Coffee Shops

I've started drinking coffee. If you know me at all, you realize the giant step this is. There are just some mornings that a medium coffee with cream and sugar from Dunkin' Donuts is a necessity. I don't drink it every day, but I drink it often enough to realize that I should probably invest in a coffee pot or French press and make my own coffee in the morning.

I also watch a whole lot of "How I Met Your Mother" with my roommate. But that's not so surprising.

It's been a crazy week. School is so chaotic still. We like to blame the strike, but eventually we have to realize that it's bigger than that. There is a lot of crap going on in the school and the city politically that is still effecting our classrooms, which sucks. We can hardly promise a stable environment to our kids if we can't promise we'll be teaching them tomorrow. Very frustrating.

You know what else is frustrating? No locally owned coffee shops within walking distance of my apartment. At least not close walking distance. I had to take a 10 minute ride on the bus and walk 6 more blocks to get to the coffee shop I'm at this afternoon. But, it's better than Starbucks. Not cheaper, but better. I'd much rather support a local coffee shop than a huge corporate coffee chain. Plus, sometimes getting out of my neighborhood is a necessity.

Want to know an interesting fact about my neighborhood? Three blocks from my apartment is the original Playboy Mansion. I didn't even know the original was in Chicago, let alone so close to me. Not that it really matters one way or the other, but I thought it was interesting.

The walls in this coffee shop are really white... Sorry, distraction.

I think I'm going to give highlights of the last week. Sounds like a good idea.

Monday: Story Tellers Writing Workshop. The theatre that Andrew has his internship meets at a local bar on certain Monday nights and write. It was great to have a reason to write, not that I need reasons, but I don't often give myself reasons. And I love listening to other people's stories.

Tuesday: I made fresh peach pie. It was delicious. Also, Adholl invited me to the JV soccer game. I couldn't go, and they didn't actually play, but it was nice to be invited.

Wednesday: I taught my first class, kind of. At times my cooperating teacher jumped in to help me. It went well, for the most part.

Thursday: I taught my second class, all the way through. It was pretty exciting. Nicolas, one of the problem students, did all of his assignment for me. Success!

Friday: I went to a dress rehearsal for a low key opera. The opera itself was sub-par, at best. But it was nice to be back in a technical theatre environment. Made me miss it, a lot.

Saturday: I took a nap. It was lovely. And I spent the evening dancing with some really great people.

Sunday: A lazy morning and a productive afternoon. It's closing in on four o'clock, and I got done the majority of my to do list. That always feels good.

I think that's enough for now. I will be better about posting more regularly. Or at least I will try.

Until next time.

Learning to Teach

Back to school. This has been a very. . .interesting week.

Wednesday kind of felt like the first day of school all over again, except a lot louder, due to the fact that the freshmen timidness had started to wear off. There was lots of questions about the strike, lots of shrugs when I asked if they were excited to be back, lots of smiles when they thought I wasn't looking.

I feel as though I'm learning so much more than the kids are. So, due to the lack of lists as of late, here's one for you. All the things I've learned at school this week:

1. My boys are crazy, but oh, how I love them. They are so entertaining. I find myself overhearing things, giving them disapproving glances, then smiling as I walk away. It's terribly hard for me to reprimand something that's so fricking funny.

2. Schools are ridiculous. There is so much chaos, so many issues that teachers have to deal with. Especially this year. They are still fixing student schedules, figuring out what teachers are supposed to have what class, finding rooms for all the classes. Things that really should have been figured out, but aren't.

3. The longer I linger in the school after the day is over, the fewer students I have to ride the bus with. Trust me, that is a good thing to learn.

4. High heels are not great teacher shoes. But boy, are they cute.

5. The kids are still trying to figure out how they feel about me. Which is fine. I think we've gotten over the, "What the fuck does this girl want?" phase. Now I think they just laugh at me. Which is also fine.

6. Silence is golden. It really, really is. And doesn't come around very often.

7. Eighth period is crazy. Absolutely no focus whatsoever.

8. I really, really do like freshmen. They are wonderful.

9. I already have my favorites. And they're the ornery ones, of course. 

10. I really, really do like teaching. This week. We'll see what next week brings.

Until next time.

Striking Ending

The strike is officially over. Tomorrow morning I will be among the lucky ones who get to board the buses and go to school! I haven't been this excited about school in a long time! So, so thankful. 

This weekend I offered to write an article for our campus newspaper, The Beacon. In celebration of the end of strike, I decided to post it here. It's earlier than when The Beacon is published, but in the grand scheme of things, not many people on my campus will read it here before they read it there. 

So, here it is, my opinion article on the Chicago Teacher's strike that officially is over.

First week of school. I was in a high school with approximately the same number of students that walk NWC’s campus. There were 150 some odd freshmen passing through our classroom. I was attempting to learn names; they were re-learning how to go to school. 

And then the walk out happened. After four days of school, teachers were outside holding signs and chanting, rather than inside the classroom teaching. Students were not in the classrooms. And I was not fulfilling my student teaching requirements. Slightly problematic on all accounts. 

If you listen to the main stream media, chances are the teachers and union are being cast in some pretty dim light. They are “depraving students of learning opportunities, being unfair in their demands, asking for too much,” etc.

