mrg05

Week 5 could be what we’ll look back at as the critical juncture of the early life of this school. The juncture where things begin to turn around, or the juncture where things become entirely helpless.

I spent everyday of the week in afterschool meetings that lasted til 6.

Monday and Tuesday, staff-initiated meetings convened to discuss what we could do (sans administrators) to improve the school. Every staff member upholds the belief that this school is not safe, not for the students nor the staff. At Tuesday’s end, we put together a proposal to the administration. Things we’d like to see put into place immediately.

What we want is structure. A place to send kids who choose to misbehave so much that it prevents an entire class from learning. Specifically, we want an in-school suspension room. We want a staff member whose sole responsibility is to deal with behavior.

Coincidentally, we submitted the request while the principal was putting together a behavioral training for us and the staff. He brought in the infamous Noah Salzman to help the school. He gave us workshops on Thursday and Friday on behavioral management, and he’s been giving our principal tips on how to better run the school. Specifically, he recommended that we implement an in-school suspension room.

Nice.

Although the staff’s morale is still at an all-time low (you should’ve heard the check-ins during Wednesday’s staff meeting… this stuff is affecting people’s sleep), I feel like we’re taking steps in the right direction.

I hope.

In other news, Wednesday night was back-to-school night. We sent letters to every home, well aware that students always find away to lose important letters home. Around 10 parents/guardians showed up (of the school’s ~80 students). The parent/guardian support for the students and the school made itself clear Wednesday night. I probably met with 5 parents/guardians total. Those that did show were the parents of some of my better students. Goes to show how strong of an influence outside school factors have on a student’s academic performance.

On a personal note, my life during the week is still taken up entirely by teaching. My credential program classes started up on Friday night. Another class met on Saturday. (What a way to spend the weekend!). I feel like my weeks begin to feel better once I get through Wednesday. However, Monday-Tuesday-Wednesday mornings are still very painful. That’s when thoughts of “man, why am I doing this?” look me right in the eye.