I had my second parent meeting of the week yesterday afternoon. Yes, there are nine days left of school and yes, all of a sudden people care. Parents and students. But what I thought would be a hostile meeting turned out to be more like a therapy session.
I have a student who came to me from Angela mid-year. Ang realized that she was "too high" to stay in intervention. She was the second student I got from Ang, the first worked out very well. He came, he started getting As, he never said a word. Then came the girl. First day, she started giving me attitude. She stirred up trouble in the class, she refused to work, she wouldn't stop talking, she chewed gum constantly. When I gave her detention, she skipped. I called home and things got a little better attitude-wise. But she wouldn't turn in any work.
She failed tests, she never did homework, etcetera etcetera, and squeaked by with a D. Not so this quarter. Thus Mom coming in. And before I could even set down yesterday, Mom was crying. There's a divorce, a move to Nevada, and a defiant thirteen-year-old who's died her hair black, gets pornographic emails, etcetera etcetera. This is not the little girl this mother raised. And so we talked (well I talked, it was translated, mom talked, it was translated). More tears, from both mother and daughter. And we left with her thinking about doing some make-up work for my class. But I stressed to her that as a teenager, she gets to make the choice and decide if it's a good or a bad choice. We'll see come Monday what she decides.
Another first yesterday - the first time I've ended a parent meeting getting hugged by a parent. Mom just seemed at her wits end but I am hoping, in some small way, we helped her, the two other teachers and I who sat there in that meeting. But, as it is with all my kids, I'll probably never know. I wonder, as I look out at my 90-some-odd students, what they'll be in ten years, fifteen years. Will they be okay, normal adults living normal lives? Will they be gang bangers and drug runners? Will they be alive or in jail? Will they be the spectacular human beings I tell them every day they can be? God, I pray so. Literally.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
Parents Just Don't Understand
I know, I know, I am not a parent. I don't claim to be nor do I claim to know anything about raising a child to the age of thirteen. However, I do know something about seventh graders as I have spent a good chunk of my life with them for the past two years. And I know a thing or two about how seventh graders think, and how public schools run. And if you are a parent, I beg you to consider that not all seventh graders are perfect angels and that it might not be the teacher's fault when your kid screws up.
Yeah, today was one of those days. I wanted to take a personal day. I wanted to be home writing my novel and walking with my iPod on and making a healthy dinner but no, I went to work. I went to work because I am a good employee and I knew there would not be enough substitute teachers today. Surprise! I was right.
And during the course of my day I had two sets of parents show up at the school demanding to see me and my team of teachers. Now, please, parents, think this through if you ever want to talk to a teacher. Guess what we are doing in the middle of the day...TEACHING YOU CHILD. Yep, yep, we can't just sneak out for a meeting. And certainly not six teachers at once.
One mom rescheduled until Friday. It doesn't help that she doesn't speak English so I couldn't talk to her while she was standing there in the office, I've called home three times for her daughter who's failing, and this morning her precious one told me she doesn't know why she hasn't turned in her poetry book. She just doesn't care. Yeah. Did I mention we turn grades in on Monday? As in five days from now? Yeah. Good time to call for a meeting with your kid's teachers. Eleven days before the end of the school year.
The other parents refused to leave until we met with them. So they waited, over an hour. And on our prep my team met with them. And told them the same thing we've told them at several other meetings: we don't know what to do either. You kid is smart, very smart. But he's a kid, an immature, little kid. Seriously folks, I can only do so much, I cannot parent your child as well.
From my short tenure in the classroom I've seen a lot of parents who seem very unequipped to do their job, to parent a teenager. And it's sad. A lot of them are younger than me, and I KNOW I couldn't do it. That's why I don't have a teenager.
So yeah, it was a long day. A day capped off by a grading session during which I discovered one of my students had plagiarized poems in her book. Yeah, Chris Brown doesn't get by me, no seventh grader writes poems that sound like multi-platinum hit songs. Thank goodness for google.
Yeah, today was one of those days. I wanted to take a personal day. I wanted to be home writing my novel and walking with my iPod on and making a healthy dinner but no, I went to work. I went to work because I am a good employee and I knew there would not be enough substitute teachers today. Surprise! I was right.
And during the course of my day I had two sets of parents show up at the school demanding to see me and my team of teachers. Now, please, parents, think this through if you ever want to talk to a teacher. Guess what we are doing in the middle of the day...TEACHING YOU CHILD. Yep, yep, we can't just sneak out for a meeting. And certainly not six teachers at once.
One mom rescheduled until Friday. It doesn't help that she doesn't speak English so I couldn't talk to her while she was standing there in the office, I've called home three times for her daughter who's failing, and this morning her precious one told me she doesn't know why she hasn't turned in her poetry book. She just doesn't care. Yeah. Did I mention we turn grades in on Monday? As in five days from now? Yeah. Good time to call for a meeting with your kid's teachers. Eleven days before the end of the school year.
The other parents refused to leave until we met with them. So they waited, over an hour. And on our prep my team met with them. And told them the same thing we've told them at several other meetings: we don't know what to do either. You kid is smart, very smart. But he's a kid, an immature, little kid. Seriously folks, I can only do so much, I cannot parent your child as well.
From my short tenure in the classroom I've seen a lot of parents who seem very unequipped to do their job, to parent a teenager. And it's sad. A lot of them are younger than me, and I KNOW I couldn't do it. That's why I don't have a teenager.
