I’m learning a lot about life in the inner-city. September 29th there was a 15-year-old boy, Chris Williams, that attended our church who was shot in the back and leg 9 times, because he told a few boys to stop harassing his female cousin. One of his legs was amputated and he’s in a coma. [Update: He is not in a coma anymore]
I just completed my first month of teaching my own classes. Many teachers congratulated me, because there are a significant number of teachers who quit by this time. I have no intentions of quitting. During my two month summer training, I know several people who left the program, but most teachers stayed.
During the summer, I took two education classes at Pace University and taught 8th grade summer school Earth Science in a poor Brooklyn neighborhood as an assistant teacher at I.S. 302 Rafael Cordero y Molina School (middle school). When the students came in the room, they would talk to their friends and continue talking to their friends for the duration of class. When I commanded the students to be quiet or instituted a class procedure (when I raise my hand, everyone stops talking and looks at me) to get everyone quiet, it would work for a few minutes or days, but ultimately failed. Since talking over the students was not effective, most instruction was repeated to each student individually or in small groups. This way, there would be about 10 minutes of learning time per student per 45 minute period. It was sad.
Also, on the days the lesson was not very engaging, the kids would first start talking loudly, then push one another and soon a “play fight” would break out. Girls would stab boys with pencils. Boys would pick up girls and body slam them.
This is common behavior for these kids, especially for socially-confused middle schoolers. One evening when I was waiting for a bus, I observed that one boy pushed another boy into a glass bus stop. The boy hit his head but nothing was broken, fortunately. An older woman instructed the boy to get his revenge. Revenge is a common theme with these kids. Many students say, “If someone throws a paper ball at me, I have to throw one back.”
Once I found my job at H.S. 507 The Performing Arts and Technology High School (P.A.T.H.S.) in Brooklyn to teach three classes of 9th grade Biology and one class of Health for grades 10-12, I was given a chance to do a better job than what I witnessed during the summer. I received several of the same students I taught during the summer. The first two weeks went OK. The students listened more and behaved better than during the summer, although I spent some time talking over students. On the third week, my class with the “honor” students started throwing paper balls. By the end of the week they were throwing volleyball-sized paper balls and a plastic water bottle with water at me. At that point, no instruction was happening. I started to doubt whether I made the right decision to teach in the inner-city.
After those incidents, I started contacting other teachers, administrators and parents for help with these students. Now, no students would dare throw anything in my class, because they know that they will be immediately removed and administrators and parents will be contacted. The only way the students behave well is by having many consequences for misbehavior.
By the fourth week, I had most of my students in check and I learned most of my students’ names, which helps immensely. These last fourth and fifth weeks, the students as a whole finally started to learn some biology. I can generally have all the students quiet and we can have discussions as a group. There is still much room for improvement with classroom management, but the difference is night and day. I received a lot of positive feedback from other teachers. One teacher said, “Mr. Lomize has improved more than any other first-year teacher in our school, especially for a white teacher [most of my students are Black or Latino]. He reflects and is flexible about changing his approach.” Another teacher said, “I’ve taught for thirty years in these schools and I could not control these kids any better than Mr. Lomize.”
The building I teach in used to be Thomas Jefferson High School, a large ~ 2000 student high school that had a 10% graduation rate and many violent crimes. Four years ago, Thomas Jefferson High School was shut down and gradually replaced by four small high schools. My high school–P.A.T.H.S.–is one of those four new high schools. The school still has metal detectors, but the attendance, violence and soon-to-be graduation rates are now much improved. Security guards are positioned in all parts of the school, the students have uniforms and rules are strictly enforced.
Lastly, I’m currently taking education classes at Pace University and will have a masters in education in two years. I enjoy my apartment, which is 20 minutes door-to-door from the school via the subway. My neighbors are mostly teachers and lawyers. I live in a predominantly African-American, Caribbean and Latino community. It’s interesting to learn about other cultures.
Originally published at Interconnectedness. Please leave any comments there.
