Smiles and Powerpoints

The people here really emphasize how little time we have with our summer school students, and it's definitely true. In the five weeks we are here, we only have 17 days of instruction in our classrooms. We need to, in this short time, help them achieve enough to move on to the next grade, since our students predominantly did NOT pass the exams required to continue.

Still, while I understand how urgent everything is, there's a strange feeling at Institute sometimes. It's as if everyone is so wound up, thinking so much about how little time we have, that they're going crazy somehow. Sometimes I feel like if something were to happen, someone in charge could just snap. Weird.

Another thing. We have a lot of training sessions every single day, and EVERY single one of them features a Powerpoint presentation. It's death by PPT. I am going to try to count the number we go through, but I don't think I can count that high.

Regardless, this is a fun experience... definitely.

The City of Brotherly Love

Today was the first full day that we had in Philadelphia at Institute.

Induction had been lot of orientation to Baltimore, paperwork, and socials to meet the other corps members. As busy as it was, it was really nothing compared to Institute. This is where the rubber meets the road, and it's intense. In the next five weeks, we're expected to become effective beginning teachers, and in one week, we're all going to get our own summer school students. To prepare us, we need to be finished with breakfast, have our lunch packed, and be on the buses by 6:30AM. We're at our schools around 7AM, and from there it's session after session, lesson after lesson (both receiving from our advisors and delivering to the students) until 4:30PM. 

Then, at night, we have additional sessions and meetings, with constant deadlines every day. We've been told we don't finish until 9-10:30PM sometimes. Take that, I-bankers. There's dinner and a workout if we're lucky somewhere in there as well. I forgot to mention that we're in professional attire in the 90+ degree Philadelphia summer heat. I'm just glad my school has AC, because there are some school groups that don't have any. 

It's very intense and high-speed, but it's actually fun. There's a sense of urgency everywhere that I haven't seen in many other places. People are excited and nervous all at the same time; proud and apprehensive about what we're doing also.

It's a strange sight when I walk out of the dining hall with lunch in the morning and see 600+ professionally dressed women and men walking together toward a fleet of yellow school buses, matching black lunch boxes over their shoulders. There's an incredible sense of mission, like we're an army (or corps... go figure) that's marching off to fight for something. I feel like I'm part of something so much bigger than myself, and it's a great feeling to know I'm here to learn, work hard, and throw myself into the fight for educational equity.

As kind of a side note since it's been on my mind for a while: There are so many things that we've discussed over the last week at Induction, and that we will be learning here at Institute that I came across during UniCamp. Every day, I'm shocked by how much of this I have a background in because of that experience, and I know that I'm always going to have a special place in my heart for camp. I know I have to keep the passion I had for UniCamp, and pour it into what I'm doing now. Here we go... what an adventure!

Why I Am Doing This

One of the speakers told us the other day that teaching is hard, and that we will want to give up at times. But, if we think about why we are really here, and if we can find the thing that drives us, that we won't let go of no matter what, we will get through it and be all right.

So, to remind myself of why I am in Baltimore with TFA, here is my application essay. If I ever am having a hard time, please help me remember this:

There is an idea in this country that all men are created equal. Walking the streets of D.C. on election night 2008 made me understand just how powerful this idea is. Of course, because Lebron James exists, I know that “created equal” really means equality before the law and a right to equal opportunity. That is enough, though, as these principles form our meritocracy. But due to the inequalities of the current educational system, many kids are denied competitive footing to run the race of life. By luck of the draw, they have opportunities taken away, and the meritocracy becomes a sham to them. It is America’s duty to fix its education system if it is to fulfill its own ideal. I hope to help by becoming a teacher and making good on our nation’s promise.

I recognize that I am more lucky than special since this nation’s promise was fulfilled for me. Though confident in my abilities, I certainly know that others could do what I am doing given the same chances that I was and am blessed with. To be where I am took a combination of hard work (not just mine alone) and a good amount of luck. Working for four years with underserved youth at UniCamp, UCLA’s official student charity, reinforced this point. The hundreds of kids I came across were all bright, enthusiastic, and full of potential. They were just not as lucky to have gone to a good public school. Dumb luck should not determine future opportunities so early in a child’s life.

If allowed the opportunity to be a part of Teach for America, I will of course understand that at day’s end I am evaluated by the numbers and on whether or not my students are learning what they need to know. However, looking back, I remember my teachers collectively as my third parent, and was fortunate to have had great ones. What they were to me is what I wish to be for my students. In addition teaching them, I hope to challenge and guide them toward a life of curiosity and learning. If I can effectively teach my students, if they realize their own potential, and if they push themselves to attain their biggest dreams, then I will have succeeded.

In the end, I am motivated by an unshakeable belief that every child deserves the opportunity to have life dictated by his or her own choices, not zip code. Luck should not have the same role in life as in the lottery. Great teachers in classrooms change that equation, and I hope to be that change. Since I am lucky enough to have been given a life of choices and opportunities, I will choose to make sure others get the same. That is why I hope to become a 2010 Teach for America corps member.

Hiring Fair Madness

Just left the Baltimore City Schools' hiring fair. It was in the basement auditorium of Muni High. There were hundreds of people there, and it was 100 degrees... at least. I was walking around like a moron in my jacket and tie, trying my best to not create a puddle everywhere I walked. After lots of lines and short conversations, I got to the front of a school I had been waiting on for an hour, and had a nice interview with them.

I'm the new 4th grade teacher at Marree G. Farring Elementary! Now I can stop sweating. Oh, wait. It's still 90 degrees out so I can't.

So excited! It's a joint position so I have a "co" teacher for half the day. Hopefully I'll be able to put some of my ideas to use, but I can't wait!

First Day.

What a grind, beginning to end.

I was good all day long. 11:50PM, I finally cried.

Hopefully, this gets easier. Fake it till you make it.

Goodbye, Los Angeles

Hello, Baltimore.

Mom told me to smile and make friends :)

Common Sense Will Outlast Anger

I read in the news today that some politicians are giving up on town
hall style meetings because they are afraid of angry Tea Partiers
making a mockery of their meeting.

If I were a politician, I would hold one anyway and stay silent as
they went on yelling, ranting, and raving. At some point they'll get
tired and leave. That's when I would say to the supporters left in the
crowd, "Our common sense, humanity, willingness to listen to, and
ability to work with each other will outlast their anger."

Then I would walk out with everyone.

What Kind of Teacher Will I Be?

This recent column in the New York Times by Stanley Fish really got me thinking about what kind of teacher I want to, or can, be in Baltimore. How can I integrate all of the foundations that he talks about into my curriculum? Will I be allowed to try? What restrictions will this new shift towards standards and testing have on my ability to give my students a full education? Most importantly, does this argument even matter at the elementary level?

There are so many things that go into being an effective teacher, and I haven't even had my first attempt at accomplishing the bare minimum. It's so nerve-wracking that someone will actually give me human beings to teach.

Last Week of School

The last week of school is pretty awful. No one is teaching, no one is
learning. I feel really useless.