Eagle

Time for a school story!!  Although I am posting this story in the OBC series, these events took place during my first year teaching, long before I was an OBC member.  I should probably be embarrassed to tell this, but it is what it is and it's a funny memory for me. 

 The recent cold weather brought this story to mind as I stay home by the fireplace on these cold mornings instead of standing outside doing morning duty on a frigid day with the wind making my nose run and eyes water.....

It is easy to spot new teachers just by their wardrobes.  First year teachers are still wearing the clothes they bought in college and wore to sorority functions and on dates.  Their shoes are high heeled and their outfits have matching jewelry.   They come to work with styled hair and complete makeup jobs. I was one of them once.  My parents had given me and my sisters fur (fake) jackets for Christmas. Mine was jet black and I thought it was so good looking!!!! 

The winter of my first teaching year, I woke up for early morning duty and proudly donned that stylish jacket, slipped on some high heels, and took off for the school house.  As I sashayed down the halls, I smiled kindly at the older teachers getting ready for duty with me; bless their hearts, wearing flat orthopedic shoes and putting on plain, ugly coats. I was never going to let myself go like that; I was a new breed of teacher, stylish and "with it".

As I stood outside on the playground that morning, several of the girls I taught hung around me talking about one thing and another.  One student was admiring my jacket.

"Ooooo, Mrs. Quayhagen, can I touch your coat?" she asked.

"Sure", I answered.

Soon each girl was rubbing the sleeves and talking about how soft it was and how shiny. 

"I wish I had a coat like that!", said one student.  "What is it, leopard?"

"No", answered another, "It's eagle!"

http://commons.wikimedia.org

Oh my gosh, I thought that was so funny!  Eagle!!!  

 But as the year wore on I became self-conscientious of my eagle jacket because I started noticing things.  Many of the little girls that loved my eagle jacket wore threadbare sweaters on those freezing cold mornings.  And the "ugly coat teachers" had classes that were much better behaved than mine.  My students loved my coat, but the older teachers' students loved them.  And that was only a few observations that made me realize that I didn't want to be a new breed of teacher, I wanted to be one of the old guard. 

I don't remember when I retired The Eagle and bought my red duty jacket, I just know that the new one was very plain -  ugly in fact.  It hung on a hook in the closet of my classrooms for many years, twenty-five at least.  I never took it home to wash it - it stayed at school all summer waiting for me and the students to come back in the fall. It never had lip gloss or perfume in the pockets like the eagle had, but you could always find an old cough drop or a warm pair of gloves when you needed them. 

But the most amazing thing about my red duty coat was that it was always a perfect match to each year's new pair of orthopedic shoes!! 

As for me, I became a proud member of the old guard.

                                                                                                     Love ya'll,
                                                                                                            Shelli

Drug Detector

 

OK, it's time for another OBC school story and this is one of my favorites!

Remember changing classes in junior high and high school? The bell rings and doors bust open causing previously quiet, empty hallways to erupt with student's voices laughing and teasing as they  flood the space into a sea of flowing kids.

We teachers always stood outside the doors to our classrooms to keep an eye on the students as they changed classes.  Every now and then a fight would break out and we were there to break it up, but most of the time we just visited with each other until class started again.

There are so many components that make up a good job that you love. For me it was, of course, the students, then supportive administration, but most of all fun people to work with.  For several years I taught next door to a coach/science teacher who was one of the funniest people I know.  As we stood in the hall between classes he was always telling jokes or relating funny stories about his students. He was just so quick witted that he kept us in hysterics all the time!

Well one day, we opened our doors to find the I.T. guys from the school board installing a modem on the ceiling so we could go wireless.  The modem was round and reminded me of a large Frisbee.  When it was operational, it had yellow and green blinking lights and then looked like a miniature spaceship attached right in the middle of the ceiling in the hallway outside our doors.

During the next class change, Coach Thomas and I were standing there looking at and talking about the new modem, when a student halfway down the hall from us called out, "Coach, what's that new thing up on the ceiling?"  Without missing a beat, Coach replied, "Drug detector!"

Suddenly, that flowing hallway full of students parted like the Red Sea!  Not one child dared pass under the new "drug detector"!  Instead they nonchalantly squished up against the walls as they passed, still talking to their friends but covertly cutting their eyes up to the ceiling.......

I have never laughed so hard in all my life!! Of course the rumor passed through the student body like wildfire, providing us teachers with days of entertainment.  Oh my goodness, it was epic!!

                                                                       Love ya'll, Shelli

Case Closed

In the last OBC story, we talked about a "ringtailed tooter" and his Mom.  Here is a similar tale...

