While 2014 has been a transformational year for me, I end the year, questioningly shaking my head about a number of issues. Not all of these issues are unique to 2014; some have been around for ages.
Why do so many people turn into raving idiots while sitting safely at their keyboards
If I were to make a New Year's Resolution, it would be to never, ever read the comments on a news article again. I don't understand why news articles even need comments. Idiotic comments are not found only attached to news articles. I have read some moronic things attached to posts of organizations I "like" on Facebook.
I used to like a food page, but I couldn't handle everyone who complained that the posted article didn't address GMO food or was a meat recipe. I am concerned about GMOs and I'm a vegetarian, but I cannot stand fundamentalists in either camp. Stop being self-righteous pricks!
Then, I read some horrible, vile comments this year. If anyone thought for a second that racism is dead, think again. The worst had to be when some "human" called Tamir Rice an "unsupervised ghetto rat." Who thinks like that?
Why do so many lack empathy?
From what I can find, about one-third of all Americans live from paycheck to paycheck. Some wealthier people do it to max out investments. But, I suspect that middle class families who do this, do so at great risk. One job loss or major medical issue, and they would be wiped out pretty quickly. I'm sure they know that. With so many people living in poverty (15 percent) or on the brink, why do we as a society accept so many policies that punish the poor for being poor? Drug testing for welfare recipients, anti-minimum wage hike sentiments, cuts to food stamps? This is how we treat the poor in our country.
How did we become so apathetic?
Sixty percent of eligible voters stayed home on Election Day this year. I get that the system is broken. If my car wasn't working properly, it wouldn't get fixed by sitting in the driveway. I'd have to tinker with it, or go to someone who could help me fix it. The system isn't going to fix itself folks; it needs handy men and women who are willing to do a little work to make take it back from the oligarchs.
Does everything have to be scented?
I own a Swifter. I know it's not the best environmental cleaning tool out there, but I own one anyway. I have found it impossible to buy sheets, name brand or generic brand, that are not scented. That scented stuff gives me a headache. Today at the store, I saw dish towels that have dish detergent and scent in them. Too many hidden chemicals.
Will there be a Detroit Difford/Tilbrook show this year?
Did we do something wrong? What can I do to fix it? Just once, I want to see you guys sing and afterward, I go home to my own bed. The last local show was 2008. I'll cook, make cake, whatever - just sing in Detroit this year.
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Showing posts with label poverty. Show all posts
Monday, December 29, 2014
Saturday, September 22, 2012
It takes a village.
Andrew has been playing all summer with the girl who lives next door. She is a year older than him. She has an older brother (let's say 19 or 20) who appears to do nothing all day and dropped out of high school. Mom works in the medical field and is a screamer and a thrower of objects. We share our living room walls and I can hear everything.
I like the girl. She and Andrew play well together; he's happy when she is here. He's been bugging me for a sibling, which is not going to happen, so as many play dates he can have, the better. However, I'm wondering if her mom isn't dumping her here at my house. As I write this, she is plunking away at my piano. This is her second visit to my house today. The first happened around 4:30, just before dinner. She was still here as I pulled dinner out of the oven at 5:45. I could have invited her to dinner. Instead, I said that I was sure that her mom wanted her home for dinner. The girl, H., said that she had already eaten dinner. Hmmm. I sent her home. Then, I second guessed myself.
I teach kids whose homes are in the type of chaos as H.'s. I know they need all the caring adults they can get. I know that she's a bit lonely as she and Andrew are the only kids their age on the block. Still, I don't want to train her mother into thinking that I am going to feed her kid. Kindness, yes. Doormat, no.
I like the girl. She and Andrew play well together; he's happy when she is here. He's been bugging me for a sibling, which is not going to happen, so as many play dates he can have, the better. However, I'm wondering if her mom isn't dumping her here at my house. As I write this, she is plunking away at my piano. This is her second visit to my house today. The first happened around 4:30, just before dinner. She was still here as I pulled dinner out of the oven at 5:45. I could have invited her to dinner. Instead, I said that I was sure that her mom wanted her home for dinner. The girl, H., said that she had already eaten dinner. Hmmm. I sent her home. Then, I second guessed myself.
I teach kids whose homes are in the type of chaos as H.'s. I know they need all the caring adults they can get. I know that she's a bit lonely as she and Andrew are the only kids their age on the block. Still, I don't want to train her mother into thinking that I am going to feed her kid. Kindness, yes. Doormat, no.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
I know that I can't bring them home with me, but...
Over my 15 year teaching career, I have had far too many students with heartbreaking stories. No child should have to experience what these babies had to endure. There was the boy whose mother was a prostitute who was murdered in a hotel. There were the sisters who witnessed their father kill their mother and then himself. There are the far too many to count kids with addicts for parents. There was the kid whose mom called him an asshole in front of me. With all of them, I have tried my best to be both sympathetic and empathetic, without giving up my own comforts and life, because I know how it easy it would be to try and take on their burdens.
Today, I gave a student a ride home. He is a special education student with a reading level around 3rd grade. I've been trying to work with him, but he has been very reluctant. He is a very nice young man, who occasionally acts far too impulsively and immaturely. He has no parents. Well, after giving birth to a series (4 or 5) of babies, his mother lost custody of them. I haven't even attempted to ask him about his dad, though I will. This young man with a big cheery smile has raised himself. Sure he's been in foster care and boys' homes, but as he told me today, he has taught himself all the survival skills he currently possesses. That doesn't make me feel very good.
