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Good Night and Good Luck

It's raining today. It's also May. To say we experienced some extremely shitty attendance would be an understatement. 

In fact, I think today set some sort of record. I co-teach my 5th period class with a first-year math teacher. That means for that specific period, there are two teachers in one room. Two teachers. One room. And no, it's not a "special education" class. It's a regular Algebra class that just happens to have two teachers. An amazing opportunity for students to receive instruction in multiple ways and receive one-on-one support.

Exhibit A below shows the attendance for 5th period today. I've blocked out all the names obviously.

Exhibit A: 5th period attendance
What you are seeing is correct: exactly one student was present today. Your eyes are not playing tricks on you. This student also happens to be a student whose attendance is quite terrible. In fact, when this student is here, he usually skips his classes and strolls the school's hallways, or tries to play in the gym every single period.

Exhibit B below is a picture I took of the shared classroom during 5th period.

Exhibit B: Student taking advantage of one-on-one time.
"I ain't doing work today. But I got suspended the last time I cut this class, so Imma just go to sleep."

"Absolutely not, why don't we try to get you caught up with the rest of the class? You're failing because you haven't turned anything in, nor have you showed up for any of the tests." I suggested.

"No. I ain't doing anything. I'm sleeping. Good night."

Good night and good luck.
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Comments

Anonymous said…
hahahahahahaha!!!!
May 17, 2011 at 4:35 PM
MissEmmm said…
New policy from Albany: Attendance = 53% of your evaluation...because after all its YOUR fault!
May 17, 2011 at 6:19 PM
Yo Mista! said…
@ MissEmmm:
I heard we're now also responsible for all issues pertaining to hygiene. You're going down tooth decay!
May 17, 2011 at 8:06 PM
Anonymous said…
I had to laugh because you're funny, and then went back to being depressed because I work there. So many kids have checked out, and I find myself checking out too. I don't want to give up, but how funny, creative, and innovative must we become before the students and their families step up and realize that they must seize this opportunity by coming to school through rain, sleet and snow, study and participate in class?
May 18, 2011 at 2:12 AM
Yo Mista! said…
@ Anonymous:
I really think if I had learned juggling or maybe how to swallow an entire sword as part of my masters program, I would be entertaining enough for my students to show up rain or shine.

Here's an idea: put Comedy Central in charge of recruiting talent. That way, at least when we get fired for our students' performance, we are at least guaranteed a couple of nights to whine about it in front of a mic.
May 18, 2011 at 7:59 AM
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