Adolescence is always looked upon as a difficult stage in any young persons life, because it is a period of rapid change. A loss of innocence and freedom puts kids in various crossroads when choosing what kind of identity they want to fulfill as young adults. They are given higher expectations and more responsibility, yet still instructed to obey to the orders instructed by authority figures. Its a confusing time, but especially complex for the female student.
Being a girl in the 21st century has its perks and disadvantages. The uprising of technology has made completing school assignments much easier. Transportation is more advanced, innovations in and outside of homes make thinks easier to use and niftier to play with. But all this digitization also makes escaping social standards difficult as well. It seems that the Internet and constant communication takes away from any person's time alone with just their own thoughts. People don't always take a quiet moment to reflect on things anymore, or to really THINK matters about the world through. Rather, we are calling, texting, IMing or chatting with others their age, always looking for a second opinion, always seeking an opportunity to converse.
It could be the persons desire to receive affirmation from another. Without being available, there would be no way to gain acknowledgement or acceptance. Your have to be seen to get noticed. Always ready. Anytime, anywhere. Even in school.
School has become a battleground for many growing girls. There is not only tremendous pressure to meet the academic expectations set by teachers and parents, but in hitting a certain age there is social expectations as well. Freud has a theory about a child's "Latency period" a stage where "during the latency period, children pour this repressed libidal energy into asexual pursuits such as school, athletics, and same-sex friendships." This comes right before puberty, and the confusion of hormones and sexual desires begin to confuse and distract the individual. In the prepubescent period, girls act more like their true selves without having deal with the burden of worrying to please anyone but themselves. "But soon puberty strikes, and the genitals once again become a central focus of libidal energy." In this stage, once girls begin to develop sexual feelings for the opposite (or same) sex, things like appearance and acceptance become more of the central concern.
Because girls are raised in a culture where the mass media promotes constant double standards and unrealistic portrays of beauty, these young gurls resport to mimicking the dangerous actions of the unstable role modles they see on T.V. and in fashion magazines. They are brainswashed to beleive they must use a certain product, have a certain style and look a certain way in order to fit in and overall, be happy with their lives. At school doesn't prompt them to believe anything else since they are told what to do there too.
Conforming becomes a scarpegoat from the constant badgering of keeping up in school, because its easier to gossip then write a 5 page paper. But if girls were encouraged to express themselves more and follow their passions, maybe they wouldn't need to seek affirmation from one another when they fall short with their parents at teachers.
Authority figures need to be more realistic with the boundreies they give their followers, because by pushing them too hard they might completely push them to unhealthy rebellion.
For girls this is especially hard due to their sensitivity and fragile ego's. Girls are told from a young age that their role in this society is to be the damsil in distress, to wait for a strong handsome man to save and marry them, and then to have their children. Men are encouraged to be successful, power hungry and beings that embody masculinity. Gender roles are a bit scewed and this effects the way girls look at themselves and their futures greatly.
Some girls become people pleasers, not really listening to themselves for guidance. They go to extreme measures to fit the social norms, which could potentially by harmful to their heath and overall wellness. Our girls are being raised in toxic enviornments, and that may be why some grow depressed and unstable.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Hw 50: Reading Responses
Andy Snyder: "we need others to help us become ourselves."
Gatto's The 6 Lessons School Teacher:
The first passage I read was one of the Gatto articles about the 6 lessons. I wasn't sure at first if he was being sarcastic or if he actually enforced such ridiculous standards at school. And yet, his article spoke a lot of (blunt) truth about the institution of school and how it is constructed to keep proper order and obedience in order for the students to complete an adequate education. Even though we (as students) are constantly reminded how lucky we are to have opportunities to go to school and make something of ourselves, we never really get a say in whether we agree with the techniques teachers use to teach us. It seems somewhat unfair that its its mandatory to attend school when in fact school many not be for everyone. It appears that Gatto was trying to expose in a humorous manner how school is labeled to serve one purpose and in retrospect completes a totally different one.
In his very first lesson, Gatto explains how he's not just hired to teach a subject, rather to somehow hypnotise kids into following the rules that come with going to school. "My job is to make the kids like it -- being locked in together...You come to know your place." Its as if he's saying that he wants to convince them that they WANT to be there, as if somehow it was their free will to sit in a classroom all day because they're working towards a bigger more enriched goal of being a great student. Doing well in school usually equals out to being a good citizen, good future spouse and parent. Its hard to go against these standards because we're so easily influenced by it. And yet, by enforcing these rules it takes away a persons free will to choose what they want, to be independent and a "free thinker" (like that Keaton was trying to teach in the Dead Poets society). From an early age, if a child disagrees with a teacher, they are labeled disobedient and troubled. But is that really an accurate assumption anymore? Not all children can agree with one teacher.