There is a lot of misinformation out there. From my experience, very few teachers really wanted to strike. Most saw this as a last resort. Negotiations had been in the works since last November and getting nowhere fast. 

As I walked down the streets of downtown Chicago engulfed in a sea of red shirts and picket signs Monday afternoon, there were some words of wisdom being held that say it better than I do:

“I’m doing this to get rich,” said NO teacher ever.

Teacher’s working conditions = Student’s learning conditions

1/29^th of my time isn’t good enough. 

You can’t but students first if you put teachers last. 

The Chicago teachers are getting a lot of backlash from a lot of people who don’t take the time to get the facts. It doesn’t matter what side you stand on, as long as you do your research and know what’s going on. 

As for me, I’m standing with the teachers. They are fighting for their rights, for the student’s well being. And they are fighting for my future in this city, a fight that legally I’m not allowed to be a part of as a student teacher. 

Yes, it is a crappy situation. Parents are scrambling for child care, teenagers are at home bored, teachers are chanting in the streets. But despite all this, it has been beautiful to see a huge population of Chicago come together, strong and united. Not just teachers supporting teachers, but students and parents and community members supporting teachers. My favorite was the firemen and policemen joining with the chanting as the teachers rallied down the streets. 

Hopefully by the time this article is published, we will all be back where we belong, in the classroom, back to reading books and grading papers. Through this all, it’s clear that no one hates kids being out of classrooms more than teachers. Why else would they spend so much time taking attendance every morning? 

Until next time, call me Ms. Trease.

Blue Trains

Lately I have spent a lot of time on trains and buses. Sometimes I read, but other times I just people watch. It is so interesting.

People have certain ways they expect other people to act on the train. Headphones are common, though not a requirement. You can sit next to them if there are no double seats open, but as soon as two seats are available, they would like you to move to that empty bench so they can have both seats. Eye contact is looked down upon, or at least quickly averted. They don't want you looking at them. Or at least not to make it obvious.

I'm such a people watcher. I love it. There are little things that you can pick up that can tell a whole story about a person. That's where this poem came from this afternoon.

I went to the Museum of Science and Industry today on my day off, so I was taking public transit across town alone. I read on the train, but decided not to on the bus since I was unfamiliar with the stops and didn't want to miss mine. This guy wearing a blue shirt got on, put away his bus pass, and got out a yellow folder with "Greek" written across the front of it. He got off at a college campus and I went to the museum.

After wandering around the museum, I got back on the bus, and after a few stops, so did he. I wrote this poem on the train, which we both transferred to. I felt slightly creepy, but I try to remind myself that authors often do this kind of thing. Or at least that's what I'm telling myself.

Blue Trains

I am intrigued by the boy in blue

Who rides the train to school

And studies Greek on the bus.

He tunes out the world,

His ears enveloped by his own sounds,

While mine stay open to hear his sighs.

I am intrigued by his open Bible,

Not because I don’t have one of my own,

But because he is reading his.

This boy doesn’t notice me,

Or my Star Wars t-shirt,

Or at least he doesn’t make it obvious.

And I can’t help but think

We missed out on a good conversation.

A talk that started with Star Wars

And maybe ended with God,

Because the two topics easily

Run from one to another.

But instead after he was done with class

And I finished wandering

Aimlessly through the science museum,

We got on different train cars.

Living in the same city

But having no connection

Other than the CTA

And my intrigue of the boy in blue.

Until next time. 

First Week

I survived my first week of school.

Freshmen are insane. Funny, but insane. I love them. And I think they know it.

I forgot how terrifying being a freshman can be. When I was a freshmen, I had been going to the same school for nine years before that. I knew all my classmates, I knew all my teachers. These kids are coming from various junior high schools, are thrown into a class of 200 other freshmen, and have no idea where they are or what they are doing.

It's no wonder they all sat in their desks silent as the grave and trembling. By Friday they got a little farther out of their box, so I'm excited to see what happens in the next few weeks.

There is a very odd feeling in the school. All last week we were walking around with the feeling of doom hoovering around our heads. Well, doom is probably an overstatement. The upcoming strike hoovering over us. That's enough to cause tension.

And the kids know the tension is there. Well, some of them. They either know about it or don't, there doesn't seem to be much middle ground, unless you count the misinformed.

On Thursday and Friday, we had a debate where the students read news articles written from the different sides of the strike issue, then chose a side and argued for that side. Most of them were unwilling to talk, but most who did were very much misinformed about the issues, which isn't surprising. The media is making teachers the villains, saying all they are worried about it getting paid more. When there are so many other issues on the table, like smaller class sizes, getting paid for the time they work, benefits, displaced teacher plans, it's disheartening that pay is the most talked about issue.

So we should find out sometime tonight if we are on strike tomorrow. For me, that means going no where near the school or picket areas. I'm supposed to be neutral in the whole thing, an outsider. It's very hard. My cooperating teacher said they are fighting for me, for my future here in Chicago. It sucks not being able to fight for myself.

A press conference is called for 10:00 by the teachers union. We will know soon enough if my Monday will be full of students or the art museum.

Until next time.