London Calling

Story time.

I began teaching in 2015 while in the second year of my alternate route Master's degree - my undergrad was in Communications with a dual emphasis on Journalism and Theatre, so I had to take a different route into teaching.

My hiring was in no small part due to connections. A friend knew the principal through his family and put in a good word for me. But she was an amazing principal who thrived in helping new teachers get their feet under them. I wouldn't have survived that first year without all of the support that she gave, both through other people and through advice that she herself gave me.

I was extremely excited to begin teaching 6th grade ELA with a wonderful team of teachers with varied experiences - my team leader was a teaching veteran, the other ELA teacher worked closely with me on developing my planning and teaching skills, the two science teachers were firm, which helped me to develop my classroom management skills, and one of the Social Studies teachers had gone through the same program that I had at the same university, so he knew what my courseload looked like. In addition, the other Social Studies teacher was a first year, just like me; we leaned on each other hard that year.

Finally, the assistant principal and reading specialist were always there to lend support. It was a crack team, and I was excited to be on it.

I hadn't reckoned on something, though.

My long-time readers will know that I was homeschooled from Kindergarten to high school, which I didn't realize would put me at a disadvantage. I was unused to the most basic routines of school, from lunch duty to class transitions, and had to learn them alongside the students.

I was also unaware of the specific set of challenges that came with being in an inner-city school, and a middle school, at that! The teachers that do it are amazing human beings. It takes a special skill set to effectively work with those students, and it's not for everyone. A homeschooled, introverted teacher wasn't exactly the type of person to be ready to take on those challenges.

Classroom management was a struggle, as to be expected for first-year teachers. Reading and watching videos in class are one thing - having your own students is a completely different beast.

Different staff members supported me and helped me to improve, and though I was exhausted and stressed and crying throughout the year, I was determined not to let this job defeat me.

I have many stories from that first year, as well as the subsequent years. But one story trumps all others, for me.

Our sixth-grade hall was divided into two teams of 4, with four classes that operated on a semi-block schedule. Two classes we saw every day, with a third that alternated days.

There were lots of personalities in my classes, but I was slowly learning to navigate them while learning about their home lives and how they affected them.

One student - we'll call her London - had the absolute worst attitude that seemed to infect the others in her class. She was disrespectful, rude, and would cuss you out on a dime. I learned that her father had been shot and killed a few years earlier, and she lived with her mom and grandmother. Makes sense that she'd be having issues.

Despite her seeming dislike of me, she would always want to be standing near me. She always wanted to be close in the hallway or in class. She even surprised me by emailing me for help with her homework; finally, I thought, I'm getting through to her!

Then she tried to add me as a friend on Instagram and Facebook. I declined both, deciding not to mention it to her on the advice of some teacher friends - kids try things like that all of the time. Then I started getting texts from her - I had her mom's number and had contacted her a few times about her behavior because sometimes that's the quickest and most effective way to get a response (and I was also so green that I didn't think to create a google voice account so that parents wouldn't have my number).

At first, they were innocent enough, like she just needed someone to talk to. But one day I confiscated her phone while we were in the library - students were allowed to keep them on their person as long as they weren't on them - and I noticed that her background picture was me. A picture from my facebook page, in fact.

I showed my team leader, who advised me to let the principal know to cover myself in case anything strange happened.

I don't remember the exact sequence of events that followed or even the small details, but I do remember my mother sending me screenshots of my, my sister, and my mom's Facebook pages with comments from London underneath my pictures. Comments that were centered around my attractiveness, with occasional mentions of "my wife." I went and checked my privacy settings, realizing that I hadn't completely hidden myself as I thought.

My mother texted, "Who is this little girl all up on your page?"

I explained that she was one of my students and that I was letting my principal know.

I'll never forget my mother's comment under her comment - "Young lady, this is harassment. You need to cease and desist immediately."

Then things...escalated.

My mother forwarded me more comments on pictures of me, and the private message that London had sent her. My mouth dropped, as did the mouth of my teammates when we read it.

"Shut up, old woman. You're just jealous that I'm getting more p***** than you. If you want me to leave her alone, tell her to stop wearing short skirts and dresses, with her fine a**."

For further context, 6th graders are 11/12.

I took screenshots of everything and forwarded them to my principal and assistant principal with the message, "I know that her mother needs to be contacted about this, but I'm unsure how to address this. Please advise me on the next steps."

"Don't respond, we will handle it."

The little girl was pulled out of my class to the office the next day, and later I got an email informing me that London would be moved to the other sixth-grade team.

That afternoon I saw the assistant principal in the hallway and thanked her for handling it.

"Ms. Ross, the principal and I were stunned! She kept asking me to go back and look at different pictures. We couldn't believe it. But please, let us know if she tries anything like this again."

For the rest of the school year, things were tense. I still saw London daily in the sixth-grade hall, and would constantly notice her trying to sidle up behind me while I lined up my students or walked them down the hall. Luckily, my teammates kept a close eye on her and intervened whenever she was getting too close; I remember my team leader saying "This is some ID channel mess. Don't let her get you alone in a corner!"

Despite the situation, I learned two valuable lessons about being a teacher.

Keep your social media on lock, and never give out your actual phone number.

After I left the school - well, the state - I would occasionally see her try to contact me; texting from a new number, trying to add my social media with new profiles. "You're not my teacher anymore, so it's fine!"

As of now, I haven't heard from her from years. She should be eighteen or nineteen by now, so I'm sure the allure of wanting a teacher has long worn off.

Still, the shock that I get from this story is always a source of amusement.

What teaching stories do you have?