teach me how to dougie

i feel as though i am strictly doing my duty as a teacher of the hood by bringing you this next post. my kids have taught me many life lessons. but some of the most important ones, i have gained by simply interacting with their everyday lives. a preface - my students are nothing like me. when i say nothing, i mean, probably the only thing we have in common is the fact that we all blink and use the word "the" in at least one sentence daily. thats about where the similarities end. this is one of the larger reasons why i love my job so much. i dont want to stare out at a classroom of kids who grew up just like me, with families and homes and lives just like mine. i dont want to teach a cookie cutter group of me's who look and act and speak like i do. i find great joy in the diversity my students bring to my life everyday. and i find their lifestyles, while sometimes depressing and maddening, incredibly fascinating. i step out of my car every morning and into an entirely different world, one which i was not privy to in the past 25 years of my life. and honestly, had i not gotten this job, a world i might never have seen. youre probably thinking, jesus schools out. what is this looney bin doing thinking about those crazy kids she complained about for the last nine months? a little over a week ago she was skipping off school grounds, thanking the dear lord she didnt have to return until august. and youre right. but like i said, it takes a little while for me to miss the hooligans. and usually something triggers it. often, not something spectacularly dignified or important, but a menial moment that brings to mind the reason why i show up everyday. my friend l asked me recently how i was enjoying my mental break from the likes of j and crew, a few of my extra special treasures from this past year. which got me to thinking of the time i bribed, i mean asked j's little brother to trade me his 80s prize box sunglasses for two bouncy balls and a sticker. [sidenote: these were obviously beach house necessities! i gave the kid two extra prizes for them!] so over the past few days, ive been thinking more and more of my kids. and id like to catalogue a few of the things i like (and miss) most.

the clothes - these kids wear the craaaaziest things. my school requires uniforms in specific colors only, due to the gang violence and nature of the surrounding area. students are required to wear khaki or black pants, and white gray or royal blue polo shirts. youd think id be looking at a sea of clones. hell no! i have never seen headbands, jewelry, scarves, undershirts, belts, socks, stockings and shoes in so many varieties. its like they have seventeen closets of accessories at home. as someone who only ever buys sneakers for what they look like, i can appreciate a nice pair of kicks. im talking every color and pattern of the rainbow. im surprised some of these shoes dont play dvd's or fly you to the moon. by far my favorite pair ever? a pair of hightop nike airforce onces (holla at your boy ss!) with composition book print. would i ever buy these? if i grew a set, maybe. im way too chicken. but id love to, in another life where im much more fly. also, my obsession with dress down days grows weekly. after seeing my kids in the same getup everyday, i think i get more excited than they do. its amazing to see what they look like in the "real world" outside of school.

the music - i pride myself on being quite the hiphop connoisseur, much to the chagrin of most of my friends. a large portion of my ipod is dedicated to rap stylings. however, when your homeroom student m comes in every monday, telling you of the weekly jams, you will download things you never knew existed. while many were deleted due to sheer lack of necessity in my life, a few gems were saved. among my favorites, here are some which changed our lives forever: beamer benz or bentley - lloyd banks, its my time - fabolous, all i do is win - dj khaled, and the latest... teach me how to dougie - california swag district. thank you, my little cherubs, for bringing all of the unforgettable moments into my life that those songs provided. 

the slang - im sure in some schools, kids say the darndest things. in my classroom, i would use a much smaller expletive to describe the things they say. when im not talking to my kids, there is a major conversation piece missing. although i am much too old, amongst other things, to use their lingo, i thoroughly enjoy listening to it. and, ive been known to throw it into my speech occasionally, just to keep them on their toes. 

for those of you sheltered folk, you may need to urbandictionary the likes of many of these terms. small warning, this is nothing like your grandmothers merriam webster. be ready to be hit with some wisdom. thank you my children, because i now know what i means to be drawlin, swaggin, down ass, heavy and creepin. i also know what a jawn, a dougie, a becky and a louie are. ive been called ill and silly, ballin and broke. i know how to make it clap, make it stack, make it scrap, and make it black. i have an apple and im nice... but those two terms dont refer to a fruit or a personality trait, respectively. im sure im forgetting some of the classics. but note to self, invest in personal blank dictionary to fill with next years language. could be the life of a party. ive been told by many that i have a way with words, but ive clearly got nothing on these kids.

so whenever im feeling a little down and out, i think of my kids. and while they drive me totally off the wall bananas until about november, im very much looking forward to getting to know a whole slew of newbies in a couple weeks. am i ready? probably not. but hopefully theyll learn something from me. and i sure as hell know ill learn from them.