TWO FOR TUESDAY
Grades were due on Friday; yesterday I received them back to redo them. The instructions that I was initially given were to only use whole numbers and that 5 is the lowest (on a scale to 10) that can be assigned. The only information that I have to write on the reports is the number of absences a student had during the marking period, and his grade, 5-10. First, I had to rewrite the grades using black ink, rather than the blue I had initially used. Then, any “5s” had to be written in red ink. The assistant principal gave me these additional directions and added that less than 10% of each group may have a “5” on the grade sheet. I asked what to do since those students had earned that grade based on participation and quiz grades; I was told I needed to find a way to pass them. I returned to my classroom and chose which two students in each group would receive the “5s” and I changed the other “5s” to “6s”.
During my last class of the day the doctor popped in to give the students a note to bring home stating that there would be no classes tomorrow, as it’s a meeting day for teachers. That was the first I heard of the meeting. But now I am in the meeting, with a packet of information and activities to complete today, as mandated by the local educational system of Iztapalapa.
We began the meeting by reading a story in which the main point was that no one takes responsibility, thinking someone else will do so. Discussion ensued, but none involved proposals for how to change this. For the next activity, a debate, the room was divided in two and one side argued that there is violence in the school, while the others had to argue that there isn’t. Time passed as teachers talked about the types of violence that do exist and the roots of these problems – no solutions were discussed.
Next, teachers scrambled to jot down the medical information for students that the doctor read out loud. These conditions include epilepsy, heart problems, asthma and hearing or vision deficits. One of my students also has a kidney condition and therefore needs to use the bathroom whenever he requests - this was the first time I found out about his situation and I almost never allow students to leave the room to use the bathroom.
Students with asthma are in quite the predicament at school – since they are quite expensive to replace, inhalers are left at home for safekeeping. If however a student needs to use an inhaler while at school, there is one in the doctor’s office in an unlocked cabinet. In case the doctor isn’t in his office, there are two others who have a key to his office.
The day concluded with the principal giving a PowerPoint on communication. His main points were that communication takes at least two people and focus. He concluded the 45-minute talk by saying that sometimes we say a lot but it doesn’t mean anything.
