Thursday, September 26, 2013

The First Day of the New Regime




Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington,
in the Pacific NW region of the United States,
before its 1980 eruption.

(Continued from last Thursday, September 19 . . . )
First, thank you for wishing me good health. As you can see, I just needed to go back to bed yesterday. Now I’m hunky-dory!
         Let’s continue this Omaha saga. In my memory, it’s Monday, February 15, 1960. I’ve come into the classroom and announced the method of discipline that would set boundaries for the rest of the school year. I began with the following words: “For four weeks, I’ve given you so much rope you’ve hanged yourselves with it.”
         I remember those words well. They helped me save face but were so untrue. I’ve given them no rope. The truth was I simply didn’t know how to establish classroom discipline in that milieu.
         To teach, I needed quiet punctuated by questions, curiosity, and discussion. Many of these seventh graders also wanted this, so my despotic discipline was unfair to them. But to reach the gang members and a couple of girls who were causing the disturbances, I had to become autocratic.          
         I also knew that the subtraction problems I meant to use for discipline would be wearisome to finish. To begin the process, I’d multiple a three-digit number like 537 by another three-digit number like 241. The answer would be 129,417.
         The students would then subtract 537 from this large number and would keep subtracting 537 until they got to 0. They’d subtract 241 times to do that. A lot of mental work.
         I explained this to the students to give them a sense of the scope of what staying after school meant. Several booed and let me know that no one—Absolutely. No. One.—could keep them after school to do anything.
         It was then I pulled my trump card.
         When Sister Brendan, the principal, had given me permission to try this tactic, she’d added, “Tell them that if they walk out and don’t complete the problem, they’ll be suspended for three days. And if they do that a second time, they’ll be expelled. That ought to do it.”
         When I played the trump card she’d given me, several boys cursed.

Eruption of Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980, at 8:32 PDT.

         Hearing the curses from several students, I turned my back on the class—fearful still that someone might throw a knife—and printed their names on the chalkboard with a checkmark after each name.
         Turning back toward them, I said, “That’s for cursing. If you get two more checkmarks today, you’ll stay after school.” They groaned but said no more.
         To begin our new regime, I established a daily subject schedule. We’d pray, say the pledge of allegiance, and begin with religion. Following that, we’d study math, then reading, and so on.
         Before we began each subject that day, I distributed the textbooks for it and directed the students to open them to a section where their knowledge was weak. I’d learned their subject deficiencies from the quizzes I’d given on my first day in that classroom.
         As the day progressed, several boys sat like convulsive volcanoes ready to erupt. Throughout the day, I added checkmarks for anything that was on the list I’d posted that morning.


Mount St. Helens two years after the 1980 eruption.

         As I remember, by the day’s end, four boys—Ron, Bill, John M., and Tommy—and one girl—Jenny—had three or more checkmarks by their names. The five of them stayed after school. And subtracted. And subtracted. And tried to convince me they’d gotten to 0. And subtracted some more. The last student left the classroom nearly two hours after school ended. Fortunately, all five lived close by and could walk safely home.
         And so began the reign of Sister Innocence, tyrant of Mount Saint Scholastica Monastery.


Mount St. Helens, October 2009, 
with a view of the ice-covered crater rim.

(. . . to be continued next Wednesday, October 2)

46 comments:

  1. You were TOUGH, Sister Innocence!!

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    1. Dear Fishducky, I finally decided I had to be tough or else lose my mind! Peace.

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  2. Wow, that subtraction thing would take forever, surely wouldn`t want to get checkmarks from the tyrant haha

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    1. Dear Pat, as the days and then weeks passed there were fewer and fewer checkmarks on the chalkboard. Word got around that those subtraction problems were really tough. As touch as I was being! Peace.

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  3. Thank goodness for the trump card. I'm sure you could still cut the stress with a knife. Waiting to hear the next chapter.

    Your illustrations are so apropos. Beautifully selected.

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    1. Dear Joanne, yes that trump card made all the difference. But the stress was heavy in the room until school ended in late May. I'm glad you noticed the illustrations. They do seem to fit the story! Peace.

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  4. awesome!! I would have hated the subtraction problems too. Carrying?? UGH!!!

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    1. Dear Mim, it is the carrying in subtraction that makes it hard and many of the students had to do the problem over and over to get it right. Peace.

