Advice to a New Teacher

This was a very long e-mail I wrote in 2002 to a friend of a friend who was looking for some advice about starting out as a new teacher.

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Hi Avik,

Thanks for thinking of me for next year. I'm actually not going to be in Boston. I'm in Brazil right now, and am pretty positive I'll be staying here over this next school year. (But things are still up in the air.) 

That's great that you're going to be a teacher. Honestly, I haven't heard good things about the Teach for America program. Basically, because they put kids into the hardest schools with no support and then they burn out and don't become teachers. My first year I worked at an inner city school in Houston with no training, etc. And honestly it almost killed me. I didn't sleep for three months. Everything about the school was crazy. Somehow I did manage to stick it out, even though the kids and everyone else expected me to drop at any moment. (Because all the other teachers do.) And then I moved to Boston and came to a much better school.

As for advice, I could give tons and tons and tons.

Hmmmmm....

1) Get Wong's First Days of School. I'm not sure if that's the correct title or author. And I've never read it, but everyone says it's good.

2) Make sure you really, really like kids, and that you enjoy them. If you don't like kids and don't like being around them, DROP OUT NOW. I've actually seen people who are in classrooms who don't particularly enjoy kids. Why torture them and yourself?

3) Expect it to be really, really, really hard. Make friends with other teachers and help each other out as much as possible. Having supportive friends and mentors in the building makes all the difference in the world. They're the reason I continue to teach.

4) Managing your time is really, really important. Since you don't know what you're doing, it's going to be hard to be efficient. After four years, I've come up with systems for grading that save time. Ask every teacher about their systems for grading, for conducting class, notebooks, letting kids go to the bathroom, etc. See what people do. (I can tell you mine in another e-mail if you want.) Try not to make school your entire life. But your first year, it probably will be. Try to set up some boundaries with work. Don't bring it home every night, etc.

5) Classroom management will be the hardest thing for you as a first year. (And it's still hard for veterans.) Everyone has their own philosophy, and most of it is trial and error. Don't beat yourself up when things go badly, because they will. So here are my classroom management tips.

---In the classroom, what you say goes period. Don't negotiate. EVER. You'll see how they try to negotiate everything. If you come up with a bad assignment or whatever, learn from your mistake, and make a better assignment for the next time. But don't let them think they can manhandle you.

---Spend as much time as possible with them outside the classroom. Hang out in the halls, before school, after school. Do after school activities. Talk to them. Get to know them. But not in class, because then class would be a joke, and your class has to be serious, where work happens. But do everything possible to establish rapport with them and to know personal things about their life and remember them. KEEP A JOURNAL. And then when you see them in the halls, follow up on conversations.

---When a kid is absent, ask about it when they get back. To show that you noticed they were out. And if you're really, really good (which I never was) you'd call home after 3 days of no-show.

---When a kid is obnoxious and rude, talk to them one-on-one preferably side by side, not confrontational face to face and have a little conversation.
 It kind of goes something like this:

"Do you know why you're here?"

"No."

"Well, you got up in the middle of class and slapped Tommy on the back."

"some sort of garbled noise."

"So what are we going to do about this, because you can't get up and hit people, ever, and most especially during class."

"Well, he started it. ... ." (Most of the time, they shift blame and never take responsibility for anything.)

"Okay, but we're not talking about Tommy, and I didn't see it. I saw you hit him. So, because of that, you're going to have to XX( whatever punishment will work, that really depends on the school, the community, etc.) So that you don't have to do X again, what are you going to do next time Tommy calls you a fag."

Hopefully, you get the gist.

Those little conversations are way, way important. The kids do want to voice their opinions, but at the same time it needs to be made perfectly clear, they did something and there are consequences for their

actions.

