National Day of Silence

The National Day of Silence is a movement protesting the silence faced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgendered people and their allies, with a focus on those people who are students in secondary schools.

"I have written on the board that my deliberate silence echoes that silence, which is caused by harassment, prejudice, and discrimination. I believe that ending the silence is the first step toward fighting these injustices."

Let's see how it goes...I am a bit nervous.

My 1st period is taking well to it. They are all just so needy. I am writing notes on post-its.
Pretty damn good though.

2nd was fine; self-starters, did work, turned it in.

3rd, my smarty-pants honors kids. I basically taught the first few stanzas of 'The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock' to my class in complete silence. I appointed one girl, via post-it note, to lead the class in what I like to call an "exploration." For those of you who are familiar with this poem, it can be pretty annoying and pretty repetitive and pretty hard for a bunch of high schoolers. It ruled! They would get on a kick with a line like:

"The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window pane-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys..."

I would hear them say some good stuff then frantically write things like "Prufrock v. Haze" on the board or "animal?" Then, if someone was on a healthy track of exploration, I would point and smile while doing something that resembled the "roll 'em up" movement of "Patty Cake." They really enjoyed it. In fact, they enjoyed depending on one anther so much, most of them asked if I would be silent on Monday and let them work through the rest of the poem. Maybe I will. It was awesome to leave them to one another's brilliance and only minimally guide them.

5th Period, which is the class I have given up to my team teacher because they have become so completely despondent, had a really hard time getting started. They apparently cannot read.
Instructions are on the board and such. I silently sent one kid to another silent teacher's room because he was being disrespectful to me by talking. I had to threaten with write-ups.
My team teacher just sat silently at my desk the entire time...maybe that would have been a better plan.

6th Period is my favorite and they were beautiful. They let me know how painful it was for them to have to remain quiet and actually do an assignment alone, without me, but they were great. Respect.

8th Period is currently blowing my mind. This class, at the beginning of the semester, was full of all the delinquents. They have been removed from the counties educational system. This group of kids is one that is exhausting; probably the absolute worst group to have at the end of the day. The want to push my buttons, they want to talk, they want to make me talk until my voice disappears into germ-infested thin air. Then, they have these days where they blow me away. I had a talk yesterday with this class to prepare them for the responsibility that I was putting on their shoulders today: respect. All I want them to do is understand that this is important to me, this day is not about me, but it is important to me and it is important to me because I care about them. I got Mama Courtney on them yesterday. I didn't think they would get it. I took many preemptive measures: writing a huge note on the door telling them to sit down and be quiet and get to work, writing 'So & so needs a place to sit, may he come into your room?' on post-its in order to be able to deal with the situation efficiently and quickly, as well as moving some kids to different areas in the classroom (identified, of course, with post-its).

It seems that I was wrong to judge and they have really shown me that they can be quite the opposite of the hateful worm-eaters that they were when I first met them. Not only are they being quiet, but they are really doing the work! I look at them and see brains working inside their heads. I am so proud!

Reflections:
While all the students in the school recognized that certain people were not speaking and greeted us with "oh yeah, you can't talk today" I feel like the point was muddled a bit. Just as the kids look at my choice not to speak as a matter of can or cannot; in their minds everything, even passions, are dictated by rules, guidelines, or boundaries. I had the whole Day of Silence statement on my board, I wonder how many really read it? I have a fact sheet on my board printed on hot pink paper that gives statistics and key findings on the amount/types and under what conditions LGBT students are oppressed or harassed. It also lists ways to work together and create a safe environment for everyone. I counted three kids who read it; I teach 130. Maybe it's because of small details such as this, or the reality that is high school, but I find myself questioning whether or not a movement can take place on this level. This doesn't seem like much when I think of the Little Rock 9 and James Meredith. Not that I want fires and violence, but the peaceful side...the hearts in the movement. Maybe it is here and shame on me for selling this one short. This quest for satisfaction seems rather impossible though. I want to make a difference and I want to affect lives,help people ya know?
I always thought that high school is a great place to start because these guys and girls are just on the cusp of becoming grown, they will have passions soon, but they don't yet; they will work hard soon, but they lament the idea of working now. I guess the fact that I am teaching pre-cusp is frustrating at times. One of my kids is currently trimming the extra pieces of paper (the annoying tiny pieces when ripped from a spiral notebook) off with scissors because I don't like paper fringe...that's dedication. Today, overall, has filled me up quite a bit. Now, bunches of kids in black are filling the room across the hall for a meeting to reflect on the day. Wait, they are blowing up balloons...I guess they are gonna pop them in order to break the silence or something. Ha!