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  5. Wonderful, Dee! Sister Innocence might have been a tyrant, but she was a benevolent one, with the ultimate best interests of her students in mind. But it must have been such hard work for you.

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    1. Dear Perpetua, I do so hope I was benevolent. By the time Sister Nicole helped me out, I was pretty sure that I'd end up at the Council Bluffs mental hospital if something didn't change in that classroom. Peace.

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  6. I can't even begin to tell you how much I love this entire post. The photos are amazing and hit home with me - I still remember exactly where I was the day Mt. St. Helens erupted - and the clever consequences make me smile. Thank you for sharing this! I am so pleased you are feeling better today, too.

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    1. Dear Kari, I, too, can remember where I was when Mt. St. Helens erupted--in the kitchen of a friend with whom I was writing religious curriculum for seventh and eighth graders. The eruption prompted us to use St. Helens in one of our stories. Peace.

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  7. Oh Dee. It must have cost you so much to become a tyrant - even a benevolent one. I am really looking forward to seeing just how the rest of the year unfolded. And so pleased you survived it.

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    1. Dear EC, being a tyrant isn't all its cracked up to be believe me. I didn't like what I was doing, but I realized that it was the only way I'd ever be able to teach in that classroom. Peace.

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  8. Mount St. Helens makes such a good image to go with this part of the story.

    Love,
    Janie

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    1. Dear Janie, I'm glad you think that the volcano works here. It just felt right to me. Thanks for noticing. Peace.

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  9. You found your power through subtraction. I am curious if any of those "problem children" were subtracted from the school. They should have been and you should have never had to go through such torturous days.

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    1. Dear Arleen, none of the students were expelled and now that I can look back on something that happened 53 years ago, I, too, felt that I never should have had to go through that. I'll explain the prioress's thinking in another posting in October. Peace.

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  10. It must have felt amazing to see these kids respond. To have them actually stay after and do the work. Can't wait to see what happens next.

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    1. Dear Michelle, it was amazing. And so simple. Sister Nicole helped me hang on to sanity with her simple solution to the disruptions in that classroom. Peace.

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  11. Well done and I was so glad you had that trump card. The only bad part was that you had to stay with them. Kind of like you had detention also. Who knew you had an inner tyrant?

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    1. Dear Arkansas Patti, thank heavens that Sister Brendan realized I needed that trump card. I've never thought of my being in detention also, but you're right. I was. Peace.

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  12. There was nothing else to be done, it seems to me. I think you finally did need to get strict with them. I look forward to hearing how it turned out.

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    1. Dear DJan, yes, I really had tried for four weeks and being that strict seemed then and now to be the only thing I could have done. Peace.

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  13. I was smiling and chuckling all through this! And delighted that the principal was finally there to back you up!! Whoohoo!! I'm a great believer in vigilant tough love. ;)

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    1. Dear Rita, I like your phrase--vigilant tough love. That sounds better then tyrannical! Peace.

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  14. I appreciate your need for "quiet punctuated by questions, curiosity, and discussion". That was my desire in a classroom setting, as well. It's too bad that those who could only abide noise, acting out, and disruption stole, in a sense, the possibility of your peaceful view. This is reality, all too often, but it leads to the need for forgiveness and mercy, which I guess is part of the reason we are given these situations (at least, this is what my 53-year-old self has concluded for now). When I planned to homeschool my kids, I expected idyllic situations, and of course this rarely if ever happened, even at home. But I could act more in accord with our organic family situation.

    The strain in your situation was also a product (in my mind) of an unnatural setting (kids of the same age all lumped together, from a culture losing general respect). I agree with you that you really had no choice.

    Mt. St. Helens gives a great pictorial addition to the story!

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    1. Dear Deanna, I liked the volcanic addition also. It seemed to fit my memory of Ron sitting at the back of the room, glowering. I agree that our culture is losing respect. There's no civility. But I'm not sure that 1960 was the same. In nearly every other classroom I was in while in the convent the students were respectful and eager to learn. Peace.

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  15. Hunky-dorey. I haven't heard that phrase in forever-and-a-day, Dee, but, am so glad to hear you are feeling better.

