Feather Me Manipulative

I wish people simply gave to charity out of the goodness of their hearts without  need of incentive or competition.  Fortunately, 8th graders are easy to trick into doing things, so when there is an incentive that is desirable enough and a competition that is hot enough, it's the perfect storm for Mrs. Martin, Super Saleswoman!  Here is the competition: to raise money for families in need during the holidays, the lunch room supervising teachers (yours truly and the rest of the poor souls who were assigned this duty) are selling paper feathers to students for $1.00.  When a student buys a feather, he writes his name on it and tapes it to one of the the cafeteria windows.  Whichever team (the school is divided into teams depending on their schedule and lunch times) purchases the most feathers wins a prize.  In the past, the prize has been gym time during homeroom.  This was what the prize was thought to be for the first week of the competition.  My team, the Jaguars, bought a grand total of three feathers.  Yeah, it was pretty indicative of their attitude for charity.  "I don't have any money.  They should be sending me food during the holidays!"  "Who cares about gym time?"  On Friday, it was announced that the competition had been extended to the following  Wednesday and the prize would not be gym time, but instead a movie with free popcorn for the whole team in the auditorium, during the school day.  Feather sales would soon start to increase.

On Monday I started my pitch.  The Jaguar's feathers are black to match the color of their hearts and their lanyards.  I took a big stack of black paper feathers and a silver marker and waved them above my head as I walked around to each round lunch table.

"Who's buying a feather today?  Who wants that free movie day?  Who wants to help give to families in need during the holidays?"

No hands shot up in response.  I walked up to a table and bent down.

"Come on guys, who wants to donate a dollar? You guys could get a free movie day!" I said.
A curly-haired mixed kid responded, "There's no way we're going to catch the Cardinals.  They have a full window filled already!"

The Cardinals are the honor's team.  Their feather color is red.  They're the rich kids, they're the white kids, they're the generous kids.  I frankly love having them in class.  They may be snobs, but they be snobs whose parents taught them manners.  They donated lots of money before they even knew what the prize was.  They are, of course, a bit cocky though.

"No, no, no.  You guys don't get it.  You see, the Cardinals won't see you coming.  They're content.  They sitting pretty.  They have a comfortable lead.  You have three measly feathers up there!  You're a joke!  That's why you're in the perfect position!"

The table of Jaguars stared a me.  A skinny black girl with a bad hair weave spoke.

"But how we gonna get as many as them?  They got like a hundred.  We only got two days.  We don't got a chance."

I countered, "Yes you do!  If every Jaguar donated just one dollar, you could have a window covered by today!  Trust me on this: you plan a sneak attack.  Donate a ton at the last minute.  No one will see it coming!  It's the perfect plan!"

They Jaguar table looked at each other skeptically.

I tried another tactic.  "How much do you pay to go see a movie?"

The mixed kid said, "Like, ten bucks.  Plus popcorn and stuff, like twenty maybe."

The other Jaguars nodded in agreement.

"This is one dollar.  Just one!  Maybe two if you want to be safe."

"But what movie is it going to be?" a fat kid argued.  "It's probably going to be like PG or something lame."

"Who cares?"  I said, throwing my hands up theatrically.  "It's during the school day!  And you get free popcorn!"

I bent over lower.

"And you get a chance to beat the Cardinals without them even knowing it.  See, you have lunch after them.  You have the advantage of knowing exactly how many feathers they have, so you'll know exactly how many feathers you need to win.  It's the perfect plan, guys.  Trust me.  It's seriously perfect.  Imagine, the Jaguars, the team who came from only three feathers in the first week, winning the movie day..."

The Jaguars looked around at each other.  I could see the wheels turning.

"How much for one feather?"

I smiled.  "A dollar."

Two of the Jaguars dug their hands into their dirty jeans' pockets and pulled out some dollar bills.

"I'll take two."

"I'll take one."

I shouted, "Yeah, that's what I'm taking about!  A Jaguar surge!  A sneak attack!  It's all you, you're going to win! Spread the word!"