So yeah, it was a long day. A day capped off by a grading session during which I discovered one of my students had plagiarized poems in her book. Yeah, Chris Brown doesn't get by me, no seventh grader writes poems that sound like multi-platinum hit songs. Thank goodness for google.
Saturday, May 24, 2008
Crazy weather but I love it!
UPDATE: Angela and I just got back from Mexico where we had a great lunch with our friend Gume. He's the waiter at the restaurant in the middle of the square we always eat at. He's always our waiter, not sure how that happens but today he was in rare form. When we left Gume stood on the chair to shake our hands, yes, we're giants, we know. Also, Ang was not impressed because today the refried beans had red peppers in them. I, however, enjoyed it because I got to eat her beans in addition to mine! Yay for me!
After lunch we visited our friends who sell pottery in the alley. They are excited because they just moved next door to a new building (I guess it's a building, it has walls and a ceiling but no floor or door). The wife gave us a great deal on a bowl and a gift. I got a fluted bowl to match my little salsa bowls (see above), I think it's big enough for chips. So who's coming over for dinner?!?!
After we said goodbye to the pottery family (not their real name), we wandered down the streets in search of the giant circular pink and turquoise wall hanging Angela remembered from last year and wanted for our move. We finally found the marketplace (we didn't find it last time so this in itself was a feat) but sadly, no wall hanging. But it's possible she made it better and better in her mind and the ones we saw just couldn't live up to the memory. There was a pushy shopkeeper there so we moved on. We wandered by a Mexican park and got some looks as we're queras (white girls) and we had veered off the beaten track. But the locals had some great smelling taco trucks and it was cool (low 70s) so everyone was out and about and it was just a nice day to walk.
Before we hit "the line" we stopped at the infamous purple pharmacy (they make their own commercials that are just terrible but ABC shows them anyway). We picked up vanilla for mom and us and of course, I got a liter of coca light. I love my coca light!
It took us just 25 minutes to cross the border today, not bad at all considering we've waited up to four hours before. We had our passports today and they swiped them and let us through with barely a glance. Guess queras are not dangerous looking. At least not these two.
So yep, three hours and five dollars to park and we are back in the good old US of A.
I don't think it can get any better than this. Last night we slept with the windows open. Yes, in Yuma, Arizona. In late May. I KNOW! It's crazy. Average highs are usually in the upper 90s to 110 degrees right now, not low 60s. It rained yesterday, actually pourred, several times. There was a mud slide out on one of the major roads it rained so much - a whole 0.03 inches. I know, it's not Michigan.
The weather's on schedule to return to normal by Tuesday but right now it's gorgeous here. Oh yeah, and it's been snowing in Flagstaff. Crazy I tell ya!
Right this very moment life is good. I am excited about the move and school and most of all Los Angeles. I'm very excited to be going home to Michigan in 23 days to see everyone. And we only have 13 days of school left. I just might make it.
Not sure what we're going to do this weekend. We might go to Algodones, Mexico today because of the cool weather. We've been wanting to go just to look around, especially at the pottery and usually it's unbearably hot by the time we head back to get in line at the border. Other than that I'm just going to enjoy these next three days, you should do the same!
After lunch we visited our friends who sell pottery in the alley. They are excited because they just moved next door to a new building (I guess it's a building, it has walls and a ceiling but no floor or door). The wife gave us a great deal on a bowl and a gift. I got a fluted bowl to match my little salsa bowls (see above), I think it's big enough for chips. So who's coming over for dinner?!?!
After we said goodbye to the pottery family (not their real name), we wandered down the streets in search of the giant circular pink and turquoise wall hanging Angela remembered from last year and wanted for our move. We finally found the marketplace (we didn't find it last time so this in itself was a feat) but sadly, no wall hanging. But it's possible she made it better and better in her mind and the ones we saw just couldn't live up to the memory. There was a pushy shopkeeper there so we moved on. We wandered by a Mexican park and got some looks as we're queras (white girls) and we had veered off the beaten track. But the locals had some great smelling taco trucks and it was cool (low 70s) so everyone was out and about and it was just a nice day to walk.
Before we hit "the line" we stopped at the infamous purple pharmacy (they make their own commercials that are just terrible but ABC shows them anyway). We picked up vanilla for mom and us and of course, I got a liter of coca light. I love my coca light!
It took us just 25 minutes to cross the border today, not bad at all considering we've waited up to four hours before. We had our passports today and they swiped them and let us through with barely a glance. Guess queras are not dangerous looking. At least not these two.
So yep, three hours and five dollars to park and we are back in the good old US of A.
I don't think it can get any better than this. Last night we slept with the windows open. Yes, in Yuma, Arizona. In late May. I KNOW! It's crazy. Average highs are usually in the upper 90s to 110 degrees right now, not low 60s. It rained yesterday, actually pourred, several times. There was a mud slide out on one of the major roads it rained so much - a whole 0.03 inches. I know, it's not Michigan.
The weather's on schedule to return to normal by Tuesday but right now it's gorgeous here. Oh yeah, and it's been snowing in Flagstaff. Crazy I tell ya!
Right this very moment life is good. I am excited about the move and school and most of all Los Angeles. I'm very excited to be going home to Michigan in 23 days to see everyone. And we only have 13 days of school left. I just might make it.