---Avoid power struggles at all costs, like "Give me that magazine/cell phone/etc." Just walk by them, and tell them to put it away. (The cell phone thing also depends on the building policy, just stick to whatever it is. I decided last year to just give up on the cell phone thing--I don't want to see it, it better not go off in my class. But I treat it kind of like cursing, if it goes off, I give them a disapproving look, which means turn it off or watch it, and usually they apologize and feel bad and turn it off.) Of course, you will have to say "Okay, Johnny, move to this seat up in the front." And Johnny will say no. So then you repeat yourself, and see if they do it. And then if they totally refuse. You say "We'll deal with this later." And then a serious punishment needs to happen.

---Become best friends with the dean of discipline/assistant principal. These people will save you. Hopefully, if they're good. If they're no good, that makes your life harder. You should try to deal with as much stuff as possible in your class. Again, establishing rapport with the kids is key.

---I read somewhere that good teachers are highly compassionate and highly dominant. They communicate that they care about the kids and genuinely like the kids, and at the same time, it's clear that the teacher and not the kids are in charge of the classroom.

---You don't want them to be your friend. They should think Mr. Chatterjee is a serious teacher. We do work in that class. Do everything possible to ensure that your classroom is serious and work happens, and that you maintain high standards. It's so easy to give into the kids and to school and to all the messed up stuff around you. This sounds really easy, but you'll see what I'm talking about once you're in it. You communicate you care about the kids, when you do everything possible to make sure they have a good education, which means not giving in to their complaints. 

---They will always complain. Just say "Too bad, so sad." Don't take anything personally. They love saying, "This is boring." Again, too bad, so sad. They'll do whatever they can to get under your skin.

---Most of the time, like 95%, they're lying. Accept this fact and don't let them get out of stuff because of whatever story they make up. Sometimes they're grandma really did die. It's always a tough call. But if they're trying to get out of something, then most of the time they're lying. Don't look like a chump by believing everything. But then don't be an insensitive jerk if something really bad happened, because really bad stuff happens all the time. This is a balance, just like everything.

---Try to be as down as possible with everything. If I didn't speak Spanish, that would have been very, very bad because then I wouldn't have understood what they were saying in class. Pay attention to what they're saying. Don't be clueless. Start studying popular culture NOW. Listen to all the hard core hip hop stations. Know the songs, because they're going to be referring and alluding to them. Watch movies. Figure out all the ghetto lingo. Walk and drive around the neighborhood. Know about the McDonald's they go to after school. The BJ's they shop at. Etc. You want to pepper your lessons with stuff from their lives. "So when you go to Royal's, get X." Know streets, buildings, etc. The more you know about their world, the better. You'd be surprised how much this stuff helps in the classroom.

---Have eyes and ears in the back of your head. Just pay attention to everything. Be constantly vigilant. Just about every bad discipline problem could have been prevented. An adult's active presence is crucial. It's never really like the whole class just all started doing X. Someone started it. When you're vigilant, you can say "Tommy, you're going to start that again." And wow, you just saved yourself a ton of hassles.

---Kids love shows. They want to be entertained. School is boring. If they can upset the teacher, and make the teacher really mad and frustrated, so that they're cussing or even better crying, then that's fun. Do your best to show that they're not getting to you. Remain calm, and maintain an attitude like, I've seen this all before, and it'll pass. Because it will, especially if they don't get a reaction out of you.

6) Don't take anything personally. And try not to beat yourself up about things. |It's really easy to get into the "I suck" mentality. You will probably get really depressed, not just because you think your class will suck, but because of the harsh reality of life. The kids have really, really hard things they're dealing with, and it's really, really overwhelming. A big part of my depression the first year was coming to grips with the reality of most kids' situations. I had the opportunity to go to school in a stable environment with everything supporting me. It's really, really painful when you realize all the things your kids don't have, and how unfair everything in the world truly is.

7) Kids are fun. Don't ever lose your sense of humor. But try not to laugh when they're being obnoxious in class. (I always do, and that's probably really bad. But hey, it's how I cope.) Fall in love with the kids, and pray for them. I don't know if you're a religious person, but in tough situations, you'll realize that you can only do so much, God really needs to take care of the rest.