I performed my act at a few more tables.  I got $5.00 from one kid and several more single orders.  By the end of Monday there were 20 black feathers on the cafeteria window and promises from several students to bring money the next day.

On Tuesday I spread my plan to more tables.  The Jaguars were buzzing.  One wiry blonde boy with crooked teeth tossed me a bag with $20.00 worth of quarters and dimes.  I cheered them on and excitedly urged them to spread the word!  Every Jaguar had to bring at least a dollar to win!  By the end of Tuesday's lunch there were 83 black feathers on the window.  There were 120 red feathers.  The Jaguars were closing in...

Wednesday was the final day to donate.  I told my homeroom that if everyone in our class gave at least a dollar, I would bring them candy on Friday, regardless of if they won the overall competition.

My sassy little Mexican girl who always, I mean every day, always, wears some form of leopard print said, "If we don't win, I want my money back!"

I looked at her.  "What do you think this money is for?"

Everyone got quiet.

"You want your two dollars back?  Really?  For what?  So you can buy Air Heads at the book store or a cookie in the lunch line?  Come on.  If you lose, you still will have given a lot of money to families who don't have food or warm clothes.  You want your two dollars back if you don't get to watch a stupid movie?"

She shook her head.  "Nah, I'm just playin'.  They can keep it."

I let the silence hang for a bit. "Good," I said.

Another one of my homeroom students came into class a little late with a money bank full of change.

"There's $27.52 in here!" he exclaimed, slamming it down on my desk.

"Alright, awesome!" I said.

He asked, "Can I go around to all the homerooms and ask for spare change?  We can just put 'Jaguars' or something on those feathers.  Or just leave 'em blank, who cares?  We're gonna win!"

He was practically jumping up and down.  The rest of the class didn't even mock him or laugh under their breath like they usually would at anyone who showed the least bit of positive emotion.  They all just smiled with excitement and said encouraging things like, "Wow, that's so awesome!" and "I have some change in my locker!" and "Can we, can we please go collect change, Mrs. Martin?!"

"OK," I said, "but ask the classroom teacher first and don't be disruptive!  And be back in less than 10 minutes to finish your work!"

He and a friend rushed out the room, the coin bank clanking heavily.

After he left and the room was quiet with Jaguars working on their morning math, one of my girls looked over at me.  She has never spoke to me respectfully the whole year.  She is rarely in her seat when the bell rings and she usually is stirring up some kind of disruption by gossiping loudly or dancing in her seat to silent pop music, which she mouths obnoxiously.

She said, "If it weren't for you, we would still have three feathers."

She said it very frankly.  Not like a complement, not like an accusation, just sort of stating a fact.  She stared at me for a few more seconds before I said, "I know."

She turned back to her math and quietly started working.

The cafeteria was mayhem that day.  Jaguars were rushing up to me with handfuls of crumpled dollar bills.  Everyone was asking, "How many do we need?" and "Are we going to win?"  The Cardinals had also brought their A game for the final day of donating.  A whole other window was feathered red.  I didn't count the red feathers.  I just kept collecting Jaguar money and animatedly answering "I'm not sure, we're close though!  Everyone needs to give or else it won't be possible!"

The final score after Wednesday's lunch: Jaguars- $161.00, Cardinals- $258.00  None of the other 5 teams were even close.  I didn't tell the Jaguars they had lost.  They left the cafeteria bumping fists and excitedly murmuring, "We could win, we could win!"

When I told one of my colleagues what I was doing, she said, "The kids you hate?  These are the kids in your homeroom, right?  These are the kids who give you all the trouble?  Why are you helping them?"

I just shrugged.  I don't know really.  Maybe I got caught up in the competition.  Maybe I love an underdog.  Maybe I enjoyed tricking the black-feathered monsters into donating all their money to charity.  I honestly can't say.  All I know is that tomorrow I will feed my kids a story along the lines of, "There was one kid on the Cardinals that gave like $50.00 at the last minute." Or, "You were only about $20.00 behind!  If only more people would have donate just one dollar, we could have done it!"  Or, "We will hatch an even greater plan next time and we will win!"