This was a bit hard to endure: "I never lie outright, but I've come to see that truth and [school]teaching are incompatible."
I've come to realize that teachers must uphold this superior image to their students at all time because if they are taken off the pedestal that their students have them on, then they won't have as much influence to get away with whatever they teach. Not many students at an early age have the audacity to question a teacher, or just plain go against what they say. This makes it easier to teach a lesson, but it also creates a generation of people who are a slave to authority figures, who might not be able to think for themselves as much. If the aim is always to please others, then how will that student ever achieve personal happiness? Like Gatto said, schools "whose hidden curriculum prevents effective personality development."
When he discusses about the absurdities of school, he really pinpoints how each class that differs in topic and curriculum happens to be given the same intervals of time, as if expected to be taught identically even though they serve completely unique purposes to the student. How can you compress all sorts of classes into the same time periods? Why do students so easily accept it? Is it because the consequences for go against the person who holds the outcome of your (academic) fate lies in their hands, and so you must tip tow around their demands?
This was quite an informative piece and it makes me see school in a completely different light. Although I really do adore all of my teachers this year, its funny for they all differ in teaching techniques and how I preform differently in each subject. Although my favorite classes are English and History, I feel more pressure to do better in Science and Math because the consequences of falling behind are greater thanks to the authority of those teachers. Even so, I get more out of the classes that don't demand homework completion by the next day, and have much more insightful conversations with my peers because I'm given the freedom to do so. It seems that when I was given to freedom to choose if I want to do well, I felt more empowered when I actually did.
The paragraphs to follow the 6 Lesson descriptions were the most telling because Gatto really identified the dangers of schools run like this, and how the only way to avoid such corruption is home schooling, or small de-institutionalized schools, which I think you could describe SOF as one of them. But unfortunately, low income families can't afford to home school their kids and a lot of them will resort to institutions that categorize and label their students by their backgrounds, leaving them with fewer opportunities to excel beyond the lifestyle their parents had. Its all pretty discouraging and sad.
I blame this culture. I strongly believe that due to the toxic values out culture produces, kids are going to end up leading the same meaningless lives they see characters on TV leading. School's subconscious lessons teach kids to not become good listeners who take direction well and don't question the things their told. In the workplace, they will be expected to encompass these same qualities, never really accomplishing anything for themselves. Because students are so drained from a long day of they're minds being pushed and pulled by different dictators, they go home and partake in pop culture garbage by watching trashy t.v. shows, listening to degrading music and buying conformist outfits in order to be perfect little raunchy culture cloans. Its as if we aren't given many other alternatives since hardly anyone tells students to think for themselves. We just do what we're told because there isn't any other way to survive in this society.
John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech
This next article from Gatto confirmed the last point I made about his 6 Lessons article; that our culture is flawed in many respects. Something is wrong, due to the fact that there are so many teenage suicides (like the 3 at Cornell last month) and why 50% of marriages are prone to fail. Something must be off with the decisions people make, with their relationships and with their lack of faith in humanity and life. What can be done to make Americans more optimistic about learning, loving and life? Does it really all start with the schools?
Most memorable quotes from this text-
"Using school as a sorting mechanism we appear to be on the way to creating a caste system, complete with untouchables who wander through subway trains begging and sleep on the streets."
At my old school we had gifted and non gifted classes. I was in the gifted from 4th grade on. Even though Binta an exceptional student, she was in the non gifted all of her years at our elementary school. And Charles was too. A majority of the students in the non gifted were caucasian and oriental, with some exceptions
"The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." Gatto repeatedly makes this point throughout all of the articles I've read. From the very beginning, the very first day we enter elementary school we are expected to follow the instructions of the teacher who are put in charge of us. This doesn't seem too uncommon since we had been taking orders from our parents all the days leading up to schooling. But when is the age when we are too old to keep taking orders, when we are fully developed enough to think for ourselves? It seems like the government decides that age is 18, where you don't need the consent of a legal guardian, when you are officially considered an adult. But must our rights really be scarcely seen before then? Are we doomed for any individuality until our 18th birthdays?