Feel free to e-mail me about anything. Veteran teachers have always saved me.

Just remember you're not alone. Every teacher has gone through this. . . And that you don't suck.

Good luck with everything,

Jane

Edward Said quote

A sense of citizenship and of critical awareness will allow you to see the whole of human history as a common enterprise, and not as a kind of Darwinian race for domination and supremacy.  Cultures are. . . in a state of continuing development and dynamic change. . . As citizens your obligation towards your community is also a commitment to the existence of other communities, and that is what the poet William Butler Yeats called the dialogue of self and soul in the dialogue taking place inside us as vigilant seekers after truth and justice, without which there can be no real education, no dialogue of cultures, no real understanding.

Edward W. Said, AUB Commencement Speech, June 2000

MainGate: American University of Beirut Quarterly Magazine, Fall 2006, Beirut, Lebanon, “From the AUB Archives: In War and Peace:” p. 39

A Desk Job

"Behind such a desk, a man resembles an invalid in an orthopaedic brace. He cannot stand up normally to shake hands, but must first disengage himself delicately from his chair and cautiously rise, attending more to the desk than the visitor, as it takes only a nudge for this rickety, spindly-legged contraption to collapse with a roar on to the parquet. The seriousness of a whole office disintegrates into sniggering when instead of an official enthroned behind a monumental sculptured desk it sees a crouching, cramped wretch imprisoned in a miniature cut-rate snare. I cannot suffer a desk!"

Ryszard Kapuscinski, The Soccer War, 1986, pp. 145-146

Black Application

Last year, my 9th grade students in the Bronx came up with an application to be black. Here it is:
(Thanks, Shakiaria, for giving me permission to post it.)
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Black Application

Name:

Mothers Address:

(usually Black Kids Dont Leave they mama house till they get kicked out) [age mim 3O+]

BBM pin: [Blackberry Messsenger] (Note : one aspect of being black is owning a BLACKBERRY ! if not pls run to your nearest phone store & Negotiate with the clerk .. Black ppl ALWAYS negotiate EVEN IF THE ITEM IS on sale .

1.Have You ever Shoplift? if so list how many times

2.How Many Times have you been arrested?

3.How Many warrants do you Have?

4. How Many Tickets Have You Not paid?

5. When is Your Next Court date?

6. Do You Have A Cousin Named Shaquana?

7.How Many R. Kelly CD's Do you Own?

8. Do You Use the Word "N-----" after every sentence?

9. Do You Drink a 4O with every Meal?

1O. Your Dream as a A Lil Kid, was 2 be in the NBA? (Guys ONLY)

11. Do You own a Frying Pan? (every black person Love to fry)

12. How Many ppl do u owe money to?

13. How Many Times have you changed your phone number
in a month?

14. How Many Baby Mothers Do You Have?

15. Do You feel there are kids out there you might not know about?

16. Do you Have a BJ's Membership Card? if Not Please go register for one A.S.A.P !

Please Be aware That Your Application would Not Be submitted if Your answers do Not Meet the required criteria!

Bonquisha Latique Laray Jackson
Supervisor of "I want 2 Be Black"offices

___________________________________________
There were other things in previous drafts that didn't make it to this final version:

17. How much watermelon is in your fridge?
18. What's your favorite chicken spot?
19. List all your family members--through birth or marriage, all halfs, steps, etc. (There were 3 pages for this part.)

New York City irony

The organizer of the African American Day Parade in Harlem (The Largest Black Parade is America) is Abe Snyder.

When they mentioned it at the community meeting (where I was the only white person out of a group of eight black people), I was the only one to display shock and dismay. They told me, "You must be new to the neighborhood."