I don't know if they got the message or understood that each those colored feathers on the window represented $1.00 and added together those feathers would feed several families Thanksgiving dinner.  What I do know is that for those two short days, the Jaguars were a team.  They encouraged, they fought together for a common cause (albeit a movie day and free popcorn), and they won me over.  I know there are still going to be plenty of days when I could strangle the lot of them and walk away whistling Dixie, but now I've seen what they can be, and I know what role I can play, and now I know that every time, we will win.

The Election

After only one week, I nearly forgot it happened.  The election was such a big deal for approximately 1 year and 11 months leading up to it.  And here it is, a mere 7 days later, and I seriously almost forgot to write about it.  Middle schoolers are so funny about politics.  They of course know absolutely nothing, other than what they see on  TV commercials and what their parents say.  And I'm sure they didn't know any politician's name other than Romney and Obama.  And even then, I heard someone say "Bronco Bama" in reference to the president.  Really?

One of my colleagues did a little experiment with his classes.  He had them vote on two different hypothetical schools.

• School #1 had a lot of rules and teachers and principals but students were given much more guidance and help and in many cases, several second chances at reform.  At School #1, students had to pay a little more to attend but in return they were provided with better clubs and resources.  Everyone at School #1 would be at a comfortable middle class socioeconomic status.  Students who attended School #1 would be better prepared for college because of the strong guidance of their teachers.  
• School #2 had fewer rules and allowed students to come up with their own rules and regulations.  They would be given more freedom and fewer rules at School #2 and would pay less to attend.  But School #2 would not offer as many clubs and resources for free and the teachers and administration would not help them with their school work or bail them out if they got in trouble.  School #2 would have some poor kids, some middle class kids, and some rich kids.  Students who attended School #2 would still have a chance to attend college, but wouldn't get the help of teachers.

For which school do you think 95% of his students voted?  Yep, School #2.  "We want more freedom!"   "We don't want no one telling us what to do!"  "We can figure our stuff out for ourselves!"  "Clubs are stupid anyway."  When my colleague revealed which school embodied the basic outline of the Democratic party's ideals and which one embodied the Republican party's ideals, the students were outraged.  "You tricked us!"  "Vote Obama!  He tight!"  "If you vote Mitt Romney, you racist."

On November 6th, all day I was asked, "Who are you voting for?"  I just smiled and shook my head.  I tried telling one class about Glenda Ritz, the woman running again the current Indiana State Superintendent of Schools, Tony Bennett  and why I was voting for her.  They didn't care, even though her winning the election will effect them more than President Obama's victory will.  It's been a week and the smear ads are finally off the TV, Facebook status updates are no longer all about politics, and I haven't heard Romney or Obama's names spoken in the hallways once.  Not sure what to take from this other than I'm glad voters grow up before going to the polls... right?

Field Trips

Did you know people from the north say the word "both" weird?  Apparently we put an "L" in the word, making it "bolth".  I never realized that was one of the words I said weird until my 8th graders pointed it out.

"Say 'both' again," they said.
"Bolth."
(laughter)  "Say it again."
"What?  Bolth!  What's wrong with it?"
"You're saying it all weird!  You're saying 'bolth'!" (laughter and multiple repetitions of "bolth, bolth, bolth")
My response: "Shut up, you 'bolth' can bite me."  Real mature, I know.  But screw you, stupid 8th grade bullies!

