Congress: Tear Down this Law!

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” must be repealed. Now.

I recently read an article in the New York Times about two Generals who are now against the law’s repeal. One of the Generals is quoted as saying, “I do have serious concerns about the impact of repeal of the law on a force that’s fully engaged in two wars and has been at war for eight-and-a-half years.”

Question: When will it be okay to repeal the law? Will that time come after we finish fighting for “freedom” all over the world while we continuously discriminate against people in our own society? Will we be ready once we finish exporting “American values” of fairness and openness while we hinder people who are risking their lives for those values from expressing their full selves? Or maybe it will be time to repeal the law after we decide that we want to get off of our moral high ground and stop telling the rest of the world what to do while we mask pure discrimination, contempt, and prejudice with “concerns” about prejudiced people being forced to actually confront their discriminatory views.

Oh I forgot: we live in a country where protecting minority rights amounts to preserving a broken senatorial system in which 40 senators can obstruct the majority as opposed to protecting groups of people from blatant injustices and inequalities. My bad.

Saying that “people are not ready” is a cop-out. If we wait for the ruling class of society to simply rid itself of all its prejudices and broadly begin to accept everybody it sees as different from the norm before we take action on issues of discrimination, then we might as well get some ice skates and prepare for a hockey game in Hell.

Yes, it will make people uncomfortable. Rightly so! When it comes to matters dealing with discrimination, our decision should be based on what is morally correct as opposed to the comfort of the privileged. It sickens me to see politicians and other leaders riding around the country, professing to champion the underdog, the regular American, Joe the Plumber, Main street, etc, and continue to be too afraid, politically timid, or unscrupulous to object to a law that so clearly violates the very ideals for which our soldiers are supposed to be fighting.

I fully agree with Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. In the New York Times article mentioned above, Admiral Mullen states, “No matter how I look at the issue, I cannot escape being troubled by the fact that we have in place a policy which forces young men and women to lie about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”

“Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” asks our troops to operate under a policy that is misguided at best and the antithesis to everything this country proclaims to be about with regard to freedom, justice, and inequality at worst. Let’s fight for our values while living by our values.

Afternoon Treat!

Today I gave myself a little treat. But we will get to that later.

The day started off not so well. I have been having attendance issues with my first period class, and today the majority of the students were not there. That’s an understatement, actually. Only one student made it before we were told not to let any more students in. Yep.

So, I still conducted class as usual, but I also took it as an opportunity to do a little mentoring. I have had some discipline issues with this student, so I tried to figure out things he was interested in while he completed the warm up. It just so happens that I had this student in mind when I was creating the worksheet for that class period. Therefore, I actually had different sports and pop culture references on the charts that I made (we were doing variance and standard deviation). We still had some issues, but I think I am building a closer relationship with him. I’ll see how it goes.

Now back to my treat. During my planning period, I had a little extra time since it is also my lunch period. I talked to the choir teacher a while ago about observing a rehearsal, and I finally did it today! It was really great to watch the choir teacher work with the students. It reminded me of when I was in high school and was fortunate enough to spend at least 3 hours (usually much more than that!) each day studying music. I enjoyed hearing them sing and watching her talk technique with them. I definitely plan on observing them again.

My last period went well. The students are still enjoying the book. I can definitely see the students start to grow in their ability to comprehend different aspects of the book.

Ahh, my roommate made tacos tonight, so it is time for me to go grub!

Back in Business: Still Alive

It has been a while, but I am back. The past couple of months have been hectic and filled with tons of ups and downs. It has been a struggle to express the span of my thoughts over the past weeks, and I won’t try to do that now either. Instead, I will just start with today.

So…

What happens when you rush out of the house and grab your shoes out of a dark closet? I’ll take a stab at this one: You end up wearing two different pairs of shoes. That’s right, I wore one type of shoe on my left foot and another on my right foot today. I did not notice until I stepped out of my car in the parking lot at school this morning. Luckily, both shoes were black. I was nervous that students would notice; however, nobody made a comment about it (except for the teachers that laughed when I showed them my mindless faux pas).

