The Kids are Alright

I dragged my lazy butt up to the Bronx this morning [not until about 9:30am, but still, that seems early now] to visit my former students and colleagues at school. Seriously, I don't know how I did that job for three years. After two hours in the halls and cafeteria, I was wiped out.

The first kids I saw were Chanya and Cammy, who came flying down the hallway at warp speed with their arms up in the air going MISS _____!!! WE MISSED YOUUUUUU! which was very endearing and cute and they immediately launched into a detailed account of the drama they are involved in this week, including but not limited to the new "hottie" ELA teacher [or was it math? not sure], how Tasha is STILL in their class and should have "never passed the sixth grade," and how Shantia moved away, but now Dena and Shonelle are trying to "front with them." They made it very clear that now that I am gone, "nobody listens to them!!" I am quite sure that this isn't the case--or at least that the reason they miss me is because I was a total sucker and let them bombard me with adolescent drama and doled out encouraging advice while letting them skip class--partially because it makes for good writing material and partially because I remember how NO ONE would listen to me when I was little and you feel invisible when you are in junior high. A side note... apparently Chanya was placed in the sixth grade during week one and somehow, miraculously, was promoted to seventh grade by week two. Boy she must have learned a LOT in those first four days!

Chanya and Cammy disappeared into the bathroom and along came T-Rex who is at least six feet tall now. Apparently he broke his leg this summer and couldn't play baseball and I told him "at least now you have a cool walk" because he kinda dragged his leg like he was all gangsta-ish. He said his new teacher is a man and "doesn't like him" they way I did. Which was interesting considering I spent so much of my time last year dealing with disciplining him. It's always amazing to realize when a kid has noticed that you are "dealing with them" because you care about them and not because you are just mean. Hindsight is so romantic and nostalgiac for children--they have no recollection of the bad stuff.

Nat was still in his giant sweatshirt with the hood pulled over his head and the sleeves down over his hands even though it was about 95 degrees in the building,and when I went to shake his hand, I insisted he pull his sleeve off of his hand for an actual handshake and he got all bashful and shook his head no--I think I embarrased him. Jarod, who has not grown at all, stood on his tippy-toes and tried to show me how he was now my height and he kept using Orlando's shoulder to jump up in the air so he was taller. Orlando told me all about his track medals he won this summer and he shaved his head [no more braids] I suggested perhaps it made him run faster and he was thrilled with the notion that his head was now more aero-dynamic. Kenny must have hugged me six times and apologized profusely for not emailing me more often because he was too busy with his homework. I met some of the new teachers who seemed nice and overheard a story about a confiscated note talking about sixth graders f*cking. Glad to see some things are still the same...

Mostly I had to explain to my homeroom kids why I wasn't teaching anymore. I explained how I am in school now as a student and that by the time I'm done with school, they wont even be in middle school anymore [God save us if they still are], and so even if I came back to teach there, they would be in high school already. This seemed to work as an explanation but I felt guilty since I was basically lying to avoid having conversations about why I left teaching which is clearly bothering me a lot since I have been dreaming about my students constantly. I suppose I could channel this guilt into concentrating more on my work and getting involved in schools in some other capacity while I'm getting my degree, but it is ultimately sad to think that I wont have my "own" students anymore. I'll stop being such a whiner now.

After checking out my old classroom, I visited with a bunch of my girls in the sweaty sweaty lunchroom, pissed off the new "dean" at our school [where was she last year?!?!] because I caused a significant amount of chaos by walking around the cafeteria with something of an entourage of former students hanging on me. Finally, I broke up an almost-catfight, visited with MFT in her "office," chatted with my principal, and hit the road to come back to school and do my work.

And now for 50 pages of Das Kapital [thankfully, not in German].