Not sure what we're going to do this weekend. We might go to Algodones, Mexico today because of the cool weather. We've been wanting to go just to look around, especially at the pottery and usually it's unbearably hot by the time we head back to get in line at the border. Other than that I'm just going to enjoy these next three days, you should do the same!
Tuesday, May 20, 2008
Patience
Patience is a hard thing for me. I want what I want when I want it. That's the truth sad as it might be.
Being a seventh grade teacher in May requires a lot of patience I don't have. And yet I am the adult, "the one in control of the room" (as I told one group of students today), and I have to dig deep and find that patience.
Today I got pulled into Angela's room because team Europe was having some student difficulties and I was on my prep. This is not unusual, we try to help each other out - if the teachers didn't stick together this place might literally fall apart. And I was in the room trying to get some students to do their job and one student in particular was having a rough time. Angela asked me to help him because she couldn't deal with him right then, they had decided they were both angry at each other. So I went over and asked what his question was. We talked for a minute or two and I felt like pulling my eyeballs out of the sockets, it might have been less excruciating then trying to get through to this kid. And then I saw the look on his face. Despite the fact that he's a HUGE behavior problem every SINGLE day, and despite the fact that he has been known to nearly sexually harass students and teachers, and despite the fact that I wanted to be in my silent room alone at the moment, I saw that he needed help. He truly wasn't getting this question on this test. So I slid down the wall, sat on a pile of books and tried again. And this time he got it.
Let me tell you, if there's only one reason why God sent me to Crane Middle School it must have been to teach me patience.
Other than that life is okay. I'm starting to wake up thinking of the fact that I don't have a job yet for August (luckily I get "paid" through July), that we don't have an apartment yet, and I really don't want to go to school. And yet, there are some happy things in my days.
Last night we played our last golf match and my team did awesome! I had a kid come in with a 34 (on a par 3 course! AWESOME!) and we had all our kids do great. We won't know for a day or two if we've won the championship since one of the teams was phoning in their scores from their home course (whatever) but we feel like victors and that's what counts.
Ang and I had a great Saturday, we ate at the garden cafe which I love and went shopping. I put a little of that stimulus check back into the economy, just doing my part for America nation! (I love how Stephen Colbert calls his audience "nation"! Love love love it!) The garden cafe is this rockin' restaurant downtown Yuma that I sadly only just discovered in April. If you're ever here in the "winter" - go visit. I wanted to write about food on Saturday but never got around to it. The food there was so great, all fresh fruits and veggies and breads and this AMAZING coconut cake. And I didn't feel guilty eating it which was new for me. I'm not losing weight as fast as I'd like but I am loving the new dress I got on Saturday regardless. (Ang says it's very Sex and the City though I am NOT wearing stilettos with it!)
Guess that's all for now, I'm going to keep working on my patience. Any suggestions?
Being a seventh grade teacher in May requires a lot of patience I don't have. And yet I am the adult, "the one in control of the room" (as I told one group of students today), and I have to dig deep and find that patience.
Today I got pulled into Angela's room because team Europe was having some student difficulties and I was on my prep. This is not unusual, we try to help each other out - if the teachers didn't stick together this place might literally fall apart. And I was in the room trying to get some students to do their job and one student in particular was having a rough time. Angela asked me to help him because she couldn't deal with him right then, they had decided they were both angry at each other. So I went over and asked what his question was. We talked for a minute or two and I felt like pulling my eyeballs out of the sockets, it might have been less excruciating then trying to get through to this kid. And then I saw the look on his face. Despite the fact that he's a HUGE behavior problem every SINGLE day, and despite the fact that he has been known to nearly sexually harass students and teachers, and despite the fact that I wanted to be in my silent room alone at the moment, I saw that he needed help. He truly wasn't getting this question on this test. So I slid down the wall, sat on a pile of books and tried again. And this time he got it.
Let me tell you, if there's only one reason why God sent me to Crane Middle School it must have been to teach me patience.
Other than that life is okay. I'm starting to wake up thinking of the fact that I don't have a job yet for August (luckily I get "paid" through July), that we don't have an apartment yet, and I really don't want to go to school. And yet, there are some happy things in my days.
Last night we played our last golf match and my team did awesome! I had a kid come in with a 34 (on a par 3 course! AWESOME!) and we had all our kids do great. We won't know for a day or two if we've won the championship since one of the teams was phoning in their scores from their home course (whatever) but we feel like victors and that's what counts.
Ang and I had a great Saturday, we ate at the garden cafe which I love and went shopping. I put a little of that stimulus check back into the economy, just doing my part for America nation! (I love how Stephen Colbert calls his audience "nation"! Love love love it!) The garden cafe is this rockin' restaurant downtown Yuma that I sadly only just discovered in April. If you're ever here in the "winter" - go visit. I wanted to write about food on Saturday but never got around to it. The food there was so great, all fresh fruits and veggies and breads and this AMAZING coconut cake. And I didn't feel guilty eating it which was new for me. I'm not losing weight as fast as I'd like but I am loving the new dress I got on Saturday regardless. (Ang says it's very Sex and the City though I am NOT wearing stilettos with it!)
Guess that's all for now, I'm going to keep working on my patience. Any suggestions?
Sunday, May 11, 2008
My Mom
My mom is amazing and I cannot imagine having grown up with anyone else but here helping me to become the person I am today. I know God has a plan for everyone and everything and I am so blessed that my plan included Christina Ann MacDonald Knapp giving birth to me.