I also woke up with a huge pimple under my lip. Now, this normally would not be a problem, but I was worried about having a mark of puberty strapped to my face when I already do not look much older than the puberty-stricken adolescents I teach on a daily basis. Again, I was happy that nobody commented on it all day, despite my discomfort with it.

Why would I be surprised that nobody made note of it? Well, it would not have been far-fetched since a student (not the first) cried out at me, “MOLEY, MOLEY, MOLEY” in class yesterday. Yep, that still happens. I took her to the office. It’s a good thing I learned not to be sensitive when I was in middle school.

So, back to today. My first period did not start off great. I had to call two students’ parents during class. Some students decided that they already knew the material for the lesson that I was trying to teach, so I went ahead and gave them their quiz since they did not want to pay attention. I think their grades taught them the lesson far better than I could have any other way.

In my final period, social skills, I had a great time. We are reading a book called The Hatchet, and it is fascinating! I think the kids are getting into it as well, and it is so great to see them get excited about learning! I also had two of those students come to my classroom during lunch to read. As much as I enjoy my alone time sometimes, it is always heartwarming to have students want to challenge themselves outside of the classroom. I gladly welcomed them in.

On a more personal note, I am embracing my artistic side again. I recently began taking an acting class once a week. It is such a blast! I can already see myself growing as an artist, and I am looking forward to pushing myself even further. I am also looking for a voice teacher, so I will see how that goes. I joined the choir at church, and it is so amazing to be singing again.

All in all, life is far from a cakewalk, but I am happy. There is so much more to tell, but I will stop here—I will fill in the details as I begin to post more regularly from now on.

Music on my mind: “Shenandoah” as sung by Paul Robeson.

"It Don't Mean a Thing..."

Today, I flipped out for the first time. Like really flipped out.

That happened towards the end of the day, though. Let’s start from the beginning.

The day started off rather well. As I entered the school, I walked through the hallway singing Duke Ellington’s “It Don’t Mean a Thing” as I celebrated the onset of another Friday. Casual Friday. I strolled down the hall with my brown loafers, pink polo shirt, khakis, gray blazer, and a scarf casually wrapped around my shoulders. Moreover, I was sporting a new haircut. I looked good (opinion), I felt good (fact), and I was ready to teach (fact/opinion).

I began my instructional day working with a student in my Math 1 class. Most of the students were out of the class due to a JROTC ceremony in which they were participating; therefore, I was able to work mostly one-on-one with one of my students. My coteacher played the album, “The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill” in the background, and the student and I were really making progress. The more we looked at the problems, the more confidence she had in herself and her ability to answer them correctly. “You’re smart, and you can do this,” I told her. “Math is just a series of steps, and you just have to break them down. Do that, and everything will be manageable.” As she nodded and kept working, I thought about my own high school math teacher who told me that I was actually good at math—I just lacked patience. It’s funny how words from so long ago can continue to inspire us and enable us to inspire others.

Next, I had physics. One of the kids saw my new haircut when I came into the classroom and said, “Mr. Seegars got a fresh cut!” I smiled. Then somebody else added, “You can’t say anything to somebody once they have a fresh cut…I’m getting me one after school!” I laughed as my co-teacher began the lesson.

So, physics. Today was one of those days in which I was in an amazing groove. Although, I have been in the class as a co-teacher since earlier in the semester, I felt a sense of comfort and command over what I taught today that I had not felt previously. I had students surrounding me as I explained how to manipulate equations for different variables. I quizzed the students as I urged them to apply their knowledge of kinetic and potential energy at higher levels of thought and analysis. It was so much fun.

Next was the planning period in which I enjoyed a meatloaf and mashed potatoes and gravy microwave dinner. It was absolutely fantastic. I did some paperwork during this time for some of the students on my caseload (special education stuff). Then it was time for the last period of the day:

Sing in me, Muse, and through me tell the story of that period of the day skilled in all ways of contending. Sing to me of those students, who after lunch have become filled with sugar and salt and proceed to wander through the hallways and ravage the nerves of teachers with brutal savagery.

