Every Girl Is Not a Whore!!

   A couple of months ago, I went to substitute for a high school history class at the school district in "the hood".  The first two periods went pretty smoothly, they were ELL classes and not more than ten, pretty mellow, students in each class.  The rest of the day was a bit more work, not because I was teaching or grading papers or anything.  Some days, just maintaining a level emotional state, while keeping the mob (students) from destroying the classroom or running wild, seems to be the real work of a substitute teacher.   (I doubt that the teacher even teaches at some of the schools I have been in, they just give out the assignment and collect work from maybe 20% of the class.  One student told me that their teacher gives them the work to do, but tells them, "the option to fail is yours".)
   Perhaps it was third period, the students came in (noisily) and filled up the seats in the classroom.  I took attendance with the help of  the TA.  (If the kids are too loud, I do not even try to read out the attendance, why bother, I will just lose my voice by the end of the day if I try to compete with their noise.)  At least ten minutes after the bell a lanky boy, I'll call Jake, sauntered in and sat at the back of the classroom.  When my aid, an older gentleman, asked this kid why he was late, Jake told him to "shut up"!  I walked quietly to the back of the room and asked Jake to apologize to the man, which he did begrudgingly.  I told him what the other students were working on and asked him to get out his book.  I went back to the teacher's desk and continued my vigil.  I noticed right away that Jake had no intention of doing any school work, instead he was busy bragging to the boys seated near him, of his recent conquests (real or imagined).
   I watched them, listening and considered my options.  I have learned, over the years, as a substitute teacher and a regular teacher, one has to be careful of actions taken.  Having expectations of civility in a classroom, can backfire.  These boys were not whispering, rather talking in a normal volume about the things they had done to some unwitting girls.  Jake was proudly talking about his penis and about how the "cunt gets wet".  They were discussing who was a "ho" or a "slut".  He had his cell phone out (the use of cell phones in school is a blog unto itself) and showing some pictures to those around him.  I walked back to Jake, again, and quietly asked all of them to refrain from inappropriate conversation in the classroom, and to put his phone away.  Of course the response I got about the phone was "our teacher lets us!".  I repeated my request and let him know that if he did not comply I would send him to the school office with a referral.  Well, he put the phone away, and after a few minutes of quieter talking, they were back to the sexual slurs and bragging.  At that point I did ask Jake to leave the classroom, of course he resisted and said he didn't do anything, I repeated my request for him to leave, adding that I would call for security if he did not.  I asked the aid, whom Jake had told to "shut up" to escort him.  With much protest and some nasty sexual slurs aimed at me (but deflected nicely thanks to my protective energy sphere) Jake finally was out of the classroom.  The other boys shortly found another topic of conversation now that their "fearless leader" was banished.
   Later, at lunch break, I asked some of the Russian girls who were eating in the classroom how they felt about boys talking explicitly about sex in the classroom.  They told me it made them feel "very uncomfortable".  When I was in my teacher credential program, we were taught that it was our job to make the classroom a safe place for all.  How can this possibly be considered safe for teenage or adolescent girls, (many of whom are struggling against relentless pressure to maintain abstinence) to be bombarded daily with explicit, lecherous, sexual gossip and slurs.  Many of these girls (immigrants or not) come from religious families with a strong moral code when it comes to sexuality.  Even if they don't, even if some of these high school girls have had sex, it doesn't mean that they are whores!  Virgin or not, girls (or boys) at such a young age should not be forced to listen to the contemptible chronicles of some self proclaimed teenage lothario.  When I was that age, I would have been mortified to have been subjected to such bravado.  Even now as a mother of two grown children, I still don't want to hear it, especially in a classroom coming from some punk  younger than my own kids.
   This is not an isolated incident, there have been many times in a classroom that I have witnessed this kind of sexual harassment.  Kids will be playing their ipods loudly with lyrics such as "eat that pussy" or "fuck the bitch".  I have even heard girls loudly asking other girls "are you on your period?  Is that why you're such a bitch today?"  "High expectations", "safe environment"  if a teacher tries to uphold such standards as the pedagogy demands, they are not always welcome at a school that is more concerned with filling classroom seats than with maintaining the environment necessary for academic success. 

