Tornados Ain't Got Nothin'

I'm going to divert a bit from my usual posts about school because the following happened while I should have been at school. So, here goes.

My wife, Emily, and I flew back to Salt Lake City (our hometown) for the weekend to attend to some family concerns and had a great time considering the circumstances. There was great weather the entire weekend, but, of course, the weather turned south on the day we were supposed to fly out. We woke up Tuesday morning to snow flurries. Yes, snow. And, yes, it's nearly May. This did not bode well for me at all because I had just watched a BBC documentary about a plane carrying the Manchester United soccer team that crashed in 1958 during a snowstorm. Great.

Well, luckily, it stopped snowing right before our flight, so it was no big deal, a pretty smooth flight into Denver. I checked the weather reports because there was a looming storm that was supposed to hit Memphis, but it was fine because we flew into Nashville. Then I checked Facebook and what I saw horrified me.



Yup, tornado cells above Memphis. Tornado sirens blaring. Kids crouching in hallways. And it was all headed for Nashville at about 11 p.m. We were supposed to arrive in Nashville at 10:40 p.m. Great.

Well, long story short, we flew out, but had to go to clear up to southern Illinois to avoid the storms. The turbulence was terrifying. I honestly had prepared myself to meet my Maker; it was the worst I have ever experienced. I just stared at the "No Smoking" sign on the seat in front of me

I'm Still Alive

It has been a month and a day since I last updated everyone on the happenings of a Memphis classroom. I feel like a bum, but since Spring Break, it has been an incredibly hectic month due to state testing (the dreaded TCAP), Capstone (a mandated end-of-year service project/essay thing) and the overall apathy of the students toward the last five weeks of school because they think that the TCAP = end of the year for EVERYTHING.

There have, however, been some great highlights this month, so let me recap:

1. The boys' soccer team is tearing through the district competition and dominating all in its path. They're such an awesome group of boys; very humble, appreciative and willing to learn. The captain, Luis, really might have a future in soccer if he continues on the path he's on. Since I last posted, their record is 4-1, having scored 37 goals and only allowed 8. Playoffs are in two weeks and I really think we'll win the city championship this year. Check out our website for updates.





2. Each year, my school puts on a "TCAP Chant-off," which is an opportunity right before the state tests (Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment Program) for the kids to make creative chants or raps to get their classmates pumped up for the tests. It was hilarious to say the very least. Our team didn't win, but they still had an awesome showing. AW, who was featured on my blog earlier for his version of Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing," was the force behind our chant and he did an amazing job. Here's a quick clip of his part of the song:



The 7th Grade Honors Team had an amazing chant, but I was only able to film the tumbling routine at the end, which was pretty cool in and of itself.



3. A tornado passed through Memphis and touched down for a short period of time near my house, but there was only small damage (ripped-off window shutters, fallen branches) to houses surrounding ours, but somehow our little house made it through unscathed. However, a huge tree in front of the Sigma Alpha Epsilon house on the University of Memphis campus was not so lucky. Good thing it happened to them and not SigEp, that's divine intervention.



4. My trusty truck of seven years finally gave up the ghost and is no more. He pushed as hard as the lil' guy could, but it seemed the task was too lofty this time around. He'll be missed. I dated my wife in that truck. I drove all the way to Boise overnight just to see an Interpol in that truck. I bought the truck when I was a senior in high school. I drove across the entire United States with that truck. I met J.B. White & Co. in the parking lot of AutoZone when I first arrived in Memphis in that truck. RIP Lil' Beal, 1994-2011.

SPRING BREAK!!

Spring Break is awesome. That's about all I can say. One week all to myself has been in.cred.i.ble. This place is usually reserved for the cool and funny things my students do, but this is about the cool and funny things I do.

1. I made a stool for my wife because she's short and can't reach stuff.



2. I graded projects on our patio in 65-degree weather with delicious Italian food, then I busted out the big guy for the first time and got plenty of weird looks.






3. I accompanied my lovely wife to Mud Island so she could get her nails done, so instead of sitting in a cove of nail polish, I walked along the Mississippi River and took pictures. I'm no photographer.







4. I slept in until noon.

5. I played beach volleyball and listened to loud music.

6. I roamed aimlessly around a gigantic thrift store for an hour and a half and this is some of what I found.

Where else could you find a Vanilla Ice action figure? "Stop. Collaborate and listen."


I love Coca-Cola.


I'd be able to sleep okay at night if I had never seen this doll.


Not creepy at all. An authentic ball and chain from the federal penitentiary in Yuma, Arizona.


A legitimate bar. I'd definitely buy it if Dolly Parton came along.


A thrift shop wouldn't be complete without some weird book authored by Freud or Kinsey about human sexuality.


But the real winner of the day...



Nothing like Billy Clinton singing some old hits.

