Realidades

Realidades is the name of my Spanish text book in Prince George's county. It means, "realities."

This weekend, my reality was that I needed to rest, relax and recharge. My mom came to visit me and help me get back on track. So I didn't go out on Halloween. I didn't drink or party or even do much besides clean my house, do my laundry, and get ahead. I set off for school today, thinking that I was in a better place and ready to get through till Thanksgiving.

But if life is teaching me anything, it's that with Teach For America, THERE IS NEVER A BREAK, and "reality" is always redefined. As soon as I arrived to school, I could tell that something was amiss. My first period class was off the walls, no one could focus. I kicked three students out in the first 15 minutes. No one would sit still or be quiet no matter how I begged.

The reason? I only found it out after lunch, after two periods of mayhem. One of my students had been violently stabbed, almost to death, over the weekend. He is in the hospital now, as my principal put it, "fighting." Kids were off the wall: talking about retaliation, guns in school, gangs, violence, territories... There was no way to focus the class, and no way to convince them that learning the verb "tener" was worth their time.

This week is going to be a new challenge, both for me as a teacher and me personally. I don't think it's hit me yet that MY STUDENT is in a hospital, maybe dying.

Realidades.