"The homeschooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents, last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even 10 years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think."
"Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behaviour can be predicted and controlled."
"It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to sit in confinement with people of exactly the same age and social class. "
"-lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a philosophy, all of them are additions of dependent personalities and that is what our brand of schooling must inevitably produce."
Interview with Tim Manley:
Mr. Manly, my English teacher, came in to discuss his experience with schools and his transition from being the student to becoming a teacher. He didn't seems to have the traditional story that most other teachers have. He didn't always want to work in education, rather he just kind of fell into it. But overall he says its a very rewarding job that he feel fortunate to have especially since he engages in such insightful conversations with such smart people.
I thought he was being a bit too modest when he refereed to his position here as a great one, but then when he discussed the comparison of SOF to another school he taught at, I realized how much the students here differ from those at other schools. Our learning environment is quite complex, which may be why most students from SOF go on to liberal arts colleges.
Mr. Manley told us a story about teaching at some science school were he was hired at as a grammar teacher, that entailed solely teaching grammar strategies. He described it as being sheer agony to go to work everyday and just talk about grammar. He also informed us that his superiors instructed him to never get personal with his students. To not give any leeway into his outside of school life, and never ask them about theirs. This being pretty abnormal since Manley usually has a story to tell from his childhood in our English class, and on very special occasions has a viewing of a video he made when he was in high school.
It seem unfortunate that students at that school aren't allowed to think of their teachers as cool people, rather just as informative robots whose role is just as the person who has the power to give them a good grade or not. They are missing out on so much, and yet Manly said they were so "well behaved." It seemed like because they were so concerned with doing well, they never actually had the option of being themselves.
The one advantage Manley admitted to having by teaching at the other school was having all his students hand in their assignments, which is not as common at SOF. This got me wondering about whether the freedom to still learn without doing homework is better then achieving that good grade which may help an individual get into a better college, which could amount to a better future.
Which is better, current happiness or working towards future happiness? Living in the moment verse working for the future?
In conclusion, Manley said he values the opportunities he has to really get to know his students on a deep and person level. He says it makes waking up every morning to teach four classes a lot easier because he himself enjoys what he's doing, and feels his students enjoys themselves too.
Gatto's The 6 Lessons School Teacher:
The first passage I read was one of the Gatto articles about the 6 lessons. I wasn't sure at first if he was being sarcastic or if he actually enforced such ridiculous standards at school. And yet, his article spoke a lot of (blunt) truth about the institution of school and how it is constructed to keep proper order and obedience in order for the students to complete an adequate education. Even though we (as students) are constantly reminded how lucky we are to have opportunities to go to school and make something of ourselves, we never really get a say in whether we agree with the techniques teachers use to teach us. It seems somewhat unfair that its its mandatory to attend school when in fact school many not be for everyone. It appears that Gatto was trying to expose in a humorous manner how school is labeled to serve one purpose and in retrospect completes a totally different one.
In his very first lesson, Gatto explains how he's not just hired to teach a subject, rather to somehow hypnotise kids into following the rules that come with going to school. "My job is to make the kids like it -- being locked in together...You come to know your place." Its as if he's saying that he wants to convince them that they WANT to be there, as if somehow it was their free will to sit in a classroom all day because they're working towards a bigger more enriched goal of being a great student. Doing well in school usually equals out to being a good citizen, good future spouse and parent. Its hard to go against these standards because we're so easily influenced by it. And yet, by enforcing these rules it takes away a persons free will to choose what they want, to be independent and a "free thinker" (like that Keaton was trying to teach in the Dead Poets society). From an early age, if a child disagrees with a teacher, they are labeled disobedient and troubled. But is that really an accurate assumption anymore? Not all children can agree with one teacher.
This was a bit hard to endure: "I never lie outright, but I've come to see that truth and [school]teaching are incompatible."
I've come to realize that teachers must uphold this superior image to their students at all time because if they are taken off the pedestal that their students have them on, then they won't have as much influence to get away with whatever they teach. Not many students at an early age have the audacity to question a teacher, or just plain go against what they say. This makes it easier to teach a lesson, but it also creates a generation of people who are a slave to authority figures, who might not be able to think for themselves as much. If the aim is always to please others, then how will that student ever achieve personal happiness? Like Gatto said, schools "whose hidden curriculum prevents effective personality development."