My mom likes to remind people that she was "the meanest mom on the block" (I am pretty sure I never uttered those words - that's all her) and you know what, she was and she wasn't. She was mean if you consider mean to be someone who has expectations she expects you to follow at all times. She taught me to be strong, to be fair, and most of all, to be loving.
Here's a woman who went to work simply so her children could have the things she didn't. She walked to work so we could save money to go on a vacation. She made homemade dinners and took us to the library and impressed upon me the importance of helping everyone.
She's amazing. She gives 110% at work and then comes home and starts her day all over again. She cooks for people who need food, she takes care of my five grandparents, she loves baseball and hockey and will listen to me every time I call to complain or cry. She makes homemade strawberry jam and loves camping. She taught me it's okay to stay in your nightgown until after noon. She reads every single piece of the newspaper. She has given me everything I've ever needed and more. But most of all she's given me her love. She's taught me to be independent and smart and careful. She's taught me to live by a budget but to live the life I want. She's taught me to care for others but also for myself. And everyday, she continues to be this amazing example of a Christian woman I am so grateful to have had in my life for thirty years.
Thank you mom. I love you.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Tidbits
It was a good, although very busy week. We played our first official golf match Monday and my kids did great! They came in second by only one stroke so we have motivation this week! It was a fun match, we had rain and thunder and hail (yes, HAIL, in YUMA!) before we started but then the sun came out and it was actually pleasant to be outside. I walked the whole course, pulling my cooler, delivering water to the kiddos. Also, we had a ton of parents come out and walk the course with their golfers. One family even brought their three month old in a stroller, and their five year old, and just trailed their son - very cool!
It's been a very active week at school - we're getting ready for end-of-the-year assessments so I've been testing my kids' reading fluency speeds with daily three-minute drills which they've really gotten used to. We're also doing arts and crafts, aka poetry books. They've all written 29 various poems which they have to include in their book with a glossary of terms. This is worth 400 points (a totally random number I came up with) and they cannot pass our class without turning it in. We've been writing poems for over six weeks so it's a pretty big deal. I have a feeling there will be a few who don't turn one in and I have to steal myself to make those parent calls. Ah, parent calls, I had a rather unpleasant one this week. It's always fun to have a parent call you and yell at you rudely for treating their child horribly, because of course, as teachers, we treat all children horribly, we hate children, etc., etc. That's exactly why I work ten hour days trying to educate said children. Whatever.
Let's see, what else? Wednesday I actually got time to work in my classroom during the workday. This never happens. We've been having meetings and professional development every Wednesday (our kids go home two and a half hours before we do) since I can remember. So that was a nice change. I think I'm finally getting caught up from being gone on jury duty. Thank goodness!
Last night Ang and I saw Baby Mama, the new Tina Fey/Amy Poehler movie. It was very funny, well done and we saw it downtown for only $5 which was nice, with only four other people in the theater.
And then this morning Ang and I played golf at Mesa del Sol golf course with two guys from work. We had been asked to play in this charity outing benefiting a local child who has cancer. Our principal asked us to play, the school was going to get sponsors to show our school's support. With an entry fee of $500 per foursome, I was all for it! It was a beautiful day here, 68 when we got there and up to 96 by noon. They gave our impressive goodie bags (including my very own Sarah Farms t-shirt, I am pretty excited!), gave us a good Mexican lunch, and supplied breakfast and drinks all day. And it set me back only $4 for a bucket of balls this morning. Well worth it. Plus we had a lot of fun; we all played about the same and I had a lot of good shots. I even made a birdie on my own (it was a scramble) by hitting a tee shot on a par three about eighteen inches from the pin. Someday I'll get that hole-in-one, I will I will!
So those are just some tidbits from my week. I think things are going to go pretty fast from here on out. I give all you moms out there a hearty thank you from this particular kid because frankly, moms rock! All of you!
It's been a very active week at school - we're getting ready for end-of-the-year assessments so I've been testing my kids' reading fluency speeds with daily three-minute drills which they've really gotten used to. We're also doing arts and crafts, aka poetry books. They've all written 29 various poems which they have to include in their book with a glossary of terms. This is worth 400 points (a totally random number I came up with) and they cannot pass our class without turning it in. We've been writing poems for over six weeks so it's a pretty big deal. I have a feeling there will be a few who don't turn one in and I have to steal myself to make those parent calls. Ah, parent calls, I had a rather unpleasant one this week. It's always fun to have a parent call you and yell at you rudely for treating their child horribly, because of course, as teachers, we treat all children horribly, we hate children, etc., etc. That's exactly why I work ten hour days trying to educate said children. Whatever.
Let's see, what else? Wednesday I actually got time to work in my classroom during the workday. This never happens. We've been having meetings and professional development every Wednesday (our kids go home two and a half hours before we do) since I can remember. So that was a nice change. I think I'm finally getting caught up from being gone on jury duty. Thank goodness!
Last night Ang and I saw Baby Mama, the new Tina Fey/Amy Poehler movie. It was very funny, well done and we saw it downtown for only $5 which was nice, with only four other people in the theater.