Field Trip #1: Zach DePue

Last Monday I took my bright little bullies on a field trip.  We walked across the parking lot to the high school auditorium and watched Zach DePue, concert master of the Indianapolis Symphony Orchestra, conduct a master class with the high school orchestra.  The running time of this field trip was 1 hour and 45 minutes, and for that I had to get the signatures of my principal and the superintendent, permission slips signed by every student's parent, 7 chaperons, and the OK via e-mail by each participating student's first block teacher.  I accomplished this in a week.  The morning of the field trip went by super smoothly.  There was minimal drama save for one chaperon who arrived at the high school twenty minutes late with two students and her crying three year old son in tow demanding entry to the high school by yelling at the secretary.  Zach DePue was really great with the kids.  He did a short question/answer session after the master class and he was really personable and easy-going.  My kids were perfect little angels: no stupid questions, no talking during the performance, no disrespectful behavior, no stupid questions...  Then at the end (they were so freakin' cute!) we took a group picture with him and they all wanted his autograph.  Some of them had him sign their lanyard or school ID (so freakin' cute!).  The walk to and from the high school went perfectly: the weather was great, no one tried to sneak off by themselves, and I started and ended with the same number of students!  Field trips are hard to come by nowadays what with budget cuts and and unwillingness of administrators and other teachers to allow students time out of academic classes.  So although a simple walk across the parking lot may seem like not a big deal, it really was an extraordinary event.  And I'll have you know, this parking lot is no ordinary parking lot- it was a good ten minute walk.  Our campus is huge!

Field Trip #2: All Region Orchestra

Saturday, November 10th:  All Region Orchestra Festival.  Six of my students were invited.  Five attended.

"Tommy, this is Mrs. Martin.  Where are you?"
"I'm sick.  I can't move my arm."
(pause) "Which one is it?  You're sick or you can't move your arm?"
"My dad just told me to go back to bed."
"Don't you think you should have called someone?  Let me know that you're not going to show up?"
"I didn't know if anyone would be up, so..."
"Didn't know if anyone would be up?!  You know what time you were supposed to be here!  Where did you think the rest of us were?  Pressing the snooze?"
(Silence)
"OK, Tommy.  You will have some explaining to do on Monday.  Goodbye."

Rewind.

Friday, November 2nd: First rehearsal

• Maxene (Violin I) has her music, has probably looked through it, but has not practiced it.
• Dorothy (Violin II) has her music, has looked through it, has practice some of it.
• Nicole (Viola) has her music, has several markings in each piece, has thoroughly practiced each piece.
• Stacia (Cello) does not have her music, has not looked at it or practice it.
• Kat (Bass) not in attendance
• Tommy (Viola) not in attendance
• Tiara (Viola, alternate) attended and watched music while we rehearsed.

We read through two of the four pieces.  It was a struggle, but by the end they all knew what it was supposed to sound like and vowed they would practice over the weekend.

Monday, November 5th: Second rehearsal (also same day as the morning Zach DePue field trip)

• Maxene (Violin I) has her music, has practice and improved
• Dorothy (Violin II) has her music, has practiced and improved
• Nicole (Viola) has her music, has practiced even more and is pretty solid on each piece
• Stacia (Cello) has three out of four pieces, has practiced a little, is pretty shaky
• Kat (Bass) got her music the day before, may have looked at it, probably not
• Tommy (Viola) not in attendance

We read through the other two pieces.  It was a struggle, but by the end they all knew what each piece was supposed to sound like and vowed they would practice that night before tomorrow's rehearsal.

Tuesday, November 6th: Third rehearsal- off campus at the other middle school combined with the other All Region kids

• Maxene (Violin I) knows her part
• Dorothy (Violin II) not in attendance- has to babysit her little sister while mom and dad work
• Nicole (Viola) really knows her part
• Stacia (Cello) kind of knows her part but lacks confidence and really needs to practice more
• Kat (Bass) kind of knows her part but is more concerned about flirting with the other bass player from the other school
• Tommy (Viola) not in attendance

The other school had two Violin I's, a Violin II, and a flirty Bass player.  At one point in the rehearsal I believe I said to him, "Stop saying weird things.  I'm going to put a box over your head."  We were able to run through all of the pieces and they were starting to sound intelligible.  Now they're starting to get excited...

Friday, November 9th: Fourth and last rehearsal.