When he discusses about the absurdities of school, he really pinpoints how each class that differs in topic and curriculum happens to be given the same intervals of time, as if expected to be taught identically even though they serve completely unique purposes to the student. How can you compress all sorts of classes into the same time periods? Why do students so easily accept it? Is it because the consequences for go against the person who holds the outcome of your (academic) fate lies in their hands, and so you must tip tow around their demands?
This was quite an informative piece and it makes me see school in a completely different light. Although I really do adore all of my teachers this year, its funny for they all differ in teaching techniques and how I preform differently in each subject. Although my favorite classes are English and History, I feel more pressure to do better in Science and Math because the consequences of falling behind are greater thanks to the authority of those teachers. Even so, I get more out of the classes that don't demand homework completion by the next day, and have much more insightful conversations with my peers because I'm given the freedom to do so. It seems that when I was given to freedom to choose if I want to do well, I felt more empowered when I actually did.
The paragraphs to follow the 6 Lesson descriptions were the most telling because Gatto really identified the dangers of schools run like this, and how the only way to avoid such corruption is home schooling, or small de-institutionalized schools, which I think you could describe SOF as one of them. But unfortunately, low income families can't afford to home school their kids and a lot of them will resort to institutions that categorize and label their students by their backgrounds, leaving them with fewer opportunities to excel beyond the lifestyle their parents had. Its all pretty discouraging and sad.
I blame this culture. I strongly believe that due to the toxic values out culture produces, kids are going to end up leading the same meaningless lives they see characters on TV leading. School's subconscious lessons teach kids to not become good listeners who take direction well and don't question the things their told. In the workplace, they will be expected to encompass these same qualities, never really accomplishing anything for themselves. Because students are so drained from a long day of they're minds being pushed and pulled by different dictators, they go home and partake in pop culture garbage by watching trashy t.v. shows, listening to degrading music and buying conformist outfits in order to be perfect little raunchy culture cloans. Its as if we aren't given many other alternatives since hardly anyone tells students to think for themselves. We just do what we're told because there isn't any other way to survive in this society.
John Gatto: Teacher of the Year Acceptance Speech
This next article from Gatto confirmed the last point I made about his 6 Lessons article; that our culture is flawed in many respects. Something is wrong, due to the fact that there are so many teenage suicides (like the 3 at Cornell last month) and why 50% of marriages are prone to fail. Something must be off with the decisions people make, with their relationships and with their lack of faith in humanity and life. What can be done to make Americans more optimistic about learning, loving and life? Does it really all start with the schools?
Most memorable quotes from this text-
"Using school as a sorting mechanism we appear to be on the way to creating a caste system, complete with untouchables who wander through subway trains begging and sleep on the streets."
At my old school we had gifted and non gifted classes. I was in the gifted from 4th grade on. Even though Binta an exceptional student, she was in the non gifted all of her years at our elementary school. And Charles was too. A majority of the students in the non gifted were caucasian and oriental, with some exceptions
"The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders." Gatto repeatedly makes this point throughout all of the articles I've read. From the very beginning, the very first day we enter elementary school we are expected to follow the instructions of the teacher who are put in charge of us. This doesn't seem too uncommon since we had been taking orders from our parents all the days leading up to schooling. But when is the age when we are too old to keep taking orders, when we are fully developed enough to think for ourselves? It seems like the government decides that age is 18, where you don't need the consent of a legal guardian, when you are officially considered an adult. But must our rights really be scarcely seen before then? Are we doomed for any individuality until our 18th birthdays?
"The homeschooling movement has quietly grown to a size where one and a half million young people are being educated entirely by their own parents, last month the education press reported the amazing news that children schooled at home seem to be five or even 10 years ahead of their formally trained peers in their ability to think."
"Schools are intended to produce through the application of formulae, formulaic human beings whose behaviour can be predicted and controlled."
"It is absurd and anti-life to be part of a system that compels you to sit in confinement with people of exactly the same age and social class. "
"-lives devoted to buying things, accumulation as a philosophy, all of them are additions of dependent personalities and that is what our brand of schooling must inevitably produce."
Interview with Tim Manley:
Mr. Manly, my English teacher, came in to discuss his experience with schools and his transition from being the student to becoming a teacher. He didn't seems to have the traditional story that most other teachers have. He didn't always want to work in education, rather he just kind of fell into it. But overall he says its a very rewarding job that he feel fortunate to have especially since he engages in such insightful conversations with such smart people.