Polly and Sherry were doing a group project in their classes.  The children in each group pulled their desks close together so that they touched, forming a solid tabletop on which to work.  All the groups were working along when suddenly the studious buzz of the classroom was broken by the cry of a female student in Anthony's group.  Polly looked up from the group she was helping just in time to see Anthony poking Macy with his ruler under their desks.  Macy started crying and Anthony was laughing.

"What happened!?" Polly asked.
"Mrs. Babineaux, Anthony's pokin' Macy with his ruler!" another member of the group offered.
"Did not!" yelled Anthony.
"Yes, you did! We all saw you!!" the students chimed in.

Polly took Macy over to the side of the room out of earshot of the other students to calm her down and gently question her. 

"Macy, I need to know exactly what happened" Polly said.
"Anthony kept botherin' me.  He said I was doin' my part wrong.  Then he started pokin' me with his ruler under the desk.  He thought no one could see."

Then Polly pulled Anthony over privately and talked with him. "Anthony, tell me exactly what happened."
"Nothin'...nothin' happened! They're just makin' it up. I didn't do nothin'."
"Anthony, when I looked over at your group I saw you poking Macy with your ruler."
"No you didn't 'cause it was under the table!"
"Oh, so something was going on under the table?"
"Nothin'...you just don't like me!!"

Polly had been dealing with Anthony's bad behavior and harassment of students for most of the first grading period.  That coupled with his penchant for denial (i.e. lying) was going to make for a very long year, so after careful questioning of the group and being satisfied that she had the full story,  Polly set up a school building level committee conference for the following day.

This is where I come into the story. I had left the classroom to work in an administrative capacity.  Dealing with discipline and mediating parent/committee meetings was part of my job.

 Proving the apple doesn't fall far from the tree, Anthony's mom had a reputation for denial too. We all braced ourselves for what we knew would be a difficult encounter.

The following morning, before going into the conference room, the school secretary squirted Polly, Sherry, and me with Holy Water she kept in a spray bottle for difficult occasions just as this.  Anthony's mom arrived and after we were all seated around the conference table, the meeting began.

 Polly started by explaining exactly what happened; carefully describing the group activity the students were working on, the sudden yelp from Macy, witnessing Anthony poking Macy with his ruler, and  the eyewitness accounts from the other students.  I added that this was not the first time we had dealt with Anthony harrassing students in his class. Sherry, who also taught Anthony, added supportive nods and comments.

 When we had finished presenting our case, we held our breath saying silent prayers about what was to come....

Anthony's mom replied, "None of what ya'll said could have happened!"

With the most neutral tone of voice I could manage I asked, "Why not?"

"Because if those kids had their desks arranged like you said, Anthony couldn't have reached under the desks to get his ruler on her and no one could have seen what happened under there, so it didn't happen."

Silence.......

"Well, ma'am", I said, "the teacher saw Anthony bring his hand holding the ruler from under the desk, Macy said that he poked her with it, and the other students backed her up.  I think we can assume that the desks were not in his way."  I felt a like a lawyer using circumstancial evidence and eye witness accounts to prove my case.

"Unless the teacher saw the ruler touch that girl's leg, then ya'll can't prove my boy did nothing! We ain't takin' no punishment either!!" countered Anthony's mom, my opposing counsel.

Once again Polly repeated the circumstances surrounding the incident. I revisited some of Anthony's prior acts from earlier this year and tried to emphasize the importance of teaching children to be accountable for their actions.

It all fell on deaf ears.  We were getting nowhere fast!


Now Polly and I had been doing most of the talking, while Sherry had been giving moral support, but I knew Sherry and she didn't have much patience for parents who were in denial about their children's bad behavior. I could tell that she was coming to the end of what patience she had........

Suddenly, Sherry reached into the supply carousel located in the middle of the conference table, pulled out a ruler, put it under the table and poked Anthony's mom with it!!!!  Anthony's mom let out a surprised yelp!!

Sherry said, " Mrs. Quayhagen, what just happened?"

With eyes as wide as saucers and visions of lawsuits dancing in my head, I carefully answered, "I think you just poked Anthony's mom with a ruler under the table."

"Are you sure", asked Sherry, "because you didn't see the ruler touch her leg?"

 Case closed.......Perry Mason would have been proud!


Amazingly, the rest of the conference went very well. Once Anthony's mom realized she had no recourse, she became quite subdued and cooperative.  Our conference actually ended on a positive note.  Anthony missed a few lunch recesses and I would like to believe that mother and son learned a great lesson about owning up to your behavior and accepting the consequences!

"Intelligence plus character-that is the real goal of education" Martin Luther King

                                                                                               Love ya'll, Shelli

Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire!!

