"A child's learning is the function more of the characteristics of his classmates than those of the teacher." James Coleman, 1972

Sunday, December 12, 2010

Poem by Former KIPP Teacher

by "Jennifer Liden"


marooned in a sea of
KIPPsters
monotonous morning meetings
punctuated by an unenthusiastic
We. Are. Proud. Of. You.
I say
weareproudof
you.

clap clap clap

SLANTing against a wall
to keep from fainting
from exhaustion.
quiet coyotes are bullshit
gang signs.

David Duke would be proud of these
hare krishnas.
my cell
I mean
classroom:
20 by
25 by
8

and filled past capacity with
33 kids at a time, six times
a day.

where are the windows for
my seasonal depression
sunlight therapy
reason for moving here?

now that I am gone,
this room is
unenthusiastically referred to
as the
cloud room

and is used
for 5 to 7 pm
daily
abu ghraib
public shame
detentions.

1 comment:

  1. Love the poem. Depressing to contemplate that KIPP takes 33 kids in a class while NYC public schools take 34. If Cathie Black gets her way and lays off teachers it'll shoot up to 50, just like it did in the 70s.

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