I thought he was being a bit too modest when he refereed to his position here as a great one, but then when he discussed the comparison of SOF to another school he taught at, I realized how much the students here differ from those at other schools. Our learning environment is quite complex, which may be why most students from SOF go on to liberal arts colleges.
Mr. Manley told us a story about teaching at some science school were he was hired at as a grammar teacher, that entailed solely teaching grammar strategies. He described it as being sheer agony to go to work everyday and just talk about grammar. He also informed us that his superiors instructed him to never get personal with his students. To not give any leeway into his outside of school life, and never ask them about theirs. This being pretty abnormal since Manley usually has a story to tell from his childhood in our English class, and on very special occasions has a viewing of a video he made when he was in high school.
It seem unfortunate that students at that school aren't allowed to think of their teachers as cool people, rather just as informative robots whose role is just as the person who has the power to give them a good grade or not. They are missing out on so much, and yet Manly said they were so "well behaved." It seemed like because they were so concerned with doing well, they never actually had the option of being themselves.
The one advantage Manley admitted to having by teaching at the other school was having all his students hand in their assignments, which is not as common at SOF. This got me wondering about whether the freedom to still learn without doing homework is better then achieving that good grade which may help an individual get into a better college, which could amount to a better future.
Which is better, current happiness or working towards future happiness? Living in the moment verse working for the future?
In conclusion, Manley said he values the opportunities he has to really get to know his students on a deep and person level. He says it makes waking up every morning to teach four classes a lot easier because he himself enjoys what he's doing, and feels his students enjoys themselves too.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Hw 49: Savior/Teacher film Reflection
My class had the pleasure of having Gavin and Esther as our director and film maker, so of course our video came out really well. A mix of Gavin's script and Ester's nearly professional edits helped our film encompass everything we were aiming to achieve. With Will as the highly distressed teacher who just "snaps" one day, and Aja as the observant student, the storyline became a plot that told the tale of how not all teachers can be saviors like they fantasize about.
In the video, I was one of many disobedient students in the class who helped instigate altercations between the teachers and the rebellious student, played by Evan and his lil brat pack of followers. Like many schools, there are the students who wish to excel by being the apple of the teachers eye, and those who couldn't care less about anything. Like we've been reading from Gatto's 6 Lessons, its the teachers job to get the kids to like, or at least endure, being stuck in the classroom. He's expected to enforce authority over a classroom of various differing personalities and somehow have them all act the same by being engaged in his lectures.
I think our film shows that this is a rather unrealistic expectation that not every teacher can fulfill. What makes our film different, though, is that rather then the teacher letting his personal life affect his teaching tactics like displayed in most other movies, this teacher gives into impulse.
He no longer sees his classroom as a place of learning, rather he turns it into his own personal domain. He lets his true colors show and doesn't put on a fake fascad, since clearly no student was doing such for him.
He indulges in a drink while his class is in session, and takes the time to give his most difficult students a piece of his mind. He goes off about where he really sees them going with their lives, I think in order to give them a dose of reality. I really enjoyed Will's performance in this part of the film, he did a great job of being a hard ass who meant every word he was saying to Evan's character. I also think the lines were brilliant, because its true that most kids care too much about meaningless crap rather then trying to appreciate the education they're being offered.
In this culture, in order to get by you have to follow the orders your given or else you'll be seen as a trouble maker. Not to say that this is the only way to succeed, or that its right, but never the less without obedience nothing will get done. I think you have to somehow be apart of the system in order to truly fight the system. But the kids in our film just flat out resisted the system, rather then using it to their advantage to get by, but was pretty ignorant of them. Will's character was right to share how he saw them in their futures, because thats whats can happen for most of the students who don't put any thought into their school work.
It seems the teacher just wanted to get through to his students, to share some knowledge with them that might help them become more then the superficial robots they currently were. By only being engaged in their digital devices all the time rather then engaging in something intellectual or meaningful, they were passing up an opportunity to have good careers and fulfilling lives.
In the end, the teacher kind of just gave up on his students, which I think made him a bad teacher. Like we've been learning, when a teacher cares the students to better. But when a teacher gives in and shuts down, whats left for the student to do but believe that they can make any adult go crazy. The teacher is supposed to set an example for the students who rely on him for guidance. All he taught them now was that when the going gets tough, the though gets drinking.
The moral of the film, to me, was that you must want to learn in order to truly learn. Your can't force change onto anyone who doesn't want it. But when enough people express how little they care, it can ruin the hope for others. By the students not caring the teacher just lost faith and all hope in them, which is a quality a teacher should NEVER have.