• Maxene (Violin I) knows her part and is playing it well
• Dorothy (Violin II) knows her part and is playing it well
• Nicole (Viola) really knows her part and is playing like a rock start.  too bad she didn't choose violin.
• Stacia (Cello) kicked it into high gear since last rehearsal and knows her part well.
• Kat (Bass) knows her part and is playing it well
• Tommy (Viola) not in attendance
• Tiara (Viola, alternate) rehearses with us in hopes that Tommy will say he's not coming Saturday so she can come.  Knows the music well enough and will probably stay up all night to learn it if that meant she could come to the festival.

I call Tommy's dad at the beginning of the rehearsal.  I never said that students had to attend rehearsals in order to go to All Region, but I had been warning Tommy all week that he had better know his part before Saturday.  After calling three different numbers, I finally get a hold of Tommy's dad.

"Hello?"
"Hi!  This is Libby Martin from Chapel Hill, Tommy's orchestra teacher.  With whom am I speaking?"
"This is Jason."
"Hi, Jason.  I was just calling to see if Tommy was still planning on attending the All Region Orchestra festival tomorrow morning.  He had said he was coming to our after school rehearsal today but he isn't here so I just wanted to see if he had a ride tomorrow or if he was canceling or what..."
"Hold on.  Let me go get Tommy." (shuffling, silence)
"Hello?"
"Tommy?"
"Yeah."
"This is Mrs. Martin.  Where are you?"
"My dad couldn't drive me.  But I'm coming tomorrow.  He said he could take me.  I'm coming."
"Are you sure?  Do you even know the music?"
"Yeah, yeah.  I've practiced.  My dad is driving me, I'll be there."
"OK, do you have directions?  Do you know what time to be there?"
"We can look them up.  Where is it?  And it's, like, in the morning, right?"
"Yes.  It is at the Junior High School and you need to be there by 8:15.  You are sure you are going to be able to get there?"
"Yeah, yeah!  I'll be there, I promise."
"Well, OK then. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah, OK.  Bye."

Saturday, November 10th: All Region Orchestra Festival:

• Maxene (Violin I) Arrives at 8:20 with her mom who stays all day, reading a book in the car.  She ends up sitting somewhere in the middle of the section
• Dorothy (Violin II) Arrives at 9:05, late because her dad got lost.  He drops her off then comes back with her grandma and little brothers for the concert.  She ends up sitting somewhere in the middle of the section
• Nicole (Viola) Arrives at 7:45 with her mom.  Later her dad older sister, and twin sister arrive for the concert.  She sits first chair.
• Stacia (Cello) Arrives at 8:30.  Is dropped off.  Never saw her parents but I assume they picked her up... She sits second chair.
• Kat (Bass) Shows up at 8:45.  Is dropped off.  Her mom and dad (divorced) and their separate families show up for the concert.  The basses weren't ranked, but she stood next to the boy from Rehearsal #3.
• Tommy (Viola) not in attendance.

The concert was good.  The girls had a great time.  I got them pizza for lunch.  I taught the cello sectional- the kids were way too serious about it.  Dudes, chill.  You're in what, 7th grade?  Smile, why don't you!  I just made a fart joke.  During the long stretch of the day, me and Kristen, the other middle school's orchestra teacher, went to the outlet malls.  When we came back I passed out band-aids to all the poor babies whose widdle baby fingers were all soft and blistered.  It was a great experience for all, including me.

What did I say to Tommy on Monday?  Well, there were a lot of scenarios that I played out in my head, most of which included the words, "irresponsible, unreliable, unfair, apology, communication," and " rue the day."  But I don't know enough about what was going on at home.  I was angry, don't get me wrong!  And I will never recommend Tommy for another honor's position again, nor will I allow him to play with any groups that require a dependable violist.  The girls chewed him out in front of everyone.  They said everything I wanted to say and more and that was probably for the best.  All I said was, "You owe me $25.00."

I have great students.  I've said it before and I'll say it again.  And bolth these field trips were a success because of them.