And then this morning Ang and I played golf at Mesa del Sol golf course with two guys from work. We had been asked to play in this charity outing benefiting a local child who has cancer. Our principal asked us to play, the school was going to get sponsors to show our school's support. With an entry fee of $500 per foursome, I was all for it! It was a beautiful day here, 68 when we got there and up to 96 by noon. They gave our impressive goodie bags (including my very own Sarah Farms t-shirt, I am pretty excited!), gave us a good Mexican lunch, and supplied breakfast and drinks all day. And it set me back only $4 for a bucket of balls this morning. Well worth it. Plus we had a lot of fun; we all played about the same and I had a lot of good shots. I even made a birdie on my own (it was a scramble) by hitting a tee shot on a par three about eighteen inches from the pin. Someday I'll get that hole-in-one, I will I will!
So those are just some tidbits from my week. I think things are going to go pretty fast from here on out. I give all you moms out there a hearty thank you from this particular kid because frankly, moms rock! All of you!
Sunday, May 04, 2008
UCLA here I come!
It's official folks, I'm going to UCLA in the fall.
I'm pretty excited. Nervous, sure, but excited. Way more excited than scared. At least I think so! Friday night when I got home from jury duty there it was: a large envelope. Yes, I'd already been rejected by UCLA once but that was the MFA program. Apparently I'd been accepted into their professional screenwriting program. All I had to do was sign the paperwork and send them a deposit. (I was glad not to have to resend all my supporting materials.)
So that's it, I'm enrolled. I think it's going to be a great opportunity. It's a year-long program, three quarters - fall, winter, and spring - from September to June. It's two nights a week, there's a lecture class and then a small group-type of class. At the end I'll get a certificate (there's even a ceremony) and walk away with two completed feature-length screenplays which is exactly what I want and need to break into this business.
So here we go folks, Ang is working on finding a school somewhere near UCLA (which is close to Beverly Hills if that helps you to locate it on the map) and I've been looking for apartments. Wish me luck!!!
I'm pretty excited. Nervous, sure, but excited. Way more excited than scared. At least I think so! Friday night when I got home from jury duty there it was: a large envelope. Yes, I'd already been rejected by UCLA once but that was the MFA program. Apparently I'd been accepted into their professional screenwriting program. All I had to do was sign the paperwork and send them a deposit. (I was glad not to have to resend all my supporting materials.)
So that's it, I'm enrolled. I think it's going to be a great opportunity. It's a year-long program, three quarters - fall, winter, and spring - from September to June. It's two nights a week, there's a lecture class and then a small group-type of class. At the end I'll get a certificate (there's even a ceremony) and walk away with two completed feature-length screenplays which is exactly what I want and need to break into this business.
So here we go folks, Ang is working on finding a school somewhere near UCLA (which is close to Beverly Hills if that helps you to locate it on the map) and I've been looking for apartments. Wish me luck!!!
Saturday, May 03, 2008
The Jury is In...Finally!
Three weeks, three full notebooks, eleven new friends, it's been quite an experience. And now that the admonition has been lifted, I can talk about it all. Not that anyone outside of the courtroom I've been in for three weeks really cares (and frankly a lot of us in that courtroom didn't care too much either).
I was Juror #4 on a civil case, a lawsuit, between a homeowners' association (a HOA as I quickly found out) and a developer. The HOA sued the developer because the condos built in the neighborhood did not look exactly like the condos that had been there for the past thirty years. They have been in litigation for over three years and as of last night, they could be in litigation for a while longer.
I haven't seen the condos in question because we were barred for going to the neighborhood however I have seen hundreds of photos. So many that by the end of the trial when the attorneys were quizzing various witnesses on which were old condos and which were new, I had the answer before the witness. In fact, I knew all the answers by that point, we all did. I was amazed by how much time was spent going over the same questions, over and over and over.
All through the trial we, as a jury talked, we talked about the evidence, we talked about the witnesses, we talked about the lawyers' haircuts and skirts, we talked about who we thought was lying and who we thought was telling the truth. We talked about our families, about where we were going for lunch, about what we'd seen on TV the night before, and what we did at our jobs. Within a very short period of time we knew a lot about each other. That was the great part about this whole experience.
It was also interesting seeing the inner workings of the legal system, especially when you combine personalities and real people's lives. There were times when the judge had to remind the attorneys to keep their tempers in check, there were times when the lawyers stumbled over their words, when the judge seemed to fall asleep, when the bailiff had to tell the plaintiff not to mumble curse words that the jury could hear, when the judge who had a habit of rocking back and forth in his chair nearly knocked down the flag behind him.
While it wasn't as exciting as most episodes of Law & Order, it did have a few moments. I liked watching the faces of the plaintiffs when a witness would get up on the stand and tell a story that completely contradicted what they had testified too. It was a game we played to keep ourselves awake, who's telling the truth today and who's not quite remembering it all. Then there was the moment, a week ago Thursday when the plaintiff rested and the defense attorney stood up and asked the judge for a direct verdict. That was the moment, had this been a movie, when every head in the courtroom would have swiveled around and said, "What?!?!?!" The jury was ushered out quickly and that afternoon the defense began. There would be no direct verdict for us, no matter how much we hoped and prayed at lunch that day.
We started as a jury of 12 but then Thursday morning we were reduced to 11. Juror #5 who sat next to me the entire time went to the hospital with a possible heart attack. He has severe back problems but had been managing his pain well and was very intent on doing his civic duty. Friday morning he called our bailiff and begged to come back in to finish the job. She couldn't allow him to do that but she did let us know he was doing well (blood pressure medicine snafu) and wanted to tell us how glad he was to have met us all. On Friday another juror wore a Hawaiian shirt, just like #5 always wore, in honor of him.