    I love you choice of pictures for this installment and what a good choice of words (enough rope to hang yourselves). Expectations were set and consequences meted out as needed. As always, I look forward to hearing what came next. I'm a little curious, as well, as to whether or not any parents contacted you or the school. Gone are the days when making trouble in school meant being met with more punishment from parents at home.

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  16. Dear Penny, I'll let you know about the response of parents next week. Or at least that's the plan. I hope everything is "hunky-dory" with you today and that you're having a carefree weekend. Peace.

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  17. Great post. You're bringing me back to my high school home room. My classes were fine, but home room could be a free for all. Not sure how I came out of it, but survived and more. Glad you're feeling better.

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    1. Dear Carol, I'm glad you liked the posting. I can remember high school and there always was a little bit more freedom, it seemed, in home room. But the Sister of Mercy, who taught me in grade and high school, truly didn't need to be strict disciplinarians. They were excellent, really outstanding, teachers and so they didn't have to really discipline. They held our attention with learning. Peace.

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  18. Oh Dee! I will have my daughter read this post! I loved the photos. I remember the day St Helen's blew, and the days previous when ash was falling all over. We had been camping on the Toutle River just the weekend before the May 18th eruption. Our campsite was washed away.
    I'm going back now to read some previous entries . . .

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    1. Dear Sandi, what a happy surprise to come to the computer at 9pm and discover a comment from you. I so hope all is going well with you and in the classroom. I, too, remember when St. Helen's "blew." I was in a friend's kitchen. But you must have been stunned to think that if you'd been there--as you had been just a week before--you might have been washed away. A little scary and too close to home I'd think. Peace.

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  19. Hi, Dee. Me, again. When I commented before, I meant to share an interview that aired a few nights ago on WTTW Chicago, our local PBS station, on an evening show we like to watch called Chicago Tonight. I happened to catch an interview with the author of a new book "Atchinson Blue" which is about a reporter and her time at Mount Saint Scholastica. The blue refers to the stained glass windows. If you are interested, you can find the interview at:
    chicagotonight.wttw.com/2013/09/26/atchison-blue

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    1. Dear Penny, I'll look at the web site. Thanks so much for telling me about it. That blue in the choir chapel windows is truly a "heavenly" color. There are, if I remember correctly, seven windows on one side of the choir chapel and seven on the other. That chapel is the one in which the nuns chant the Divine Office several times a day and the windows tell the story of St. Benedict, the founder of the Benedictines back in the around 490 CE. Peace.

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  20. Hi Dee, both nature and humankind can be troublesome at times, but perserverance prevails.

    note, thank you for your kind concern Dee. Life got in the way of my journey, but I am okay :)

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    1. Dear Pam, yes perseverance did prevail but I'm telling you the experience took a toll, not only on me but on so many of the students who wanted to learn.

      I'm relieved to know that you are okay. Peace.

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  21. Dee
    I thought the same as Patti.... since you had to stay with the students it was detention for you also. You sure do have more on the ball than I ever had. I could have never been a teacher. I do teach dance but only to people who want to learn. If they don't, they just aren't in my class so that one is easy. I could never meet a challenge like you do. And at your young age too. You amaze.

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    1. Dear Manzanita, you are a strong woman and I suspect you have faced many difficult things in your life and had the tenacity and fortitude to persevere. I'm amazed at what you do as reflected in your blog. And I so admire your speaking out about what you think politically. Peace.

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  22. Excellent volcano connection. I would imagine that the rumbling slowed down and then ceased after Sister Innocence held the line.

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    1. Dear Susan, the rumbling did slow down but it never ceased and continued into the next year. I'll be posting about that sometime soon. Peace.

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  23. First of all, I love the Mt. St. Helens pictures you chose for the story. So fitting! I also think you turned a stinking cesspool of a situation into a rose garden. Bravo!

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    1. Dear Shelly, thanks for noting the pictures. Like you, I thought they were "fitting." The truth is the classroom didn't become a rose garden but it did become--for the most part--comparatively calm. I'll write more about that today. Peace.

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  24. I love the comparison with St. Helens. Living in its shadow, I feel exactly the power of what was happening in your classroom. Off to read the next chapter.

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    1. Dear Deb, that comparison just came to me as I pictured Ron in the far back seat. Seething. Peace.

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