Letter to the Editor of Time Magazine 9/20/2010

In response to the cover article, "How to Fix Our Schools" by Amanda Ripley. (The on-line version is abridged from the print version.)
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It seems that Ripley has missed the major debate in education since No Child Left Behind was passed in 2001. The research is showing that the accountability measures that she is heralding as saving the future of American education are not actually closing the achievement gap. Neither does she address the criticism of the unions concerning charter schools. The reason they do so well is because they don’t serve special-education students and English Language Learners-- populations that keep test scores down. They also keep kids in school for longer hours.

If we fire all the “bad” teachers, where are we going to find this reserve army of “good” ones? If we shut down all the schools, the one place where most of these students find stability in their lives, where are they going to go? A different over-crowded institution that has to start everything from scratch?

A massacre is not a massacre by Ghassan Hage

A massacre is not a massacre
Ghassan Hage, The Electronic Intifada, 3 June 2010

Occupation is not occupation (Anne Paq/ActiveStills)

I don't write poems but, in any case, poems are not poems.

Long ago, I was made to understand that Palestine was not Palestine;
I was also informed that Palestinians were not Palestinians;
They also explained to me that ethnic cleansing was not ethnic cleansing.
And when naive old me saw freedom fighters they patiently showed me that they were not freedom fighters, and that resistance was not resistance.
And when, stupidly, I noticed arrogance, oppression and humiliation they benevolently enlightened me so I can see that arrogance was not arrogance, oppression was not oppression, and humiliation was not humiliation.

I saw misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.
But they told me that they were experts in misery, racism, inhumanity and concentration camps and I have to take their word for it: this was not misery, racism, inhumanity and a concentration camp.
Over the years they've taught me so many things: invasion was not invasion, occupation was not occupation, colonialism was not colonialism and apartheid was not apartheid.

They opened my simple mind to even more complex truths that my poor brain could not on its own compute like: "having nuclear weapons" was not "having nuclear weapons," "not having weapons of mass destruction" was "having weapons of mass destruction."

And, democracy (in the Gaza Strip) was not democracy.
Having second class citizens (in Israel) was democracy.
So you'll excuse me if I am not surprised to learn today that there were more things that I thought were evident that are not: peace activists are not peace activists, piracy is not piracy, the massacre of unarmed people is not the massacre of unarmed people.

I have such a limited brain and my ignorance is unlimited.
And they're so fucking intelligent. Really.

Ghassan Hage is professor of anthropology and social theory at the University of Melbourne.

Chinese School vs. Black School vs. White School

African-American father to five-year-old daughter: You see? That's why I send you to a Chinese school. Because those Chinese kids know how to do math. You gotta know how to do math if you want to make something of yourself. If I sent you to a black school, you'd just turn into a crackhead. If I sent you to a white school, you'd turn into an asshole. But those Chinese kids, man, they know how to do shit.

--4 Train

From the blog Overheard in New York

A Sin And A Shame: Soul Voyeurism* And Harlem “Gospel Tours” [Racialigious]

Some quotes from a great article by Fiqah, originally published at Possum Stew
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. . .when the tourists watched the choir and the other attendees with that peculiar mixture of fascination, fear and envy that White people in spaces of color often seem to have.
 . . .

Here, an excerpt from an account by a  White tourist from London**  who went to a Harlem church specifically for the music:

I meet Tim Rawlins at the Memorial Baptist church choir practise. He’s rare proof of the fact that white men can sing gospel. He says I’ve got to surrender to the music – feel it – and forget I’m English.

That statement, which positively reeks of cultural fetishizing, gave me a headache. Forget you’re “English” (read: White and proper) and “surrender” (is it attacking you?) to the wild, untamed Black Black Blackity Blackness of the music. Hallelujah, let the Othering begin.

. . .
The unexamined sense of entitlement that accompanies the idea of White people being welcome in any space is the factor that makes these tours possible. (I’m fully convinced that if 100 casually-dressed and snap-happy Black Americans rolled up into a Lutheran church on a Sunday in Haarlem,  the ensuing outrage at their gall would cause an international incident…but I digress.)

