Get out a kleenex

Okay, Martha made me feel kind of bad for Little Round Boy.

But only for a minute; then I remembered what a jerk he is.

Still, after reviewing my past posts I realized I've sounded a little harsh on my kids a lot of the time. And if you can't say anything nice...

Actually, if you can't say anything nice you should just be honest because somebody else is probably thinking it and clearly, it needs to be said. But I digress.

Know what's the best thing about teaching? The kids. If you're good they adore you. They can tell when you care, so even if you put up a mean, ornery front like I do they see through it in a second and know that they can trust you to tell the truth. They'll skip other classes to hang out in your room and even when you're pushing them out the door telling them how much you can't stand the sight of them and go to class for god's sake, they know you're kidding because they know they can always make you laugh. Sometimes kids I've never met know my name and wave at me like we're old buddies.

And yes, South Central has many problems. Even my brightest kids have trouble with writing because they've been brought up speaking Spanish by parents who aren't well educated. But they try and they learn and they ask really good questions. They look up at you with those cute little faces and can't wait to watch me do the crazy Hamlet dance. I can't always get a laugh with adults, but I kill in a room of 16 year olds.

The other day I was standing on the balcony of my school watching them all as they listened respectfully to the drumline play at lunch under the clear LA sky. I couldn't stop thinking about how beautiful they are. There's so much for them to overcome, so much craziness they've already survived and so much stacked against them in the future. But they show up at school every day and start again, convinced that this is the way out of the ghetto, which for most of them is true. It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen in my life.

That's why I'm a teacher.