On Thursday at 4:30, we were sent in to our room to deliberate. We chose our foreman and we adjourned for the night. On Friday, at 1:30 we began again. Our foreman was a man who works for the federal government and who I bet is very good at his job because he was the best foreman we could have chosen. He wanted everyone to be heard and wanted to make sure we reached a fair decision. Before we began yesterday, he had us do an icebreaker - he had each of us go around the table (there were 11 of us at this point) and talk for 1-2 minutes (we were timed). I thought this was a very cool activity - it allowed for us to talk as a whole group, something that didn't often happen with that many people, and allowed for a little ease in the tension we all felt in wanting the case to be over and to do well at our task.
Then we began deliberating. We had 28 interrogatories to decide. Yes, 28 counts with 2 parts each. It was quite a process. First we did a blind vote and eliminated all those with a majority consensus (we only had to have 8 on one side of the issue to sign off). We didn't have a single count that was unanimous. So we started talking. We argued points of law, we argued emotions and feelings and interpretations. And I was really glad we weren't deciding something really important like life in prison versus the death penalty.
Twenty-five of our counts dealt with changes to the condos and whether or not they were made due to code or some other justifiable reason. We all agreed that each change had indeed been made but then there were a lot of different answers to why they were made. We'd heard from architects, engineers, real estate agents, contractors, builders, etc. and after a while it was hard to remember who said what and why. So we went to our notes. And we talked some more.
As a whole, we agreed that the developers had to make some changes to the buildings. Not all the changes requested by the HOA but a lot of them. Then we had 3 more counts to decide. We had to determine whether the HOA had acted with "unclean hands" - which we thought meant that hadn't been completely upfront with the developer and hadn't acted as fairly as possible when dealing with them. Then we had to determine "estoppel" - which we thought meant that even though the HOA had acted unfairly, the developer still had to make the changes and abide by the HOA's original building plans. Finally, we had to decide if the developer should receive an offset to recoup financial losses and if so, how much.
And then there was a lot more discussion. And we sent questions to the judge to try and figure out what unclean hands and estoppel really meant because we felt the jury directions were unclear. We got answers back an hour later that said reread our directions. Some help he was.
So we made our decision. Eight of us agreed that the HOA had acted with unclean hands and then we decided that that didn't mean they couldn't still enforce their rules. Later, we'd find out that this means we'd "split the baby" - apparently a legal term. We thought we were being fair. Throughout this whole trial I, along with many others, had talked about how we thought that all the parties were of equal fault, if they had all communicated better none of us would be there. So we wanted to make sure they knew our feelings - that we felt they all had played a part in this mess. Thus, we "split the baby" or the blame. Then we awarded an offset to the defendant, in our minds to cover the costs of making the changes we had decided upon. We awarded the developer $60,000. We came at this number several ways: several contractors had testified that it would cost between $16,000 and $20,000 per condo (and there are 3 in question) to make the changes the HOA wanted. Also, the defense had presented $120,000 as the amount that the developer lost during this entire ordeal. So we decided $60,000 would cover the costs of changes (and we knew that the developer, who is a member of the HOA, would pay a portion of this himself so we thought it was fair overall).
At 5:05pm we entered the courtroom for the last time. One juror was almost in tears. She was confused somewhat and didn't think we were being fair to the developer. She thought he shouldn't have to make any changes. While we all respected her right to her opinion, and told her that, we had 8 signatures on the verdict and we were good to go. Others didn't agree and just didn't sign. But we had a majority and that's all we needed. One juror was angry, she felt we were rushing and truth be told, we were. It was 5pm on Friday and everyone wanted to go home. And most of us didn't want to come back Tuesday (there were a few who did but they lost out). We did come up with the dollar amount in less than five minutes but it was a number we'd been talking about for a few days and those of us who signed felt we were doing good by the developer, and again, that we were splitting the blame.
So we went into court and the judge read our verdict. He was confused he said and just needed to check them again to make sure he understood. This is when I first realized something was off. Then he read them into open court - it took over half an hour. And when he got to the unclean hands bit, the plaintiff's attorneys started to react, mildly of course, but you could tell they weren't happy. We thought they'd change their minds when the next verdict was read, the estoppel, but no, they weren't. So then the plaintiff's attorney asked if he could poll the jury. So the judge asked each of us who'd signed if that was indeed our decision. That took some time. And then we were dismissed.
Here's two things I didn't know before my jury duty experience: 1)the court, including the judge, stands for the jury. I didn't think they stood for anyone except the judge. That was kinda cool. And 2)after the case is over, the lawyers want to talk to the jurors and we're allowed to. That was kind of interesting.
So we leave the building and the plaintiffs and their lawyers are waiting for us. The defense is long gone, probably to celebrate we find out later. And here's what we find out from the plaintiff's lawyer: When we handed down the "unclean hands" verdict, the ball game was over. That was apparently the only verdict that matter. Once it's determined that the HOA had unclean hands, they have no right to enforce anything. That means the developer doesn't have to make any of the changes we spent hours debating.
