My Newest Complex

As if I needed anything else to worry about, a troubling development has occurred at work. On the first day of school, a man from the Board of Ed who was helping with our Impact attendance software referred to me as "Sir." I told him I was in fact a "ma'am," which really offended him. He kept insisting that he had not called me sir, even though a coworker of mine was right there and heard him.

I told him it was no big deal and he probably just glanced at my pixie haircut so no harm done. But now every time I see him he calls me "ma'am" in a super exaggerated fashion. The funny part is that he has really long dreads -- I could have easily made the same mistake. He's really defensive, though, so I doubt he'd find the humor.

I was telling this story to a couple of my coworkers, one of whom is my friend Olga. So last week she comes up to me and says she has a funny story to tell me. That one of her students said she couldn't tell if I was a man or a woman. I'm not sure what makes that a funny story. Olga told her that I was a woman, so as to not get any rumors started to the contrary. Then she told me to grow my hair out. Thanks, Olga. We'll call that strike two.

By now I'm starting to think that perhaps I could put a bit more effort into my school appearance. My school is hot and filthy, so I never think it's worth working too hard to look cute. But maybe I could wear a bit more lipstick, wear sneakers less often.

Strike three occurred later that same day. I was out in the hall between classes, ostensibly to help "clear the halls," which is a joke, since there are about 300 kids in the hallway at any given time and when I yell "go to class!" I usually get called a bad name. But I pretend to do it, so I won't get yelled at by administration.

At any rate, one of my kids from last year, Jose, sees me and says hello. I love Jose, because he is the only punk rock kid I've had ever. So we spent a lot of time last year discussing music and shows and it was a nice change for me. He's a sweet kid. He's also one of the only non-black kids at my school. I always wonder how that is for him.

He looks at my outfit and says, "Mrs. Fuji! I want your shorts! Where did you get them???" I was wearing plaid shorts, but they are long and I thought I could get away with calling them capris. I was wearing them with a t-shirt with our mascot on it and a pair of sneakers. I probably did look like a 14 year old boy. I said, "Jose, these are girl shorts." He looked totally crestfallen. Apparently he has been looking for some plaid shorts for awhile.

After that experience, I think perhaps I should start trying a little harder. I had already decided to grow my hair out. Which will mean my hair will be in an awkward in-between phase for months and months. That will be awesome! And I'll start wearing more lipstick. I shouldn't care, but I don't want dumb kids thinking I'm a man. Or anyone thinking I'm a man, for that matter. This gives me something to focus on other than the fact that my kids are super annoying and can't follow directions and are driving me crazy.

All Asians Look the Same

Every year (often several times per year) my students realize that my last name is unusual, for them, anyway. It always starts with one kid proclaiming, out of nowhere, "Mrs. Fuji, you're Chinese!!!??" To which I respond, "No, I'm not Chinese." Then the kids all yell at me about my name and what it means. "Is your husband Chinese???"

"No, my husband is not Chinese. He is Japanese."

"Japanese!? Does he like chicken fried rice?!"

"Can he make chicken fried rice!?"

"Yeah, can he? I like pork fried rice!"

This goes on for a while. I explain that Mr. Fuji is Japanese American, and while he does enjoy chicken or pork fried rice, and knows how to make it, that is not Japanese, that's Chinese. Then they want to know if he speaks Japanese and how long has he lived in Chicago, etc etc. I have to tell them that he is from Philadelphia and does not speak Japanese.

That amazes them. I explain that it's just like them -- many of them are from descended from Africans, but I don't expect them to know any African languages. That sort of helps.

The conversation usually ends with someone saying, "But he does like fried rice, right?" I sigh, "Yes, he likes fried rice."

But yesterday one of my freshmen proclaimed, "All Asians look alike." Then he said, "I've been to Chinatown like 30 times -- I know what I'm talking about!"

I tried to tell him that that statement was offensive and he needed to realize that. And that not all Asians look the same. And that if I said "All you black people look the same" that would be offensive. That we need to respect everyone's differences, blah blah blah.