He does not live in Hamtramck (where I actually teach), but in Detroit. He has not always lived in this current location, but this looks like it's going to be home for a while. He usually catches a ride or the bus, which is a hell of a ride. I think that he said he had to be on the bus by 6 a.m. if he is going to be on time for the 7:50 start. As we drove to his street, the main street became rougher looking, with fewer and fewer open store fronts. I was too busy chatting and driving, but I did not see anything that resembled a major grocery store. When we approached his street, he warned me to be sure to go slow, because there were huge potholes and sure enough, there was a construction barrel in the middle of the street, sitting in a hole about three feet wide and a half-foot deep. I didn't count, but at least 90 percent of the homes were abandoned and boarded up. He told me that he never goes outside in this neighborhood because some crackhead will start harassing him. When he gets home from wrestling, he goes in the house and watches t.v. Homework doesn't happen because his skills are too low and he lives alone - no adult supervision. This is the first year that he has been my student and he did not start off in our system. He is supposed to graduate in June. What will he do? I want to wrap him up, bring him home, and make sure that someone finally looks out for him. I can't, but he will be my project for the rest of the year. He cannot leave high school with so few options.
He's just one kid. Now think about a city like Detroit where the poverty rate in through the roof. How do we let our babies down like this?
Today, I gave a student a ride home. He is a special education student with a reading level around 3rd grade. I've been trying to work with him, but he has been very reluctant. He is a very nice young man, who occasionally acts far too impulsively and immaturely. He has no parents. Well, after giving birth to a series (4 or 5) of babies, his mother lost custody of them. I haven't even attempted to ask him about his dad, though I will. This young man with a big cheery smile has raised himself. Sure he's been in foster care and boys' homes, but as he told me today, he has taught himself all the survival skills he currently possesses. That doesn't make me feel very good.
He does not live in Hamtramck (where I actually teach), but in Detroit. He has not always lived in this current location, but this looks like it's going to be home for a while. He usually catches a ride or the bus, which is a hell of a ride. I think that he said he had to be on the bus by 6 a.m. if he is going to be on time for the 7:50 start. As we drove to his street, the main street became rougher looking, with fewer and fewer open store fronts. I was too busy chatting and driving, but I did not see anything that resembled a major grocery store. When we approached his street, he warned me to be sure to go slow, because there were huge potholes and sure enough, there was a construction barrel in the middle of the street, sitting in a hole about three feet wide and a half-foot deep. I didn't count, but at least 90 percent of the homes were abandoned and boarded up. He told me that he never goes outside in this neighborhood because some crackhead will start harassing him. When he gets home from wrestling, he goes in the house and watches t.v. Homework doesn't happen because his skills are too low and he lives alone - no adult supervision. This is the first year that he has been my student and he did not start off in our system. He is supposed to graduate in June. What will he do? I want to wrap him up, bring him home, and make sure that someone finally looks out for him. I can't, but he will be my project for the rest of the year. He cannot leave high school with so few options.
He's just one kid. Now think about a city like Detroit where the poverty rate in through the roof. How do we let our babies down like this?
Monday, March 9, 2009
Testing PaLooza
I have come to the realization that I miss work. The chaos, the noise, the kids - all of it. Except this week.
This is the week during which all juniors in the state of Michigan take standardize tests to prove that their teachers are worthy of holding down a job. I always hate testing week. First of all, thanks to the pressure of NCLB and the parasitic charter schools, I spend the whole month of February doing intensive test prep - during class time. Because juniors will take the ACT tomorrow, I spend an inordinate amount of time drilling them on grammar rules that we have gradually reviewed all year. We also perform timed reading tasks. By the time we actually get to test week, everyone is stressed and anxious.
The two days of testing that follow the ACT (yes, there are three day of testing - for a grand total of 12 hours), students will take state one test that cover some of the same material, but at a lower skill level. This test is called Work Keys and it seems to be geared toward entry level job skills. The final test students take is a social studies test that requires two essays in three hours.
To accommodate all of this testing, my district runs half days, keeping non-testing students at home. At the end of it, everyone is spent and drained. And for what? To tell me that my immigrant students don't test as well as their suburban counterparts? To try and drive a stake in my heart and make me feel like I'm a failure? To get more kids to go to privately operated charter schools, circumventing teachers' unions?
If students from lower socio-economic neighborhoods tend to do drastically poorer on tests - doesn't it stand to reason that poverty is an underlying cause? Maybe we should address the larger issue.
This is the week during which all juniors in the state of Michigan take standardize tests to prove that their teachers are worthy of holding down a job. I always hate testing week. First of all, thanks to the pressure of NCLB and the parasitic charter schools, I spend the whole month of February doing intensive test prep - during class time. Because juniors will take the ACT tomorrow, I spend an inordinate amount of time drilling them on grammar rules that we have gradually reviewed all year. We also perform timed reading tasks. By the time we actually get to test week, everyone is stressed and anxious.
The two days of testing that follow the ACT (yes, there are three day of testing - for a grand total of 12 hours), students will take state one test that cover some of the same material, but at a lower skill level. This test is called Work Keys and it seems to be geared toward entry level job skills. The final test students take is a social studies test that requires two essays in three hours.
To accommodate all of this testing, my district runs half days, keeping non-testing students at home. At the end of it, everyone is spent and drained. And for what? To tell me that my immigrant students don't test as well as their suburban counterparts? To try and drive a stake in my heart and make me feel like I'm a failure? To get more kids to go to privately operated charter schools, circumventing teachers' unions?
If students from lower socio-economic neighborhoods tend to do drastically poorer on tests - doesn't it stand to reason that poverty is an underlying cause? Maybe we should address the larger issue.
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