OK, let's begin this post with a qualifier.  In the long career of a teacher, there are thousands of great students and parents.  Interacting with these hardworking, well behaved kids and their sensible, cooperative parents help a teacher maintain her sanity.  And when the OBCs get together we reminisce about them with conversations that sounds like this...

     "Ya'll remember Tameka; she was the sweetest girl"
     "Yeah, she graduated from LSU and lives in Lafayette.  I loved her mama too.
       Remember how she helped us every year with the Christmas Bingo?"

or

     "I ran into Charles the other day. Ya'll remember when he stole those Snickers?!!  Well
      he is a gastroenterologist in Baton Rouge and has six children!!"
     "Bless his heart!  He turned out to be one of my favorites."


BUT, it is often the not so well behaved students and their not so well behaved parents that become the stuff of legends......

The first year I taught in south Louisiana, I was hired to teach English/Language Arts even though most of my experience was in Math and Science.  I was quite nervous about this, but determined I could do the job.  At the end of the first grading period it was time for Parent Teacher Conferences.

Jake was a ringtailed tooter (North Louisiana term for child who misbehaves). He was a possede' (Cajun term for a mischievous child). And he had a "D" in my class.  I introduced myself to his parents and started the conference with as many nice comments as I could muster and then began to talk about his grade.  Immediately, his mama launched into her offensive!!!

In her frontal assault, she told me that Jake had never had trouble in English.  In, fact, he was always on the Honor Roll so there must be something wrong with my teaching. She "heard that I was really a math teacher."

She out flanked me by saying that Jake was usually a very well behaved, studious child and that my lack of classroom discipline must be the cause of his "playing".

And in the decisive attack on my rear guard, she finished with, "Jay says none of the kids like you; you can't even pronounce their names!"

I was DEMORALIZED!!! I quietly closed the door behind her and sat down at my desk.  As I sat there thinking about how I was going to convince my husband to quit his new job and move back to North Louisiana, my door slowly opened and Sherry, Polly, Margaret, and Lillabet (the founding fathers of the OBCs) came in with big smiles on their faces and twinkles in their eyes.

     "We saw Mrs. Arcineaux leave your room.......how did it go?"

     "Oh, ya'll, it was awful!  I thought I was doing OK teaching English, but I'm not.....not if 
       an Honor Roll student has a "D" in my class."

There was a moment's hesitation...... then they burst into laughter!!!! "Oh, bebe, come with us",  and they took me down to the office where the children's permanent records were kept. Sherry pulled Jay's file and opened it up for me to read.

Honor Roll, my foot!!!!! Jake had failed English almost every year!!  In fact, a "D" on the first report card was an improvement for him!!! His conduct record was even worse - he was a serial offender; constantly in the office for all manner of infractions!!!

     "How could she sit there and I lie to my face?!", I asked.

     "Boo, she has always lied to take up for her son; that's why he is the way he is."

I learned several lessons that day.  One was to have more confidence in myself and the other was how important the support of friends, especially new friends, can be.

  Au revoir mon ami,

  Shelli

The antidote for fifty enemies is one friend.

 ~Aristotle

Lost In Translation

After teaching many years in north Louisiana, we moved to Lafayette where I was hired at Coteau Elementary to teach sixth grade and where I would later become an OBC.

 It is amazing how in one state there can exist such a chasm of cultural differences; not the least of which is language.  I remember seeing a sign out in front of a crawfish restaurant whose slogan read "You Call - We Boil" and thinking, 'I don't get it, it doesn't rhyme...' only later to realize that when my Cajun friends read the slogan, it totally rhymed!

 The language barrier became more evident when school started and I called roll on the first day. I had left behind north Louisiana Johnsons, Williams, and  Risers for south Louisiana Babineauxs, Cheramies, and Viators.  Students with the last name Trahan, which in West Monroe rhymed with "tray man", now rhymed with the bray of a donkey, "tro haw'.  And to make matters worse, my new school served a Laotian community with the last names Phongvonsa, Vongphakdy, and Chanthavong!  Needless to say,  my mispronunciations were a steady source of entertainment for my students.

On Parent/Teacher Conference Day I realized that the language barrier could cause more of a problem than I realized.  One of my Laotian students, Bane, had really been slacking.  He was smart and very capable but for some unknown reason had just stopped trying.  I was looking forward to discussing this with his parents.  When they arrived for their conference, Bane and his two sisters came with them. (I was struck by how beautiful his little sisters were!)  Bane explained that his parents might struggle with the language barrier and that he had come along to serve as a translator. Hmmm, I thought, this could be problematic, but he had always been honest and trustworthy so we just forged ahead.