Woman at Point Zero

Woman at Point Zero by Nawal El Saadawi (London: Zed Books Ltd, 1975.)

“I developed a love of books, for with every book I learned something new.  . . But I preferred books written about rulers.  I read about a ruler whose female servants and concubines were as numerous as his army, and about another whose only interests in life were wine, women, and whipping his slaves. A third cared little for women, but enjoyed wars, killing, and torturing men. Another of these rulers loved food, money and hoarding riches without end. Still another was possessed with such an admiration for himself and his greatness that for him no one else in the land existed. There was also a ruler so obsessed with plots and conspiracies that he spent all his time distorting the facts of history and trying to fool his people.

            I discovered that all these rulers were men. What they had in common was an avaricious and distorted personality, a never-ending appetite for money, sex and unlimited power. They were men who sowed corruption on the earth, and plundered their peoples, men endowed with loud voices, a capacity for persuasion, for choosing sweet words and shooting poisoned arrows. Thus, the truth about them was revealed only after their death, and as a result I discovered that history tended to repeat itself with a foolish obstinacy.” (26-27)

“After I had spent three years in the company, I realized that as a prostitute I had been looked upon with more respect, and been valued more highly than all the female employees, myself included . . . I came to realize that a female employee is more afraid of losing her job than a prostitute is of losing her life. An employee is scared of losing her job and becoming a prostitute because she does not understand that the prostitute’s life is in fact better than hers. And so she pays the price of her illusory fears with her life, her health, her body, and her mind.  She pays the highest price for things of the lowest value. I now knew that all of us were prostitutes who sold themselves at varying prices, and that an expensive prostitute was better than a cheap one. I also knew that if I lost my job, all I would lose with it was the miserable salary, the contempt I could read every day in the eyes of the higher level executives when they looked a the lesser female officials, the humiliating pressure of male bodies on mine when I rode in the bus, and the long morning queue in front of a perpetually overflowing toilet.” (75-76)

“But in love I gave all: my capabilities, my efforts, my feelings, my deepest emotions. Like a saint, I gave everything I had without ever counting the cost. I wanted nothing, nothing at all, except perhaps one thing. To be saved through love from it all. To find myself again, to recover the self I had lost. To become a human being who was not looked upon with scorn, or despised, but respected, and cherished and made to feel whole.” (86)

“My virtue, like the virtue of all those who are poor, could never be considered a quality, or an asset, but rather looked upon as a kind of stupidity, or simple-mindedness, to be despised even more than depravity or vice.” (86)

“The time had come for me to shed the last grain of virtue, the last drop of sanctity in my blood. Now I was aware of the reality, of the truth. Now I knew what I wanted. Now there was no room for illusions. A successful prostitute was better than a misled saint. All women are victims of deception. Men impose deception on women and punish them for being deceived, force them down to the lowest level and punish them for falling so low, bind them in marriage and then chastise them with menial service for life, or insults, or blows.

Now I realized that the least deluded of all women was the prostitute. That marriage was the system built on the most cruel suffering for women.” (86-87)

I hope for nothing

I want for nothing

I fear nothing

I am free. (87)

“Now I had learnt that honour required large sums of money to protect it, but that large sums of money could not be obtained without losing one’s honour. An infernal circle whirling round and round, dragging me up and down with it.” (91)

“. . .the lowest paid body is that of a wife. All women are prostitutes of one kind or another. Because I was intelligent I preferred to be a free prostitute, rather than an enslaved wife. . . Everybody has a price, and every profession is paid a salary. The more respectable the profession, the higher the salary, and a person’s price goes up as he climbs the social ladder. One day, when I donated some money to a charitable association, the newspaper published pictures of me and sang my praises as the model of a citizen with a sense of civic responsibility. And so from then on, whenever I needed a dose of honour or fame, I had only to draw some money from the bank.” (91)