As a jury, we had no idea this verdict was so influential. We even asked for clarification and got none. We thought we were being fair and just by "splitting the baby". Apparently we were not. We essentially told the HOA they were wrong, we told the developer he was right and he could do whatever he wanted to his buildings and the future buildings he'd put up there (he owns 9 more lots in the neighborhood), and we gave the developer $60,000 just for the hell of it.
I was shocked. Four of us stayed around to talk to the lawyers (our foreman got caught right away and I didn't think it was fair for him to have to answer questions about the verdict all alone so I stayed) who were obviously baffled by our decision. Mind you, they had wanted to win outright regardless but once they explained to us what our verdict meant, we were completely shocked. And we told them that. And then we were asked for affidavits to that effect. So it might not be over for me yet. Gotta love civil cases.
Overall, it was an interesting experience. One I am ultimately glad I had. Am I frustrated at how slowly our legal system works? Yes. This case should not have taken this long to get through. It really shouldn't have. And it could have been settled long ago, before the first nail had ever been pounded had the whole group of people done their jobs better. But I met some great folks. I spent a lot of time talking to them. I got to sleep in for 9 days and exercise a lot more than I ever would have had I been going to school. I got money for mileage. I experienced one of Yuma's hidden treasures (the Garden Cafe). And I got a peak into the jury system, which really does seem to be one of the best ways to settle issues. Every single person in that room wanted to do the right thing and ultimately, to the best of ability, I think we did. We took the law, the facts and made a decision. And while everyone can't always get what they want, they did get a resolution.
And now I get to go back to my normal workweek. Pray for me. It's May. And if any of you know anything about school come May, you know what I'm talking about:-)
I was Juror #4 on a civil case, a lawsuit, between a homeowners' association (a HOA as I quickly found out) and a developer. The HOA sued the developer because the condos built in the neighborhood did not look exactly like the condos that had been there for the past thirty years. They have been in litigation for over three years and as of last night, they could be in litigation for a while longer.
I haven't seen the condos in question because we were barred for going to the neighborhood however I have seen hundreds of photos. So many that by the end of the trial when the attorneys were quizzing various witnesses on which were old condos and which were new, I had the answer before the witness. In fact, I knew all the answers by that point, we all did. I was amazed by how much time was spent going over the same questions, over and over and over.
All through the trial we, as a jury talked, we talked about the evidence, we talked about the witnesses, we talked about the lawyers' haircuts and skirts, we talked about who we thought was lying and who we thought was telling the truth. We talked about our families, about where we were going for lunch, about what we'd seen on TV the night before, and what we did at our jobs. Within a very short period of time we knew a lot about each other. That was the great part about this whole experience.
It was also interesting seeing the inner workings of the legal system, especially when you combine personalities and real people's lives. There were times when the judge had to remind the attorneys to keep their tempers in check, there were times when the lawyers stumbled over their words, when the judge seemed to fall asleep, when the bailiff had to tell the plaintiff not to mumble curse words that the jury could hear, when the judge who had a habit of rocking back and forth in his chair nearly knocked down the flag behind him.
While it wasn't as exciting as most episodes of Law & Order, it did have a few moments. I liked watching the faces of the plaintiffs when a witness would get up on the stand and tell a story that completely contradicted what they had testified too. It was a game we played to keep ourselves awake, who's telling the truth today and who's not quite remembering it all. Then there was the moment, a week ago Thursday when the plaintiff rested and the defense attorney stood up and asked the judge for a direct verdict. That was the moment, had this been a movie, when every head in the courtroom would have swiveled around and said, "What?!?!?!" The jury was ushered out quickly and that afternoon the defense began. There would be no direct verdict for us, no matter how much we hoped and prayed at lunch that day.
We started as a jury of 12 but then Thursday morning we were reduced to 11. Juror #5 who sat next to me the entire time went to the hospital with a possible heart attack. He has severe back problems but had been managing his pain well and was very intent on doing his civic duty. Friday morning he called our bailiff and begged to come back in to finish the job. She couldn't allow him to do that but she did let us know he was doing well (blood pressure medicine snafu) and wanted to tell us how glad he was to have met us all. On Friday another juror wore a Hawaiian shirt, just like #5 always wore, in honor of him.
On Thursday at 4:30, we were sent in to our room to deliberate. We chose our foreman and we adjourned for the night. On Friday, at 1:30 we began again. Our foreman was a man who works for the federal government and who I bet is very good at his job because he was the best foreman we could have chosen. He wanted everyone to be heard and wanted to make sure we reached a fair decision. Before we began yesterday, he had us do an icebreaker - he had each of us go around the table (there were 11 of us at this point) and talk for 1-2 minutes (we were timed). I thought this was a very cool activity - it allowed for us to talk as a whole group, something that didn't often happen with that many people, and allowed for a little ease in the tension we all felt in wanting the case to be over and to do well at our task.
Then we began deliberating. We had 28 interrogatories to decide. Yes, 28 counts with 2 parts each. It was quite a process. First we did a blind vote and eliminated all those with a majority consensus (we only had to have 8 on one side of the issue to sign off). We didn't have a single count that was unanimous. So we started talking. We argued points of law, we argued emotions and feelings and interpretations. And I was really glad we weren't deciding something really important like life in prison versus the death penalty.
Twenty-five of our counts dealt with changes to the condos and whether or not they were made due to code or some other justifiable reason. We all agreed that each change had indeed been made but then there were a lot of different answers to why they were made. We'd heard from architects, engineers, real estate agents, contractors, builders, etc. and after a while it was hard to remember who said what and why. So we went to our notes. And we talked some more.
