I'm still here!
Sorry for the lapse in writing—I’ve been crazy busy with my students. Fear not, though! My second year is shaping up to be really good. I have very high functioning students with high reading levels…and frankly they are running me ragged because all my assignments and lesson plans they simply burn through. That’s cool thought. If my students are willing to do the work, I’m ok with creating more.
Here’s a little something that really inspired me:
I’ve been working with a student who’s all geared up to enter the work force. He’s not a behavior issue, more of an attendance problem. But I’ve been getting him to come in by finding time to help him with his resume, posting on Monster.com, working on job applications and holding mock interviews. So the student and I have been working pretty hard over the last month, and last Thursday night I got a call on my cell. It was J, my student, calling me because the manager of Boston Market called him in for an interview. J wanted me to know, and he sounded so proud and excited! I was the first to know. And if j gets the job….I’ll be getting some discounted rotisserie chicken: My favorite!
Here’s a little something that really inspired me:
I’ve been working with a student who’s all geared up to enter the work force. He’s not a behavior issue, more of an attendance problem. But I’ve been getting him to come in by finding time to help him with his resume, posting on Monster.com, working on job applications and holding mock interviews. So the student and I have been working pretty hard over the last month, and last Thursday night I got a call on my cell. It was J, my student, calling me because the manager of Boston Market called him in for an interview. J wanted me to know, and he sounded so proud and excited! I was the first to know. And if j gets the job….I’ll be getting some discounted rotisserie chicken: My favorite!
posted by Ms. C at 11:36 AM
7 Comments:
Congrats to you and your student! Regardless of whether or not this particular job works out, I'm willing to bet that he'll never forget the help you've been giving him.
Wow! It seems that many of the bloggers are having a better year--hence less blogging.
I am not sure how I feel about giving out my personal cell phone number, I believe a teacher it may not be too legal in NYC. Please ask Norm on Ednotes about this. I seem to remember someone from ICE, Jeff Kaufman, having a similar type of contact with a student and was sent to the Rubber Room for doing so.
I know you intentions are pure, but you MUST check the legality of these things before you act.
From the ICE blog
On Sept. 12, 2005, the Rikers principal, Frank Dody, sent out a security memo, in which he spelled out in writing, for the first time, what was meant by the prohibition against undue familiarity: "All contact with current/former students outside of the school area (home, upstate facilities) in the form of letters or phone calls must be authorized by the principal."
Mr. Kaufman read the memo, requested authorization and showed the principal a recent letter from Mr. Lee. Within days Mr. Kaufman was yanked from Rikers and placed in a holding room in Brooklyn for teachers under investigation
See ICE blog
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
Inspiring Rikers Teacher Runs Afoul of Jail's Rules
By MICHAEL WINERIP
http://iceuftblog.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_archive.html
Thanks for plugging me into this blog, schoolgal.
Congrats Ms. C. It must be a great feeling. Wait till you have kids bringing you their kids. And yikes, grandkids.
I always gave the kids my number so their parents could call. It went a long way towards making them feel I was on their side and cemented some solid relationships. There was never an incident of abuse. But this was elem school.
What you have to be careful of is the stability of the students in case they have problems that leads to charges, etc. I had kids come back years later and ask for loans, co-signs on cars, etc. One of my colleagues got into a bit of a financial mess (not DOE) and ended up owning a wreck.
I think the DOE attitude is that teachers should make themselves available 24/7 -- after all, the DOE treats people so well.
Jeff was caught by the Rikers correctional policy of "no personal contact with prisoners or their families." Jeff raised the issue that "we are teachers and have to have contact with families."
The student in question was in solitary and was studying for college - he had passed the GED and wrote to Jeff asking him to get him some materials. Just by having Jeff's contact info, that was a violation of Rikers rules, not DOE rules.
Jeff being an aggressive CL, Doty used the excuse to dump him in the rubber room even though no DOE rules were violated and Jeff was exonerated. The NY Times did a great piece on Jeff and interviewed the kid's sister.
Natch, Unity slime attacked Jeff accusing him of rigging the entire thing.
Schoolgal...that's very scary! I mean, the safety of the student is most important... but c'mon!
I've never given my cell number out to a student, but I have given it to parents. I just assumed J got the number from his mom. I'd be nervous to give my number to students.
But still, better safe than sorry in a rubber room.
Ed notes, thank you for the info. I often call parents from my cell, in my home because I they work during school hours. My principal is always telling us to call parents...since my school doesn't have detention and one of the only ways we can "discipline" a student is by making the parent aware of their child's actions.
Not being able to contact parents from my cell, or let them contact me, would make my job so much harder.
Very cool!!!! :)
We must meet up for brunch again sometime!! :)
Second year, huh? you give me hope. I'm interviewing next week for the June 2008 Teaching Fellows program. I get scared when I read blog after blog about NYC education politics, and "rubber rooms", and who knows what else. But blogs like yours give me hope . . . because I think I would do it anyway, but some days I'm not so sure . . .
okay, it's late on a Friday and I'm pretty much rambling here . . . but thanks for the blog . . . I want to go into this knowing as much as I can . . .
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