Pumping Iron

   One benefit of being a substitute teacher rather than a regular teacher is the freedom to pick and choose my jobs.  Usually I work at the school district that pays more money.  They actually pay 50% more than the other districts I work at, but those schools are in the "hood" and require putting up with a pack of noisy, cursing, rude, crude and downright abusive animals.  Every so often I choose to work a high school at another district, despite the lower pay.  When I want a job where all I have to do is basically, show up, then I work at the high school district in the "burbs" about 20 minutes from my Sierra foothills home.  Frequently I can just go into the classroom, take attendance and give the assignment.  At that point these high school students are self directed and I can read my book, surf the net or write a blog.  I also have a 2 hour prep period when I can go to the gym for a sauna and swim in the middle of the day.  Simple Simon.
   A few weeks ago I picked up a job at my local high school district, working for the male PE teacher.  The online sub form said that a male teacher was requested in order to supervise the boys locker room.  But I figured, hey, they called me, so it's my job!
   I went to the school and checked in with the other male coach.  He said he would supervise the locker room for me, not to worry.  I was told to go to the weight room and hang out until the students came in.  I sat in the sun for a while to warm up on the chilly day.  Finally, the students trickled in, a few at first and soon the weight room was teeming with noisy teenage boys.   I knew from experience not to try to control a PE class, you will just loose.  So using my whistle to get their attention, I asked if there was a TA or a responsible student who would help me for the day.  Two students volunteered, they were great, they took roll and told the other students what to do for the day.  They turned on the (loud) workout music and got down to the business of weight lifting.  I didn't have to do anything but watch, and since it was too noisy for me to read or write, watch I did. 
   Being at the well funded, suburban high school, this weight room was fully equipped with all the modern devises to develop muscle in the arms, legs, back, butt, abs and chest.  It was quite large enough to accommodate the 40 something students in each class.  So there I was, hanging out with 40+ young men who were pumping iron all day long.  I was immersed in a sea of testosterone. 

   There were guys doing bench press with free weights that looked like a couple hundred pounds on the barbells.  The bench press guys had a spotter, but still it looked like the weights could land on their necks, (deadly!).  Some boys lifted what could be 70% of their weight, dead weight from the ground and then over their heads, clean and press they call it.  They ended that weight lifting exercise by dropping the massive weights onto the padded platform.  At first I thought that was an accident, but I now understand it is part of the routine.  There were chaps working out on the leg press, chest press, and lat pull down machines.  Other lads were on the power rack or curl machine, working biceps and triceps, deltoids and pects.   They were doing leg curls, leg pumps, leg extensions, shoulder press, and back extensions.  Dumbbells, barbells, chin ups, pull ups, push ups, grunts, and groans, moaning, gasping, shouting, bellowing, barking, thuds, banging, clanging, noise and  motion filled the room.  Sweat and testosterone hung like a steamy haze dominating the ample space.
      There were 3 classes of about 40 + boys, young men.  Each class lasted about 90 minutes.  There were guys of all shapes, sizes and color.  Many of them took off their shirts during the class time.  Bare skin, white, black, tan, honey colored, olive toned and sweat, gleaming on young muscles, it was all on view all day long!  As I said, it was too noisy to read or write, so I, having been trained in life drawing, for many years, decided to take advantage of the situation that presented itself to me.  I pulled out my sketch pad and drew from the living, moving, models for hours.  Drawing from athletes is difficult.  They move so quick, I can only get little stick drawings on my paper.  Even so, you have to almost take a picture in your mind to get any kind of a drawing at all.  Some boys were large and muscular, football player types, others were slimmer and still muscular.  Some were shorter and stocky and some of the boys were just plain skinny and small (and still muscular) they were the little freshmen, although I know from experience, some freshmen look like full grown men.  There were at least a couple of really fat guys during the course of the day, but not many, and they, too, were lifting along with the rest of them.
  As far as my experiences as a substitute teacher go, this was a kind of fun day.  I had nothing to do but be a voyeur, and that ain't bad!  Plus, for being around so many (perhaps 140) young men all day, not one of them was rude or mean to me!  They were in fact, downright courteous to the one female in the room, me!

What is the State of School?

   What is the "State of  School" these days?  Who better to tell you than the itinerant substitute teacher, traveling between scores of schools withing a 30 mile radius of my home in the Sierra foothills.  
   Like several of my siblings (Rockwell Sisters) I am a teacher, a fully credentialed teacher authorized to teach k-12.  I am also a math teacher.  Being a math teacher used to be next to godliness in the academic scheme of things.  These days it doesn't count for much.  When there are 40 applicants for one (math) position, it seems that the more valuable trait would be lots of armor and an insensitivity to loud noise and vulgar language.
   Today, for example, I am subbing at a high school in a multi ethnic region of north Sacramento.  During my third period class, several of the students in the overcrowded classroom started spreading a rumor that they had a gun... I knew they were trying to just get a rise out of the sub...  and ignored them for a while.  Then I thought, as they continued the claim, that it was my job to report this to the proper authorities.  So I looked in my sub folder and saw no phone number for the office, in fact I saw no phone list any where.  (As I am writing this I hear the "f---" word pronounced every 30 seconds or so at various locations within the classroom).   There was an older gentleman who came into the class, an aide, and I asked him where the phone list was, he didn't know either.  I found the school phone number on the Internet and tried to call but the phone said the call could not be completed.  Finally the aide showed me where the "call" button in the classroom was and I hit it.  I asked for security to be sent down...  Five or ten minutes later, someone finally did come to the classroom and I told him about the rumor.  Another man showed up and then the two of them told the kids to put their back packs on the desks to be searched. 
   As I said, I knew the students were just blowing smoke, but I would have been remiss in my job if I did not report it.  If there had been a real situation, all of that lost time trying to contact an authority would have been critical. 
   I have come to the conclusion, after my last "long term sub" job  that I do not want a permanent position in a school under these "under siege" conditions.