Real Life

The kids today were in another land, they understand that today is Monday but there mind is already onto Thursday, I am afraid tomorrow will be worse. We have moved into our employment chapter and it is so funny to listen to what these students want to do with their life. I have no reason to crush their dreams, I want them to want great things but I try and tell them it takes a lot of work to get the jobs that they want. I ask them to dream big, I ask them to want good things down the road but I want to make sure they understand it takes work to get where you want to be. I am pretty sure that there are not many homeless people who want to live on the street. I show them what it takes to become different professions, we talk about how to better their self and I let them know that is all starts today and tomorrow and the next day. One of the students said he wanted to be a doctor, another student said if you were a doctor there is now way I would come to your office. Once I told him that, that was not very nice and to keep his comments to himself it made me think. Then I asked them what do you think about your peers matter, 10 years down the road even if you have changed and you move back to town people are going to remember the way you acted when they knew you. Be a good person, do the right thing and you will not have to worry about people not wanting to come to your practice.

The ability to convert ideas to things is the secret to outward success.
Henry Ward Beecher

Multicultural Post

At first glimpse you would say that WC HS is a lily white school and that there really is no diversity in the school system, but that could not be further from the truth. The skin color is the same but that is where the similarities stop, the parents raise their kids in different situations, the incomes of most families are below the poverty line. There is huge difference in the school even know they all have the same skin color and look about the same in a picture. Statistics are what make the world go round, the black verse white numbers are the only cultural difference most people see when that really has nothing to do with it. Appalachia is totally different then Lexington, KY, the white kids here and the white kids there to no even have close to the same life, but because they have the same skin pigmentation we bunch them all together and figure our stats. That is wrong on many different levels, the kids are the ones who suffer.
In the school I teach in there is maybe 2% is not white, but there is still a huge culture difference in all of my classes. Some kids live at home with both parents, some live with one or the other, some live with grandma and grandpa who are still under 50, some just move out totally and get married. Now after reading that last sentence don't you think there might be some cultural differences in WC HS. Try and look past the color next you do a survey, try and look at the kids and the living situation before you come to a conclusion on a child's life.

The education of circumstances is superior to that of tuition.
William Wordsworth

Resources at WCHS

Family Support
Cabinet for Health & Family Services
Christian Appalachian Project
Corbin's United Effort
Friendship Center
Mountain Outreach

KCHIP-Kentucky Children's Health Insurance Program

Whitley County Adult Eduacation Learning Centers
Boston Elementary
Oak Grove Elementary
Pleasant View Elementary
North Elementary

Parenting Workshop
Grandparent Support Group


If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day.
If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime.

Community Resources

I asked one question about who I needed to talk to to find this information to my student teacher and she said " Mrs. Centers, definitely her, if she does not have the information she will know who you need to talk to." She was right, Mrs. Centers had all the information that I needed, she had it all at her fingertips, she was more than happy to talk with me about the school and the community and what is offered to help the students as well as me as a new teacher. This was something that I found amazing, all I have heard since I have been here is how poor the community is and how it is hopeless, most of the kids will never make it because they have nothing. The question that I have is why are they parents not using this great system that they have set up right here, I am not sure what the percentage of kids in the school that use this but Mrs. Centers did tell me that every school in the county has a resource center in the school. People can not say they do not have opportunities, the opportunities are there if you seek them out.

Divide the fire and you will soon put it out.
Greek Proverb

Tough Love or Soft Smile

I always considered myself as a tough love teacher/coach, but today I tried the smile and pat on the back, it seemed to work on my three students in my first period. I have three male students in my first period class who really do not try and do their work, they always have an excuse of why they can't or won't do it but it is never their fault, today I tried something different, I was overly nice to them. I have always been fair but today I was really nice in everything I said and did to them, not in a sarcastic way just in an understanding way. I told them to do their best and if they need any help to just ask and I will be right over, even when they got off task I asked if they could continue working, please. I am not going to say it was easy, sometimes I just want to ask them what they plan to do later in life when they have to get a job, but I am scared to hear their answer. For the entire period they work well, when I would walk by I would tap them on their back and say, "Looks good, Good job, keep it up". I am not sure that I can be like that all year, they will never be able to keep up with the class but at least they have something to turn in when it is time.

Every man is a volume if you know how to read him.
William Ellery Channing

Not Even Trying

I have ran into the students who really have no desire to even try and learn. I have heard every excuse possible I think, I am not sure but they have tried some really weird ways of getting out of work. Today I gave the most ridiculous assignment to a couple of my students just to see how lazy they were, I told them all they had to do was copy (type)the questions out of the book (15 to be exact) and I would give them the answers and they would receive a 100%. All they had to do was type 15 questions in a 50 minute class, they did nothing for the entire class, they sat there and stare and the screen like it is going to do it for them. When I would walk behind them they would type a couple words but I guess when I would help another student they would stop. They turned in another students work. Tomorrow I am going to talk to them about it, the other students are taking to my style very well, today I gave them the answer book to check their work. They only checked their work, they did not copy the numbers, they only looked to see how to set up their worksheet. I am really happy with most of the class, they are understanding that I am understanding to a point and then at that point they do their work. I have tried the method out of Teaching with Love and Logic book by giving them some control. It seems to be working with most but not all. I am not giving up on the rest of the class just yet, I will try some more techniques.

In this world a man must either be an anvil or hammer.
Henry W. Longfellow

Class Tension?

I really thought that today there would be a feeling in the class but there was nothing, I think that one of the kids in the altercation was not there today but I think that high school age kids forget easy and move on. I think that tomorrow will be no different then today. I want my students to feel safe and that is one thing that I take serious, so if there really is a problem then we will make it work, no one should have to fear for their safety.

I spoke with one student today about her missing school, she said that her parents are going out of town and she has to go with them, I told her that she needed to stay in school so that she does not miss anything else. She needs to be at school, I hope her parents understand that and want her to get an education.

The mind that is anxious about future events is miserable.
Seneca