Crosshairs

Of course, nobody told this guy to shoot a Congressional representative. Still, when I saw Palin’s graphic, I thought of every first-person shooter game with gory blood spurting graphics, and I thought of JFK. And I know if I found crosshairs drawn over a map of my classroom, I’d consider that a violent threat, because students […]

Avoidance

Some of the most painful things that ever happened to me happened in childhood. One day after school, I sat in the car with my mom, facing the tree in our side yard, and crying and crying and telling her I was never going back to school. I had no friends. My only friend, in […]

Target Practice

We have discussions in my English class about all kinds of delicate issues: race, growing up and sexuality, family traumas. I write questions on a plastic sheet on the overhead, and they all complain about my handwriting and write. Then I sit on my stool and we discuss. In the novel we just finished, a […]

Penance

I’ve been to a lot of trainings to learn “what the students’ lives are like.” These presenters are usually people who don’t spent 8 hours a day, every day, with students. Instead, they are university-level experts in cultural differences and student psychology. Sure, when you start teaching, you should learn about the students you’re working […]