It's been awhile

Hello! I have recently transferred back to GED instead of a lower level where most of my students barely spoke English ... yay! This past week we were recruited to cell search and I guess that brought out my old writing demon. Below is a poem about my experience. Ta ta.

Cell Search

We, the non-security, the extras, were
recruited to search men’s lives stored in
concrete boxes. We collected no honey
in our combing, usually just property
altered, bartered, or pack-ratted, and
perhaps a lucky few found a few well
hidden distractions like tat guns, porn,
or tobacco. Push, pull, open and bend,
I’d find a way to hit my head on metal
bunk beds and shelves, and wondered
how many times the inmates bowed a
day. I learned too much of how a his-
tory intertwines on skin and paper like
a black web or tear, notes to a lawyer over
years, or a child growing up in two dimen-
sions. The dust of poverty wasn’t really
under a missing TV or radio, the worst
was perched upon a wall with only mag-
azine cutouts and a recycled container
saved for lacking letters. But, my sym-
pathy was reserved not for my students
but my coworkers in their sixties; these
teachers about to retire, who hung their
bones and eyes unsteadily as these ham-
ster men they strip searched. A few made
it through arguing, a few shrugging, but all
were ready to bite the bars into their own time.

Where'd I go?

I'm engaged, that's where I went, :). Not sure how much posting I'm going to do in the next sixth months ... A few of the inmates noticed my ring and said something.

-"Are you engaged?"
-"Yep."

That pretty much sums up my responses to any of the guys. Another change is that I got that day job I spoke of before. Now I'll be able to teach at the prison and go home when it's still light outside!! Yay! Some of my GED guys wanted to come with me to this 1st-3rd grade level class. I told them, "You're too smart." Earnestly they replied, "No I'm not!"

Most of my new students will be Spanish or Latino, (half of my GED students were as well.) I do not speak Spanish, so I'm hiring some bilingual inmate assistants. I am a little hesitant about having an inmate interpret for me, but what can I do? If the inmates want help from me, they'll have to speak in English :)

We are having a graduation next week, it'll be my last one as a GED teacher, I'll definitely miss having students graduate, that was the best perk of being a GED teacher.

More interesting news about my prison. We are overflowing with inmates, but very low on staff. We were low about 44 Correctional Officer positions, so the Warden requested and received a pay raise of 75 cents for Officers. We are also adding beds where ever we can ... I bet that'll keep my classes full. There's also a $500 incentive for referring correctional officers to work at my prison, so if you're interested, email me ... I'll split it with you ...

Front row fight seats

Today I got my first taste of pepper spray.

Right near the cafeteria food slot, I sat near one of my supervisors, a tiny woman in her fifties, (we don't have a teacher's lounge, so we eat surrounded by inmates.) I heard a cup drop, then "Fight." We had front row seats to the fight - the closest seats in the chow hall. Officers seemed to appear out of nowhere, (perhaps coming out of the white walls?) to dash through the inmate crowd. Two inmates were struggling like high school wrestlers as the officers barked commands to them to separate and lie down. They continued clinging to one another. An orange-red liquid spewed forth onto the men, and the officers separated them, laid them face down, and cuffed them. I had shot straight up when I realized what was going on, eager to get out of the way. The lady next to me sat perfectly still, (she knew we'd have to stay until everything was secure.) A reddish orange goop on the ground was all that was left of the tumble as the inmates were escorted away. Then it happened.

I was the first one to cough. I thought nothing of it until the lady next to me coughed, and the inmates sitting around us joined in the barking chorus. Even the inmates along the walls waiting to be fed started the pained chant. Finally, the lady and I were told we could go, and we left with our throats burning and tingling, and our eyes watering. That was four hours into my twelve hour shift.

In my night class a student asked, "Can I go home, the pepper spray really affected me?" "I'm still here," I barked. He thought for a moment, "Oh, you were there?"

Another student joined in, "So, how was your lunch today?" "Spicy," I replied.

Rooms and Rumor - ville

There's a rumor going around that our prison is going to install more beds in some of the cells ... I heard it from "inmate.com," (an inmate) so who knows if it's accurate. We've been sending the guys out of state and well, we made the news when one of our state's inmates was beaten down by an assistant warden in Texas. Apparently, my state's exploring other options.

My TA said that the bed issue was probably why my class was so hyper today. I gave out a couple "verbal warnings" to students who wouldn't stop picking on one another and distracting the class. I asked the adult men, "What grade are we in now?"

