It was the Internet's fault!
I swear! I sat down at the computer at 10pm last night to write a (would have been lame) post and the internet was misbehaving like a petulant teenager. Seriously. It was slower than 1993 era dial-up around here, minus the entertaining sound effects. So I gave up and went to bed, obviously.
This week at work we had all of the following - ready?
1. A suicidal student - the mobile crises unit had to be called, and she had someone shadowing her non-stop.
2. 2, sometimes 3 boys who were not supposed to be in the building running loose in the halls constantly, even after being escorted off the premises several times. Every time they came back for more 'fun' of eluding the adults.
3. A fight at the front doors over an ipod.
4. A fight in the hallway over who knows what.
5. A boy (one of the 3 from #2) given to social services by his mom because he was so out of control - set a fire at home, trashed his mom's house etc.
6. 3 new cases of severe cutting in teenage girls.
Fun, right?
I don't write this to be like 'look at how horrible the school is' - there were lots of great things, too. Maybe I should make a list of those, actually, eh?
1. Today at the remembrance day service (that's a whole other post) the ENTIRE student body sat quietly and respectfully while listening to two guest speakers to share their stories of experiences of war in their countries (one from Somalia and one from DRC, I believe)
2. Also at the service 5 girls who aren't friends sang a song together, while accompanied by 2 other girls (one on guitar, one on drums). It was beautiful.
3. I spent Wednesday afternoon with a student who has us at our wits end (one of the three runners from the previous list.). This is a kid who will throw a classmates' binder on the floor or shove them 'for fun', has been found on the roof of everything, including the slanty tops of lockers, who runs away and doesn't listen. But on Wednesday he listened to me read to him, he made comics about things he does and doesn't like (Halo and olives, respectively), jokes ('a muffin is just an ugly cupcake'), his job at school and what makes it hard to do his job at school, and his feelings about school. Aside from 2 water breaks he was focused and calm the WHOLE afternoon. It was a sight to behold.
4. The grade 9's continue to make me laugh daily. Their latest obsession is with my life outside of school. Ever since I told them I was getting married they've been fixated on what I do when I'm not at school. They ask 'Do you party? Do you drink? What are you like when you're drunk! I can't imagine you like that!', all of which is pretty inappropriate, but also kind of entertaining. Of course, I don't give them answers about any of that and then one kid goes 'Let me guess what you do. You go home, you eat food, do some school work, watch tv and go to bed.'. Pretty accurate, I'd say.
5. I went to the hospital to meet with a non-attender's mom (the kid has dialysis every morning), and then the kid has attended the last 2 afternoons in a row. Woot!
6. I read a reflection about 'Touching Spirit Bear' that just about brought tears to my eyes. The book is an amazing read - deals with themes of anger control, taking responsibility for behavior, restorative justice, and more - and jr high kids generally love it. It spoke in a very real way to this one kid who has been literally terrorizing the school lately. He has FASD, a mom who is overwhelmed by him, and all kinds of anger, rage, and self-management issues. He intimidates students and staff, is almost 6 feet tall and over 200lbs. Most touching line? 'Cole figured out how to control his anger. I'm still looking for a way to control mine.' MELT MY HEART!
A pretty full week, all in all. Very glad it's the weekend.
This week at work we had all of the following - ready?
1. A suicidal student - the mobile crises unit had to be called, and she had someone shadowing her non-stop.
2. 2, sometimes 3 boys who were not supposed to be in the building running loose in the halls constantly, even after being escorted off the premises several times. Every time they came back for more 'fun' of eluding the adults.
3. A fight at the front doors over an ipod.
4. A fight in the hallway over who knows what.
5. A boy (one of the 3 from #2) given to social services by his mom because he was so out of control - set a fire at home, trashed his mom's house etc.
6. 3 new cases of severe cutting in teenage girls.
Fun, right?
I don't write this to be like 'look at how horrible the school is' - there were lots of great things, too. Maybe I should make a list of those, actually, eh?
1. Today at the remembrance day service (that's a whole other post) the ENTIRE student body sat quietly and respectfully while listening to two guest speakers to share their stories of experiences of war in their countries (one from Somalia and one from DRC, I believe)
2. Also at the service 5 girls who aren't friends sang a song together, while accompanied by 2 other girls (one on guitar, one on drums). It was beautiful.
3. I spent Wednesday afternoon with a student who has us at our wits end (one of the three runners from the previous list.). This is a kid who will throw a classmates' binder on the floor or shove them 'for fun', has been found on the roof of everything, including the slanty tops of lockers, who runs away and doesn't listen. But on Wednesday he listened to me read to him, he made comics about things he does and doesn't like (Halo and olives, respectively), jokes ('a muffin is just an ugly cupcake'), his job at school and what makes it hard to do his job at school, and his feelings about school. Aside from 2 water breaks he was focused and calm the WHOLE afternoon. It was a sight to behold.
4. The grade 9's continue to make me laugh daily. Their latest obsession is with my life outside of school. Ever since I told them I was getting married they've been fixated on what I do when I'm not at school. They ask 'Do you party? Do you drink? What are you like when you're drunk! I can't imagine you like that!', all of which is pretty inappropriate, but also kind of entertaining. Of course, I don't give them answers about any of that and then one kid goes 'Let me guess what you do. You go home, you eat food, do some school work, watch tv and go to bed.'. Pretty accurate, I'd say.
5. I went to the hospital to meet with a non-attender's mom (the kid has dialysis every morning), and then the kid has attended the last 2 afternoons in a row. Woot!
6. I read a reflection about 'Touching Spirit Bear' that just about brought tears to my eyes. The book is an amazing read - deals with themes of anger control, taking responsibility for behavior, restorative justice, and more - and jr high kids generally love it. It spoke in a very real way to this one kid who has been literally terrorizing the school lately. He has FASD, a mom who is overwhelmed by him, and all kinds of anger, rage, and self-management issues. He intimidates students and staff, is almost 6 feet tall and over 200lbs. Most touching line? 'Cole figured out how to control his anger. I'm still looking for a way to control mine.' MELT MY HEART!
A pretty full week, all in all. Very glad it's the weekend.
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