Summary of last week
Monday: hell on earth. Crippling homesickness and barely resisting the urge to take my car right back to Wisconsin and never leave again.
Tuesday: Professional Development in Clarksdale all day about Classroom Management. Here, a bunch of delta teachers lamented the fact that any sort of classroom management system will not work with our kids unless it is school-wide. My takeaway? I'm doing things right and it's STILL NOT WORKING. I leave feeling that the day was only useful to give me a day off of teaching.
Wednesday: Kids are CRAZY. At the end of the school day, I'm so exhausted from trying to take control of my class that I can barely even see straight. I take a long walk down the bayou and have an angry tear-filled argument with God about why he chose to send me to the Delta, and wondering what change I can even make with these kids. Then, I get TWO text messages from friends back home telling me that they are praying for me and giving words of encouragement. The Lord has a great sense of timing sometimes. However, I can't help but acknowledge that these words of encouragement do not change the fact that I still have to go to school the next day.
Thursday: MIRACLE! As always happens, God shows me how completely out of control I am and how completely IN control he is. My kids are strangely quiet and respectful. I get through a whole day with less than normal fussing and disruptions. At the end of the day, I even have enough energy to hang out with a friend before lesson planning that night!
Friday: GLIMMER OF A NORMAL SCHOOL! On this day, our principal re-instates In School Detention (ISD). This heaven-sent policy means that if any kid gets referred to the office, they spend a length of time in ISD, not in class. It keeps them from being sent home, they work on assignments the whole time they are in ISD, and are yelled at by the school's master of discipline, a wonderful woman who usually is in the computer lab. They fear her and will NOT fool with her. Therefore, none of my kids want to be in ISD. THEY ARE ANGELS. All I have to do is threaten to send them to ISD and they shape up. On this day, I experience the holy grail of teaching- complete silence. I can grade while students silently work on their assignments, and I leave for the weekend with a manageable pile of grading, and hoping that this dream continues.
I know that this whole ISD miracle probably won't last very long, but I can hope that it will at least last until Christmas. I have one week of instruction left and then a week of review and 9 weeks tests. Then, I will be making the long drive back to Wisconsin for a 2 week respite. Right now, life is bearable (thank the Lord!).