Once, during a fractions math game, it got so bad I asked, "Am I going to have to give out written warnings?" And like a five-year-old, one of the inmates said, "I'm done. I'm not playing anymore."

Perhaps these guys need to live in playpens ... no pun intended.

Feelers

I'm thinking about applying for a day position that came up ... because I've worked evenings for a year and a half. The thing is, I'd be teaching the equivalent of first grade. Am I crazy enough to teach adult inmates with the abilities of first graders? Does anyone have thoughts on this?

I was in a bad mood today, cause I feel like my boss(es) think I'm the young kid without much experience ... one of my bosses once said something like, "All of you have many years of teaching experience except (insert my name) in a meeting in front of all the teachers! And today he brought up my experience when I discussed the day job opening with him, (the job description says it prefers a different emphasis than I have). I have to apply and interview for a position with the same exact job title, I can't just transfer. Urghhhhh!

I'm younger than many of my students, and all of the other teachers ... that doesn't mean I should be treated like a dumb inmate :p. I'm probably over-reacting, but that's how I feel. At least I'm not an inmate who can't read or write ... they have to trust other guys to write their letters home for them.

Resource

I worked at the prison library today, Sunday. One teacher a week volunteers to supervise the library for a few hours on Sundays and get hours off during the week for it. The library is open on Sunday to satisfy some policy or something, but the few times I've been there there's hardly any inmates, it's such a waste! I guess inmates, like the rest of us, don't make use of nearly any of the resources given to us. I think I agree with people who say that inmates should be in school/work for forty hours a week ... I know it costs money to get these guys to work, (just like the free peoples) but I think a solid chunk of whatever they earn should go to funding their living accomodations and their families on the outside ... afterall, who's out there making sure their children are given access to the resources they need ... just to survive.

Or, perhaps they should donate to my student loan fund ... jk

Tedious misadventure pic

  

Tedious Misadventure

I enjoy adventure pc/console games, but some aspects of them I do not like. Today I saw some similarities between prisoner's actions and those annoying quirks of adventure games.

1. In adventure games, you have to find the "key" to the next task or level, or you end up doing the same thing over and over again ... nothing. Keys are things inmates rarely come across.
A. Inmates look for keys to parole through programs, work, and therapy.
B. Memos, callouts, (callouts inform the inmates of appointments), and concern forms, (forms to request information, services, or appointments) are keys I come in contact with every day, "Teach, can I have a memo to go to early chow, so I can come to class," "I need a memo to go to the GED test or the COs won't let me out," "I have a callout for ... medical, legal, etc. so I can't come to class." "Who do I send a concern form to for ... (insert anything imaginable here).
C. Another "key" some inmates try to get is a staff member or visitor who falls for their scams. These "dupes" are keys to the outside world, a world of contraband.
D. Inmates also like to sue to try to get stuff from the prison or government. Most are frivolous and earn nothing.

2. In adventure games, there is a lot of communication, sometimes you have to sort out what is useful in each communication, wading through junk to get to what you need, and sometimes returning to the same source a few times before you succeed. Similarly, useful knowledge and action in prison can sometimes be slow in coming, because of the shear volume of inmates to staff, and the somewhat low communication levels possessed by many inmates.
A. Needed Information: Some inmates have other inmates write concern forms for them, because they can't write in English or just can't spell simple words. Inmates sometimes run down the wrong path by buying into rumors perhaps more for entertainment purposes rather than the seeking of truth.
B. Inappropriate/Useless Information: In class, inmates like to spout off inappropriate information, including their medical histories and criminal histories, in every disturbing detail. (I've heard descriptions of teeth being pulled in their tiny cells, various reasons why guys get diarrhea, exactly how a guy robbed a place, what various psych. prescription pills are used for, and much more.) I tell them to use the information for something productive ... write a GED essay about it.

3. Finally, in adventure games, it seems like items found are put together and used for purposes the average human couldn't think up. Inmates aren't the average bears, they just have more time to hunt and gather. They make weapons out of toothbrushes, pens, locks, tweezers, and much more. I've seen art made through and by various means, including drawing on hankerchiefs and underwear, using a pen repeatedly to press tiny dots into a coffee mug to make intricate portraits, paper pieces folded to make baby shoes, crucifies out of dental floss, and more.