He was not getting it. Then he wanted to know why Mexicans got mad when you call them Puerto Ricans, and vice versa. I tried to explain that it's the same sort of deal -- people want others to respect their ethnicity and not make assumptions, and so on. He was not convinced.

Maybe I'll try to come up with some sort of primer on how to tell your Asians apart! Maybe Mr. Fuji and my friend Butternugget can help me.

The fact that this conversation took all class period probably won't do anything to raise our test scores. Hey, it was a teachable moment. I take them where I can get them.

My School Rocks

School is back in full swing, and boy are things a mess. I don't know if my pictures do them justice, but the pics are of gang graffiti that was drawn on the wall on the 3rd floor. The gangstas used a Sharpie to create their art. I noticed the artwork last Thursday as I was walking up the stairs from lunch. The next day, the graffiti was still there. It took a full 24 hours for the artwork to be removed. Nice.

I guess we are lucky in that there are really only two gangs to deal with at my high school. Just the Black Disciples and the Gangster Disciples. We don't have as many problems as schools with more gangs competing for members and whatnot. It's still ridiculous and I can't believe it took so long for the graffiti to be removed.

One exciting new development is that we have a new teachers' lounge. Our school was built in 1942, and the teacher bathrooms were built inside lounges. There was a ladies' lounge and a men's lounge. For the last several years, our teachers' lounge has been located inside the men's lounge. So basically the lounge is inside the men's restroom. The lounge often smelled of pee. If you were lucky, you could catch a glimpse of a male teacher at the urinal as you were walking in. It was fantastic.

Now the ladies' lounge is back open. It smells way better. It's still weird and gross to have to eat lunch in what is essentially a bathroom, but it's progress. We have to be thankful for small favors.

The new 60 million dollar attendance software is still not working well, so we enter our attendance via computer but still have to turn in paper rosters, too. And I've been making phone calls, since freshmen and sophomores are so immature. Most of the phone numbers I have are wrong. The majority of the numbers are disconnected, although you'll get the "this line is being checked for trouble," upon occasion. My favorite is, "this phone is not currently taking calls." Then it's not much of a phone, huh???

But no one has pulled the fire alarm, and there have been no real fights. Pretty remarkable. So maybe it'll be a good year!

What's Going On

I haven't had a chance to post in awhile -- things have been really crazy. School is going a bit better, in that I am only teaching three subjects instead of four. I'm still in three classrooms, which sucks.

But now I have a second period class, so I start teaching at 8:00. I do get to leave at 3:00, though, which makes it worth it. 2nd period sucks, though, because my kids are not capable (apparently) of getting to class on time. So kids trickle in all through the class period. I can't really get anything done, because I have to stop every two minutes to correct someone's attendance. So annoying.

I'm teaching freshman English, freshman reading, and sophomore English. I don't like any of my classes so far. Freshmen are so annoying and immature and NEEDY! They can't do anything by themselves. If I have to hear 36 kids yelling "Mrs. Fuji! Mrs. Fuji! Mrs. Fuji!" at me one more time my head is going to explode.

But I did lose my inclusion (special ed and regular ed kids combined) class that was 10th period. So that's the best thing that has happened this school year. Although I walked into that class this afternoon to put my cart away (I now have a cart that I push from room to room -- awesome!), and some kid flipped me off. I don't even know this kid. So I had to yell at him. It is a bit easier to yell at freshmen, so that's something.

I'm getting better at getting Emiko and myself out the door in the morning, although I swear the minute she gets up time goes into warp speed. I don't know where the time goes. I get up at 5:30 to get myself together before Emiko gets up at 6:00. We have to leave the house by 6:45 to get to Alma's by 7:00. And then I have to book it on the Kennedy so that when I get to the Dan Ryan hopefully I'll be able to get through the traffic and get to work on time. If I'm late, I have kids who will be out in the hall -- you can't sneak in when you are a teacher. People notice.