Smiling, I started the conference with all the positive comments I had to make about Bane, he proudly translated, and his parents smiled and nodded.  Next I launched into my concerns, Bane translated, and his parents smiled and nodded.......... the look on their faces never changing............  Something was not right.....
                                             I looked at Bane.......
                                                                            he smiled at me...........
                                                                                                               hmmm....................

I started again, but this time I replaced my smile with an ugly frown, creased my brow, and squinted my eyes ominously.  Shaking my head, I said, "Not working hard! Not working hard!" 

Bane"s eyes widened, but to his credit he never dropped his smile.  He started to "translate", but it was too late; his dad had caught on!  He jumped up spilling a long diatribe in Laotian and although I didn't understand a word of it, the look on his face left no doubt that the gig was up and Bane was in hot water!!!

Feeling confident that I would be seeing an improvement in Bane's behavior, I wanted to try to lighten the mood and move to a more positive topic. Thinking that a compliment might do the trick, I said, "You have such beautiful daughters!" Bane translated and his father, pointing to the girls, replied, "This one, yes, but this one not so much."  I was HORRIFIED!!!! That poor little girl!!!  But then I noticed that the girls were smiling brightly, totally unfazed by what to me was a calloused comment, but to them was probably just a frank reply.  Cultural differences........

We shook hands and they left. I plopped down heavily in my chair - worn out from my impromptu theatrical performance - and pondered how much I had to learn.

Laos coat of Arms

Let us have but one end in view, the welfare of humanity; and let us put aside all selfishness in consideration of language, nationality, or religion. ~John Comenius, 17th century philosopher

                                                                                                             Love ya'll, Shelli

Snickers

Sherry and Polly taught fifth grade together for many, many years.  They always had some of the highest test scores in the school not just because they were excellent teachers, but because their students adored them.  The kids adored them for many reasons - they were extremely knowledgeable in their subject areas, used effective teaching methods, loved the kids in return, and were tough as nails.  The latter attribute is paramount for success in the classroom.  A teacher who cannot be conned or manipulated, and who maintains just accountability for all students in their class gains the loyalty of the meeker, well-behaved kids and the respect of the bolder, shall we say, not so well-behaved kids.  The great thing about Sherry and Polly was that they were tough as nails but with loving, kind (if not slightly mischevious) hearts.......

Each year they told the students that they were sisters, which they weren't, and that if a student misbehaved in their "sister's" class, it would break their hearts.  There you go! Ingeneous! First-day- of-school message sent.....think twice before taking on two teachers at once.

One day Polly brought a bag of snack size Snickers bars to use as rewards in her classroom.  After her last class before lunch left the room, she noticed that someone had stolen the bag of candy. She asked around and found out who had taken the candy, but hated to accuse the child based on hearsay.  Knowing that the student would be in Sherry's class after lunch, she went to the teacher's lounge and hatched a plan with her "sister".

After lunch, Sherry started class as usual only to be interrupted by Polly who was visibly upset!  Polly apologized for interrupting, but said she needed to talk to Sherry about an urgent problem. Standing in front of the class and "whispering" in voices loud enough to be heard by everyone, their conversation went like this.....

     "Sherry, I'm so worried! You know that bag of candy I found in my classroom yesterday?"

     "Oh, yeah, the one that you forgot in your filing cabinet over the summer, and it was rotten
       and full of worms?!!"

     "Yeah! I forgot to throw it away and just left it sitting on my desk and somebody stole it!"

     "Oh no, Polly!!!!! Do you think they ate any of it?!!!!"

     "If they did they are going to need to go to the doctor!!! I don't know what's going to happen
       to them!"

     "Well, there's nothing we can do.....let's just hope for the best!"

Sherry kept an eye on the "suspect" and all these years later can have the whole group of OBCs doubled over in laughter describing the look on his face as he obviously grew more and more concerned while the class period dragged on.  When the bell finally rang, he rushed up to ask if he could go to the office and use the phone to call his mom because "he wasn't feeling very well".

 Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater. ~Gail Godwin

                                                                           Love ya'll, Shelli

OBC

www.masonic-lodge-of-education.com

I am a card carrying member of the OBC. I can’t tell you what the letters OBC stand for, or as they say in the movies, I’d have to kill you…..

We are a group of teachers who taught together for many years. We are like the Free Masons, united by our craft and full of secrets and rituals - secrets about dealing with clueless, overprotective parents and rituals that mesmerized unruly students into submissive learning. 

 Although most of us are retired now, we still assemble and relive the adventures of our days together in a little school house...
                                                    in the middle of the sugarcane fields...
                                                                                of moss-draped south Louisiana……..

 

"In the Louisiana Education System

 the community is represented by two separate,

yet equally important groups.

The students who attend school

And

 the teachers who teach them.

These are their stories…."

 

To be continued…….