back to school

Thursday was my first day back to school as a substitute. It was a very last minute assignment (about 20 minutes notice) but an assignment is an assignment. I made it to school by block 4 (second class of the day) and where am I? I am subbing for a teacher that teaches part time in my water polo coach's room. Awesome. So half way through the first viewing of "The Emperor's Club" my coach comes in and we pretty much shoot the shit until the end of class. Block 6, I have three of my old students! So fun to see them again. Of course the other students start asking if I am nice or mean....of course they ask the kid who I battled with A LOT because he talked to the girl next to him (she called him her "boo" and everything was about Escalades with her) more than do his work. Second viewing of "The Emperor's Club" not that bad but the quality in the second class room not as good in the first (oh yeah, I changed rooms twice). Block 8...back to my coach's classroom. Third viewing of "The Emperor's Club" was a little painful. At least I only had about 15 students in my class (no one ever shows up to block 8) and two of them kill me! One was a girl I taught last year who asks the most obvious questions and will jump into any conversation and doesn't realize what she is doing. The other is this kid I subbed for a couple times in another classroom who is just funny. He is this scrappy looking kid that can eat his body weight for lunch. Just talking to my old students and some new ones (like the kid who kept running up and down the hall because he had to use the restroom and couldn't find it but was smiling the entire time or the boy and girl who kept teasing each other and then would look at me for back-up) made me miss seeing the students day after day and having that impact on them.

Damn I wish I had my own classroom.

mr. vandruff

This past semester has been one of the most difficult in my teaching career. In April I learned that my past AP Art History/3-d Art teacher was very ill. Recently I learned that he has Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease. There is no cure and limited treatment for his symptoms.

I was lucky enough to have Rick as my 3-d Art teacher my freshman year of high school. As the year went on, I found myself asking to "stay to work on my 3-d art project" during his AP Art History class that was the following period. I was never the same. My senior year I took Rick's AP Art History class and knew that I had found my calling. I went on to university and earned my degree in Art History. I returned to Wilson High School and talked to Rick about my schooling and what I wanted to do. He invited me into his classroom to give a special lecture on my studies. I then started the credential program at CSULB. When I ran into friends from Wilson and they asked what I was doing in school, I told them I wanted to be Mr. Vandruff (I mean, who wouldn't?). In April I became a little like Mr. Vandruff when I took over some of his Art History classes when he took a leave of absence from teaching to focus on getting healthy. His students love him. They love him for teaching them about the world and its art. They love him for being the person he is....absolutely amazing.

Rick, my thoughts are with you and your family during this difficult time.

now i need a job

Today was the last day of school. I was subbing for a friend of mine who teaches mostly seniors so it was a pretty quiet day. To begin with, the classes were only 15 minutes long with a 10 minute passing period. Any student who walked into the classroom, I questioned them "why are you here?" Most of them didn't have an answer. I wasn't going to take roll....for a 15 minutes class. No thank you. Many of my students had heard that I was going to be in that room, so they stopped by to say hi/bye, sign year books, talk trash, jump out windows. Good times.

It has been one of the longest semesters. I love my kids, however, my teaching environment, not so much. I cannot teach in a classroom with that much fake bamboo. I cannot walk into a classroom at 7am to "shake that ass" on the stereo.

Ahh, summer. I will be spending my summer coaching a girls water polo team which will be very entertaining. If these girls are anything like I was in high school, there should be some good stories in the near future.

So in a couple weeks, I will be a fully credentialed teacher. Too bad there are no teaching jobs out there...especially in art. Think good thoughts for me!

18 more days

I am just saying. That's all.

filter, or lack thereof

My students have no filter when it comes to me. I have heard some of the most disturbing things come out of my students' mouths. I would love to tell you all about them but it really creeps me out. Ewwww.

tattoos

My students know I have tattoos. They have seen the one of my foot when I wear sandals. I have told them that I have three. They have become obsessed with the idea. For the past two days I have had my students quiz me on what they are, when I got them and where they are on my body. They spend the entire class period naming places on my body and what they could be. They talk about it in other classes. They come into my classroom on the way to another class to see if they guessed it or if I will just tell them. It is pretty entertaining especially because if you have seen a high school student lately, you will see tattoos of all sizes and on all places. It is not something unheard of anymore so I am not sure what the big deal is but it has made me laugh the past couple days.

i rock

My students told me today that I rock....just in case you didn't know.