My best friend Kyle came to visit over the weekend -- my next post will be about that. But now I have to get ready for bed.

First Week of School

Yesterday was the first day of school, and it was successful in that no one pulled the fire alarm. But the new $60 million computer program called Impact that was supposed to make attendance a breeze was locked up all day long. I actually had to spend two hours being "trained" on Impact in July. I say "trained," because the program was down then and so we had to just watch a demo of the program. Awesome. I still have not been paid for the two hours I wasted on that.

I have the world's worst schedule. I truly hate it. I am teaching four different classes in three different classrooms. I've taught juniors the last two years, including the honors sections. But another teacher, who is pregnant this year, stole my schedule. She has totally screwed me over. I had to share a classroom with her my first year, and I hated every minute of it. She is quite unpleasant and annoying. So now she has my old schedule (which she bragged about stealing) AND she is in my lunch period.

I teach freshman English 5th period, freshman reading 6th period (same classroom on the 3rd floor), junior English 7th period (second floor in a computer lab so the kids all sit at computers and I can't see their faces. And the chairs have wheels, so it's a total nightmare). Then I finally get lunch, but it's with my nemesis. Then 9th period is sophomore English in a different 3rd floor classroom. Finally the day ends with 10th period freshman English. Which is an inclusion class. Awesome! I'm all for inclusion classes, in theory at least, but that's no way to end the day.

And it is so freaking hot! Why why why can't we have air conditioning???

My schedule should change, and if it doesn't, I can file a grievance with the union. Contractually we are not supposed to teach more than two different classes. It shouldn't come to that, but I'm glad I have that as a worst case scenario.

But until Impact is working well ($60 MILLION!), they can't do anything.

So I'm miserable and feeling sorry for myself. At least my kids seem pretty good so far. And I have seen several of my kids from last year, which is really fun. I've gotten lots of hugs. Although I have forgotten many of their names, which makes me feel really bad.

On that note, I'm going to do some reading (I should probably read the first novel the freshmen are reading). Things can't get any worse, right?

More Teacher Talk

So Marilyn Stewart and the union delegates met Friday evening to vote on the new contract that she is so happy about. She says that 70% of the leadership voted yes in a simple 50% + 1 voice vote. She had everyone stand to show their support. Many, many people are unhappy with the contract and kept shouting "No! No! No!" and "She sold us out!" Stewart refused to allow for an actual vote nor would she allow the opposition to voice their objections. There are some hilarious videos of the proceedings on youtube:

CTU Contract Meeting Aug 31, 2007

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BOGCjjyIuf8

CTU Contract Meeting Aug 31, 2007 (roll call)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5zZ585fdXSI

CTU Contract Meeting Aug 31, 2007 (sit down)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nVuPaAvNZD8

I have to figure out how to make links in blogspot. If you are bored, just cut and paste, it's worth it. It's obvious that total chaos is going on out there and that a majority of the leadership is not happy with Stewart's negotiating. I have a feeling this contract is not going to pass when it goes to the full membership for a vote on Sept. 10th.

The contract offers a 4% raise each year for the next five years. We seem to have lost our dental insurance. And principals can now cap the hourly wage for teachers working overtime. Right now, I get paid about $32/hour when I tutor after school and sponsor a club. Under this contract, the principal gets to determine what my extra activities will be worth. So that sucks.

Nontenured teachers can now get tenure in three years, and have to be evaluated before getting fired. So that's not much of an improvement, but it's a bit better.

And health insurance premiums are capped for the first three years of the contract, but not the last two years.

We also seem to have no protection from classroom overcrowding. I currently have 34-36 kids enrolled in three of my five classes. We'll see if that lasts once school starts on Tuesday. So far I'm thrilled!

I've read through some of the new contract -- I have to spend more time on that. There's some great stuff of the District 299 blog about the contract and about how teachers are pissed. We're always pissed about something.

I wonder how things will turn out. I have a feeling that Marilyn Stewart will not win reelection.