Today, I flipped out for the first time. Like really flipped out.

So, I was walking through the hallway with a student 15 minutes into the last period. I noticed a group of about 30 students making a lot of noise on the other side of the hallway. I had a lot of stuff to get through, so I just kind of glanced that way in order to see if it was a fight, but it did not seem like it; therefore I continued to walk back to my classroom.

Suddenly, I looked back at the crowd and I saw a student stretched out on top of a cart on his stomach as if it were a surfboard. Another student was pushing him while running at full speed—both were laughing and being followed along by the cheering and laughing crowd of students.

Immediately, I ran toward them screaming, “WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” The person with the cart pushed it away from him (toward me), and began to run around and past me, just like the rest of the students. The student on the cart ran, too. I ran after all the kids, and zoned in on the kid who had been on the cart.

They ran through double doors, and I ended up grabbing the kid who had been on the cart. He then squirmed away, and took off in the other direction. I ran full speed behind him (still in loafers), while kids cheered, “RUN, RUN, RUN!” I was too upset to let him get away.

Finally, two other teachers stepped in the way and blocked him by the lockers, and when I caught up, I was furious. “WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU, “ I screamed. “ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND??!! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW DANGEROUS THAT WAS??!!” I was so upset that I hit the locker.

A battalion of teachers had finally reached the scene, and the hallways cleared up. The student was taken downstairs, but I was in a lousy mood for the rest of the day.

As I was about to leave school, ready for the weekend, one of my physic students saw me. “Have a good weekend Mr. Fresh Cut,” he said. I smiled, and told him to have a good one as well.

I whistled “It Don’t Mean a Thing” as I walked to my car, smiling between phrases.

In Defense of Extracurriculars

Oh, hey.

Teacher: “Does anyone know what macro means?”
Student: “Macaroni?”

There are many moments when students say things – funny things – and I hold my smile or laughter so as not to embarrass a kid or condone something that is inappropriate. This was not one of those moments. I laughed. The student smiled, and then laughed. Other kids laughed. And I laughed again. Then we moved on.

Today was exam day. Now, on the surface it does not seem that bad. I mean, most of the work takes place before the exam. In a perfect world, you backwards plan. That is, you write your unit plan and exam for that period before you actually teach it. In a not-so-perfect world, you plan your unit and have an exam in mind; however, the exam gets written a little closer to the actual exam date. Never mind that now…

Still, in both cases, the majority of the work seems to be done before students actually take the exam. Today proved to be different. My first period class had a study guide that was exactly like their exam. Exactly. I mean the same number of questions and same type of questions that were even in the same numerical spot. Needless to say, there was a drastic difference between the students that did the study guide and those that did not. They were not happy. I was not happy. We told each other. It was not fun.

In a different class, I also scolded students for not reading directions before their test. Maybe I would not have been upset had I not read the directions out loud twice. They were also written in bold font at the top of the test. So I was not in the mood to hear, “What am I supposed to do on the test?”—especially when it was in the same format of the assignments that we had been doing for the past few class periods.

By the end of the day, I was so tired that I was hoping nobody would show up to the mock trial team meeting. I rushed to go print out materials for the meeting and then went to the room. Starting with the last meeting, I now begin our gatherings with a teamwork and concentration exercise. The students have to close their eyes and count to twenty out loud as a group. Somebody must say “one,” then another, “two,” and another, “three,” and so on—all the way to twenty. The catch is that no two students can say a number at the same time. They have to be patient, calm, and attempt to vibe with their teammates. It is an exciting and relaxing exercise that I absolutely love.

Well, after about six tries, the students finally got it, and they were so excited! I was thrilled, too. We started going through the case, and we had great dialogue back and forth. I found myself smiling and laughing: leading the kids as their faculty advisor, but also enjoying myself as their co-conspirator in fun and learning. I was teacher, fellow teammate, mentor, and colleague all at the same time. I had a blast.