And there you have: Spring Break 2011.

Kingsbury Vibes

Last October, one of my students, TB, who is a regular on this blog, would NOT sit still for the life of him. He wouldn't get started on his group project and I needed a way to get him engaged.

He likes to rap. And he's actually pretty good.

Me: "T, you need to do your work. Which country are you doing? England?"

TB: "I don't feel like doing research."

Me: "What do you feel like doing?"

TB: "Rapping."

Me: "Okay, I can understand that. Well, rap me something about the Parliament and House of Commons."

TB: "How am I gonna do that?"

Me: "I don't know, you're the rapper."

I then told him to go home and make a rap about his experience at Kingsbury Middle School. It took about a month and I had since forgotten about my challenge, but he brought it in on a CD. Our school recently had a contest where students could submit school songs. Well, I think he won because our principal now plays it every day over the intercom.

Note the shout-out to this guy. "Ballers we are, harder and harder. Poppin' our collar, like Mr. Lowe and Order."



Just let me know if you want the song and I'll send it to you. It's gonna be famous one day.

Some New Gems

I asked the students to write either a poem or a song about an exciting event that has occurred in the past year. Here are two examples - one is just plain great and the other is kinda funny:

This first one is from a girl who moved here from Missouri about three weeks ago:

The day we moved
It was so unreal,
I was shook up and crazy,
I didn't know what to feel.

My world was spinning,
I almost fell down.
If I had a bright red nose,
I could be the clown.

My mom was laughing,
My ears were breaking,
My friends were gone,
My heart was aching.

My face was wet,
From familiar tears,
Not from happiness,
But out of fear.

Yet, that day, that beautiful day,
Was the most exciting one,
The battle of fears and sorrow
Was a battle that I had won.
-LF

This year was influential
But what was exciting was always confidential.
I have a class with Mr. Lowe and Ms. Ybarra,
Some of the hard work they give might even scare ya.
Some people have attitudes that need to be fixed,
Like a witch flyin' on her broom stick.
-DD

Young Love, Part Deux

I took this note during my enrichment period and then read it silently in front of the class, making lovey-dovey actions that only set everybody else's imaginations off about what was actually in the note:

AH: "Yeah, I'm D's biggest fan but it's like he won't give me a chance!!!!!!!!!

TL: "Chance at what?"

AH: "Being his gurl!!!!"

TL: "U know if he likes u?"

AH: "What do you mean?"

TL (quite plainly): "Does he like you?

AH: "IDK (I don't know, in layman's terms), I dislike rejection!!!"

TL: "So he doesn't like you?"

AH: "Can you ask him or something please? But don't just ask him, say something like I think AH is pretty, don't you think so????"

TL: "I will in math."

AH: "Ok!!! Thanks for being an awsome friend!!!! and after you ask him say you know she like y"

And that's where the mean Mr. Lowe swooped in and took the note like it was nobody's business. I wrote the note verbatim, except for the names, and, boy, was I glad that there was punctuation and only one spelling error. My kids are making progress.

"Wuv, twue wuv, is what bwings us togethaw today."

A Wundrful Theng

One of my students, B, is a gentle giant. She's taller than everyone else, which, to some, may make her intimidating at first glance, but once you speak to her, you realize that she'd rather nurse an injured bird back to health than beat up on a gaggle of hoodrats. She's one of my best students; she never needs me to babysit her or get on her case for not working. She never puts her head down. She never talks back. She raises her hand when something doesn't make sense. She tries and tries and tries again and again and again.

But she's dyslexic.

This caused her to be put into my inclusion class, which is a form of special education, or remediated learning. She can't spell very well at all, so people automatically think that she's not bright when they see her writing. But she is. She's so bright. And she's come a LONG way since the beginning of the year. I've worked with her on her spelling, and if you can get past the spelling errors, you'll find that what you just read is pretty great for her age. I spelled the title of this post, "A Wundrful Theng," to emphasize the fact that, although something is spelled wrong and not perfect on the surface, it can surprise you what is inside, and it's the same with B.

She also loves - no, admires - no, worships - no, would-just-in-front-of-a-train-just-to-see-one-more-game - the Memphis Grizzlies, our NBA team. They're having a contest where a Memphis student can submit an essay about his or her favorite teacher. I was very honored that B wrote this:






She's such a hard worker that she's coming into Saturday School tomorrow so that we can clean it up and type it to send in to the Grizzlies. I'm not the only one that's helped, so I wish she would've written it about all her teachers. Ms. Ybarra tosses math at her like it's nobody's business. I can hear Ms. Dugas, from across the hall, squawking (for humor's sake) stuff about the legislative and executive branches. Ms. Riser teaches her how to love the arts and, thus, life. It's a team effort, but she's benefitting from it.

Our gentle giant.