"Other Duties As Assigned" in Public Schools: Lunch, part 2
The students were constantly out of their seats shouting at and putting hands on one another.
Sixth grade lunch was exceptionally loud. The students were constantly out of their seats shouting at and putting hands on one another. They were "going to the bathroom" incessantly. It was already at least six weeks into the school year, so I was confused. I asked the AP if she wanted to drill down or re-create the lunchroom procedures. She insisted that she was busy, there were procedures, it was not that bad, students were new to middle school, did not know, and just needed redirecting. The prisoners even put on a show for me and had the students state the rules aloud from memory. WTF?! The AP was proud. I was baffled! And in November...then...December...I was still wondering how long the students were going to be "new" and "not know".
One day, I had had enough. I proposed that we not allow cell phones during lunch until we got a handle on the students' behaviors. The AP ignored my proposal, so I bounced it off the other prisoner--the School Counselor. She agreed, but said it would be problematic since having cell phones during lunch was the Principal's policy. However, we were in agreement and since us two prisoners were the only ones who consistently showed up for this lunch duty, we figured we could enforce our own shit ourselves. Girl Power!
The day came. It was a Friday and I was ready. You have to be well and strong-minded when you deviate from the norm. (I do this with teachers when I am asked to support them with student behavior problems in the classroom. When I assist in creating a plan, the behavior of the teacher is critical in attempting to change the behaviors of the students. I ask the teachers to pick a day to start the plan when they feel strong--not on a day when they may feel ill or have a lot of things going on.) The AP was not at lunch duty. The students came in rowdy. I asked the School Counselor if she was ready to enforce "no phones." She told me that she wasn't prepared to deal with that because the last time they tried it, the students were even worse. And so, things remained the same.
I was so disappointed. On that day, I believe I gave up for the first time. What was I fighting for? Who was I fighting? What was my goal? In fairness, the School Counselor appeared unwell at that moment in the sense that she looked tense and bothered. I knew that lunch duty also made her anxious. However, this look became her near daily disposition. And I felt terrible about it. Why? Because she was new to the school, like me, and had extensive ESE experience, like me. She was so amicable when I met her. She stayed after school for an hour and a half one day chatting with me (and I am not the one to stay after school for even two minutes). She is what you would expect hope a School Counselor to be like. But she changed drastically over the course of a few months; and I feel like I know why.
And who sets the Climate and Culture at a school?