I love the kids that I teach during the day, but it is also great to work with students in a different way in extracurricular activities. When I was in high school, there were days when I may have had three different one and a half hour tests in one day. It is neither fun for the students nor the teachers. On those days, I looked forward to those activities about which I was most passionate: musical rehearsal, barbershop quartet practice, going over some scenes for the Black History production. Those lifted my entire day.

Today reminded me of how being in a productive environment – as I would categorize most useful extracurricular activities – outside of the normal classroom can keep us both sane and stable.

Note Fail

I wrote this note as a pass for a student to enter class late. Apparently, my handwriting is so bad that the teacher accused her of forging it, and I had to walk her to class...haha.

Apparently, I was also supposed to mark a date and time...

Hope Renewed is Strength Uncovered

“I’m too tired to work Mr. Seegars.”
“What?”
“I’m too tired. I’m not doing any work.”
“Umm, that’s not really an option. You are here to work, and I know you can do it.”
“You cannot tell me what my body can do.”
“Do you need to go to the nurse?”
“No. I just don’t want to work.”
“That is not going to work. You have 20 seconds to start writing before I start dialing.”

In my math study skills class, I had a student decide that he was having a bad day (at 9am, mind you), and that he did not feel like doing any work. That did not go over quite so well with me. After a number of measures that ended with him being removed from class for a few minutes and then brought in at the end of class so that he could hear me call his mother, he still refused to control his temper while I discussed with his mom possible days for him to stay after school for detention.

In the same class, I danced toward a student as her cell phone went off. The dance peaked at a smooth outstretching of my hand in order to collect the phone. At the same time, I was teaching students how to identify polynomials, and while trying to relate the term “poly” to polygons in order to help them understand the definition of polynomial, I heard a voice in my head saying, “What in the world are you talking about?” Yeah. I definitely could have planned that better. Luckily, I realized the students were not getting what I was saying, and I explained it in a different, more understandable manner. However, crucial time had already been lost.

As I went to go talk to a student on my caseload in order to gain some information, I walked into a classroom. When I stepped into the classroom, another student remarked with disgust, “I hate that man. He sent me to the office.” This was the guy who told me to shut up weeks earlier when I was standing in for another teacher. The teacher in the current classroom told him it was inappropriate for him to say that, and I just smiled and said, “Have a great day!”

Now, in my last period class, social skills, things got interesting. For the warm up, I asked students to explain their favorite extracurricular activity and why they liked it. After prodding some students to participate, one girl finally said she liked football the most. “Why? I asked. She smiled and stated, “Cuz the sexy boys are hitting each other.” Needless to say, I was slightly taken aback. “Ummm, we don’t need to say it like that, do we?” Her response: “I also like seeing those ugly boys get knocked around.”

“Okay, thank you very much. We are going to move on to the next person now.”

Then, the students were working on another exercise in which they had to list one social skill that they thought that they could improve upon as well as one positive thing about a partner. I asked them to share these with each other. Then, I asked them to say out-loud their positive statement about their partner. The funniest moment was when a girl said that her partner was handsome. At the time, he was combing his hair, so I told him that his looks, apparently, were not what he needed to work on. “Therefore, you can put the comb away, please. Thank you!”

He and I had a few moments that period. He decided he wanted to argue with people, so I had to move him into the “my partner” space. Basically, he had to sit right next to me. He had some words to express how he felt about that, and I just asked him to write them down so that I could read them later; whatever it was, I did not want him disrupting the class. He declined to write his comments down, citing that I might use them in court against him.

I still like the kid a lot. He has so much potential, and can really be involved sometimes. We are just going to have to figure out how to control that anger and the outbursts. It’s definitely doable.

After work, I had an observation review with my program director since she observed me today. It was very helpful, and, as always, I left feeling rejuvenated. I have a much better understanding of what I need to work on in order to lead my students to success.

Hope renewed is strength uncovered. I will get better.