There can only be salvation if all parties want it.
Wills character seemed like the villain in one sense, and human in another.
In the video, I was one of many disobedient students in the class who helped instigate altercations between the teachers and the rebellious student, played by Evan and his lil brat pack of followers. Like many schools, there are the students who wish to excel by being the apple of the teachers eye, and those who couldn't care less about anything. Like we've been reading from Gatto's 6 Lessons, its the teachers job to get the kids to like, or at least endure, being stuck in the classroom. He's expected to enforce authority over a classroom of various differing personalities and somehow have them all act the same by being engaged in his lectures.
I think our film shows that this is a rather unrealistic expectation that not every teacher can fulfill. What makes our film different, though, is that rather then the teacher letting his personal life affect his teaching tactics like displayed in most other movies, this teacher gives into impulse.
He no longer sees his classroom as a place of learning, rather he turns it into his own personal domain. He lets his true colors show and doesn't put on a fake fascad, since clearly no student was doing such for him.
He indulges in a drink while his class is in session, and takes the time to give his most difficult students a piece of his mind. He goes off about where he really sees them going with their lives, I think in order to give them a dose of reality. I really enjoyed Will's performance in this part of the film, he did a great job of being a hard ass who meant every word he was saying to Evan's character. I also think the lines were brilliant, because its true that most kids care too much about meaningless crap rather then trying to appreciate the education they're being offered.
In this culture, in order to get by you have to follow the orders your given or else you'll be seen as a trouble maker. Not to say that this is the only way to succeed, or that its right, but never the less without obedience nothing will get done. I think you have to somehow be apart of the system in order to truly fight the system. But the kids in our film just flat out resisted the system, rather then using it to their advantage to get by, but was pretty ignorant of them. Will's character was right to share how he saw them in their futures, because thats whats can happen for most of the students who don't put any thought into their school work.
It seems the teacher just wanted to get through to his students, to share some knowledge with them that might help them become more then the superficial robots they currently were. By only being engaged in their digital devices all the time rather then engaging in something intellectual or meaningful, they were passing up an opportunity to have good careers and fulfilling lives.
In the end, the teacher kind of just gave up on his students, which I think made him a bad teacher. Like we've been learning, when a teacher cares the students to better. But when a teacher gives in and shuts down, whats left for the student to do but believe that they can make any adult go crazy. The teacher is supposed to set an example for the students who rely on him for guidance. All he taught them now was that when the going gets tough, the though gets drinking.
The moral of the film, to me, was that you must want to learn in order to truly learn. Your can't force change onto anyone who doesn't want it. But when enough people express how little they care, it can ruin the hope for others. By the students not caring the teacher just lost faith and all hope in them, which is a quality a teacher should NEVER have.
There can only be salvation if all parties want it.
Wills character seemed like the villain in one sense, and human in another.
Monday, April 12, 2010
Hw 48- Treatment for Savior/ Teacher Movie
"Sean (teacher) held his eyes closed, trying to listen to the tranquil voice of the man coming from his portable CD player that he kept on a chair next to his desk.
He was sitting in front of the window on the far left of his classroom, a yoga mat underneath him while he tried to tone out the noises from he crowded hallway. He heard a bird chirp and opened his right eye to peer out the window, closing in as the bird flew from a blossoming tree branch. He smiled.
He peeked at the clock from his peripherals, even though he knew it was any moment that his 16 and 17 year old students would come bursting in, breaking the almost silence.
As Chad passed, he could smell the strong scent of liquor on his breath as he screamed out a prejudice joke to the small Jewish boy in front of him. An instant flash back to his own adolescent days came rushing back to Sean, as he tried to take a moment and keep his cool.
He was sitting in front of the window on the far left of his classroom, a yoga mat underneath him while he tried to tone out the noises from he crowded hallway. He heard a bird chirp and opened his right eye to peer out the window, closing in as the bird flew from a blossoming tree branch. He smiled.
He peeked at the clock from his peripherals, even though he knew it was any moment that his 16 and 17 year old students would come bursting in, breaking the almost silence.
As Chad passed, he could smell the strong scent of liquor on his breath as he screamed out a prejudice joke to the small Jewish boy in front of him. An instant flash back to his own adolescent days came rushing back to Sean, as he tried to take a moment and keep his cool.
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