As a whole, we agreed that the developers had to make some changes to the buildings. Not all the changes requested by the HOA but a lot of them. Then we had 3 more counts to decide. We had to determine whether the HOA had acted with "unclean hands" - which we thought meant that hadn't been completely upfront with the developer and hadn't acted as fairly as possible when dealing with them. Then we had to determine "estoppel" - which we thought meant that even though the HOA had acted unfairly, the developer still had to make the changes and abide by the HOA's original building plans. Finally, we had to decide if the developer should receive an offset to recoup financial losses and if so, how much.
And then there was a lot more discussion. And we sent questions to the judge to try and figure out what unclean hands and estoppel really meant because we felt the jury directions were unclear. We got answers back an hour later that said reread our directions. Some help he was.
So we made our decision. Eight of us agreed that the HOA had acted with unclean hands and then we decided that that didn't mean they couldn't still enforce their rules. Later, we'd find out that this means we'd "split the baby" - apparently a legal term. We thought we were being fair. Throughout this whole trial I, along with many others, had talked about how we thought that all the parties were of equal fault, if they had all communicated better none of us would be there. So we wanted to make sure they knew our feelings - that we felt they all had played a part in this mess. Thus, we "split the baby" or the blame. Then we awarded an offset to the defendant, in our minds to cover the costs of making the changes we had decided upon. We awarded the developer $60,000. We came at this number several ways: several contractors had testified that it would cost between $16,000 and $20,000 per condo (and there are 3 in question) to make the changes the HOA wanted. Also, the defense had presented $120,000 as the amount that the developer lost during this entire ordeal. So we decided $60,000 would cover the costs of changes (and we knew that the developer, who is a member of the HOA, would pay a portion of this himself so we thought it was fair overall).
At 5:05pm we entered the courtroom for the last time. One juror was almost in tears. She was confused somewhat and didn't think we were being fair to the developer. She thought he shouldn't have to make any changes. While we all respected her right to her opinion, and told her that, we had 8 signatures on the verdict and we were good to go. Others didn't agree and just didn't sign. But we had a majority and that's all we needed. One juror was angry, she felt we were rushing and truth be told, we were. It was 5pm on Friday and everyone wanted to go home. And most of us didn't want to come back Tuesday (there were a few who did but they lost out). We did come up with the dollar amount in less than five minutes but it was a number we'd been talking about for a few days and those of us who signed felt we were doing good by the developer, and again, that we were splitting the blame.
So we went into court and the judge read our verdict. He was confused he said and just needed to check them again to make sure he understood. This is when I first realized something was off. Then he read them into open court - it took over half an hour. And when he got to the unclean hands bit, the plaintiff's attorneys started to react, mildly of course, but you could tell they weren't happy. We thought they'd change their minds when the next verdict was read, the estoppel, but no, they weren't. So then the plaintiff's attorney asked if he could poll the jury. So the judge asked each of us who'd signed if that was indeed our decision. That took some time. And then we were dismissed.
Here's two things I didn't know before my jury duty experience: 1)the court, including the judge, stands for the jury. I didn't think they stood for anyone except the judge. That was kinda cool. And 2)after the case is over, the lawyers want to talk to the jurors and we're allowed to. That was kind of interesting.
So we leave the building and the plaintiffs and their lawyers are waiting for us. The defense is long gone, probably to celebrate we find out later. And here's what we find out from the plaintiff's lawyer: When we handed down the "unclean hands" verdict, the ball game was over. That was apparently the only verdict that matter. Once it's determined that the HOA had unclean hands, they have no right to enforce anything. That means the developer doesn't have to make any of the changes we spent hours debating.
As a jury, we had no idea this verdict was so influential. We even asked for clarification and got none. We thought we were being fair and just by "splitting the baby". Apparently we were not. We essentially told the HOA they were wrong, we told the developer he was right and he could do whatever he wanted to his buildings and the future buildings he'd put up there (he owns 9 more lots in the neighborhood), and we gave the developer $60,000 just for the hell of it.
I was shocked. Four of us stayed around to talk to the lawyers (our foreman got caught right away and I didn't think it was fair for him to have to answer questions about the verdict all alone so I stayed) who were obviously baffled by our decision. Mind you, they had wanted to win outright regardless but once they explained to us what our verdict meant, we were completely shocked. And we told them that. And then we were asked for affidavits to that effect. So it might not be over for me yet. Gotta love civil cases.
Overall, it was an interesting experience. One I am ultimately glad I had. Am I frustrated at how slowly our legal system works? Yes. This case should not have taken this long to get through. It really shouldn't have. And it could have been settled long ago, before the first nail had ever been pounded had the whole group of people done their jobs better. But I met some great folks. I spent a lot of time talking to them. I got to sleep in for 9 days and exercise a lot more than I ever would have had I been going to school. I got money for mileage. I experienced one of Yuma's hidden treasures (the Garden Cafe). And I got a peak into the jury system, which really does seem to be one of the best ways to settle issues. Every single person in that room wanted to do the right thing and ultimately, to the best of ability, I think we did. We took the law, the facts and made a decision. And while everyone can't always get what they want, they did get a resolution.
And now I get to go back to my normal workweek. Pray for me. It's May. And if any of you know anything about school come May, you know what I'm talking about:-)
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