.

BUT I am not thrilled with their parents…

‘I want to focus on this pregnancy’…Yeah, but while you’re doing that you could LAY in bed and work with your son on his letter sounds.

‘My parents are in a motel getting their act together’…AKA, drug addicts.

‘My mom says that this rule is dumb’…Sorry, it’s a SCHOOL rule.  No sweets.

The only thing worse than the parents is how this school is run…

The double standards and obvious favoritism is what REALLY pisses me off.

I do my job, I get yelled at by THREE different people.

Someone else DOESN’T do their job and they get praised…wonderful.

Oh yeah, and we have FOUR Montessori teachers out of FORTY.

Swearing...

Sub psychotic rage

Blood pouring from sacred place

The pain of betrayal.

I was so cute as a kid...

My very first day of teaching…

I taught paleontology.

I was six-years-old.

I had five students.

They were my Cabbage Patch Kids.

Contaminated Gifts...

Booger cookies are

A very thoughtful gift, dear

I think I’ll pass.

Forth Classroom…

I was at a community college, panicking over my BA in English.

So I went for an associate’s in medical secretary.

I helped my friend learn her medical terminology, abbreviations, grammar, and anatomy.

I helped another friend learn about computers as we had to take Windows, Excel, and Access.

All three of us struggled comically over transcription.

The Puerto Rican said that the “Puerto Rican” doctor on the recording didn’t sound right.

The Caucasian said, “Where the heck do you find the ‘send’ key?!”

I felt like the smartest person in the room for the first time in my life.

Infatuation...

You’re really pretty

Pretty without glasses on

You are pretty too!