Motor City Summer Journal Quotes :: Bob Lupton edition

At this moment in American history, poverty is suburbanizing. Gentrification brings wealth back into the city and pushed poor renters into 40-year-old apartment buildings in first-ring suburbs.

Without the participation of the Church in the unstoppable process of gentrification, it will be an unjust process.

Handouts are the kindest way to destroy people.  Why exclude the poor from bargaining? Let's re-tool our charity to develop reciprocal systems.  "There is no loss of dignity in finding a good bargain."

You don't get appreciated for this kind of work. In fact it's often the opposite. Disappointment asks: "What am I doing this for?"  I do it because God loves those who suffer.

A public school in Atlanta:
When my kids enrolled, school average 21% on standardized tests.
12 years later, school average 79% on standardized tests.
How?  investment in school by volunteers and the revival of the PTA.

a note

My roommate and now co-worker found a piece of paper at school with the following written on it:

you asked me what was wrong
& i smiled and said...

NOTHING

Then I turned around
and said...

EVERYTHING

heartbreak

I nearly cried at school today.  The words of a second grader broke my heart.

Demographics by ethnicity, Hope of Detroit Academy, one 2nd Grade class:
White: 2/25
Black: 6/25
Latino: 17/25

With the majority of students speaking Spanish at home, and kids being so brilliant at learning language, most of the class is somewhat bilingual.  Even those who only hear Spanish from the other kids at school.

This week I've been teaching second grade while the teachers are pulling kids out one-by-one for literacy testing.

During a period of independent and/or small group work today, I had to talk to a few of the boys who were getting out of control.  There was some kicking, some stealing pencils... all the normal bored second grade boy stuff.  It happened that this time it was the only three black boys in the class.  They hang out together (there's a good book called "Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?" And Other Conversations About Race by Beverly Daniel Tatum, Ph.D. if you want to know why).

After I sent them away, a very cute girl with big green/brown eyes came up to me.  We'd connected a little bit at recess before, so I think she felt comfortable talking with me.  She came close, with a very serious face, and said in the voice of one divulging a dear secret:

"My mama says that I can't get close to those mean dark boys.  I shouldn't get close with them."

I was shocked, scared, angry... but mostly heartbroken.  I nearly cried.  I might have said any number of things, like "Just because they look different doesn't make them mean."  But in the moment, I had no response for her.

travels

I don't do much chronological event posting, but I think this deserves it:

Tuesday night I took Belinda on a date - an indoor (candle light) picnic at our church.  Thanks to everyone who help make it an evening we'll never forget.  Stories available upon request.

Following goodbye, Slippey helped me quickly drop things at my parents apartment (sorry for a mess, mom & dad!) and then we sped to Buffalo.  I literally hailed the bus as the driver was about to pull out.  He let me on, and off we went.

Layover in Cleveland was uneventful.  I didn't sleep much.  I talked to a few people on the phone, and even when I wasn't talking, my heart was too full for sleep.

I was very tired by the time my bus left Cleveland at 3:30am.  I slept, and woke up as our bus pulled back into the Cleveland station an hour later.  bus=broken.  New bus.

So I was scheduled to get into Detroit at 7:15am, and be at school to sub at 7:30.  After the mishap with the broken bus, I arrived just before 8:30.  My housemates had locked my bike up near the bus station, so I picked it up and rode through light drizzle directly to school. 

Fortunately the teacher that I've been subbing for was in, so it wasn't a big deal that I was late.  We're going to be team teaching until Nov. 6, when he'll be out again for knee surgery.  And then I'll have the class until the end of the calendar year.

I was supposed to go to tutoring immediately after school. But I felt like I was about to pass out on my feet, so I went home, realized I had a pretty severe headache, and passed out in my hammock.  I slept 4-8, got up for some dinner with the guys, and am about to sleep again.

better

Student quote of the week so far:

In a discussion on the value of history and understanding our historical and cultural origins, I heard these words over the low rumble of voices:

I came from the internet.

Teaching gets easier every day.  The teaching itself isn't too difficult, it's really the classroom management that is troublesome. I treat each period as a new experiment.  And so far it keeps getting better. Today was probably twice as good as yesterday.  I felt like I was in control of the classroom all day, and the students were actually learning something.

I think the turning point actually came yesterday.  First period was pretty bad again, with the same eighth grade class that had the fight my first day.  One of the students who was in the fight was actually the best student that day, but the whole class had very little respect for my authority.  I was frustrated.  Every day each teacher has one period of "prep."  My prep period was right after that class yesterday, and not having much teaching preparation to do, I decided to do some spiritual preparation.  I spent a while prayer-journaling, and asking God to fill the hearts of my students with spirits of peace and obedience.

And he did.  The rest of the day was good.  Comparatively, today was great.

I'm still developing a concept of how long 75 minutes actually is and what can be accomplished in that time.

the first day

It's been a good day.

My first experience as a substitute teacher was largely a good one.  I'm teaching middle school social studies, but most of the lessons for all three grades today were about how to use organizational tools to write expository paragraphs.  It wasn't too exciting.  But I think the later classes had more fun with it than the first ones, cause i got better at teaching it interactively.  It was a little tough to manage the classroom.  Balancing mercy and justice, and establishing authority without being just straight mean.  But aside from a brief fist fight right in front of me almost at the end of first period, there weren't any problems besides overly talkative students and some attention-mongers.  (Just made up that term.  Thoughts?)

I also determined that three things have contributed to my coolness level:  I ride my bike to school, I live in Detroit, and I have a girlfriend (although, i might have been cooler if I was interested in the single female teacher across the hall who is my age).


Currently at the house the blinds are going up and we probably won't have gas for a week.

First Job

On Friday I did a lot of signing of official things.  We signed our lease.  In the morning I went to  finally signed a contract with the Leona Group, a network of 14 charter schools in Detroit.  I'm now officially a substitute teacher.

I got a call during church today from an unknown 313 number.  When I listened to my messages after church it was my new boss at Hope of Detroit (the Leona Group school that I was hired at).  When I called him back, he asked me to come in every day this week to sub in the same classroom.  So, I'll be up at 5:45 tomorrow morning in time for some Bible time, breakfast, and a 40ish minute bike commute to work.  Pray against rain!  I feel like I have no idea what I'm getting myself into.  Middle school social studies.  Fortunately, the teacher I'm filling in for will be there to meet me tomorrow morning.

God is so good!