Barcelona Photos

It's been a week of review/tests

A year ago I was student teaching at Aloha High School. Now I've made it through my first semester of full-time teaching. REALLY teaching. REALLY dealing with discipline and rewards and school politics and moody teenagers.  Me a year ago would be proud of me today. Me when I was a freshmen would be proud of me today.


And it's strange to think that I won't be seeing my Houston family for two whole weeks. Sadness.


And it's surreal that I'll be spending two weeks with Wyeth. Thank God.


And it's sad that I won't be with my family this Christmas. First time in 23 years.


TIme for a New Years resolution? I think about my New Years resolution last year (and I think only Wyeth will laugh at that one), and it probably isn't practical to reinstate it for this year. Next in line... get organized. And walk more. And have MORE FUN (or just continue to have as much fun as I've had in the past few months!!!)


Ciao, loves. Happy Holidays and feliz navidad! 

Why KIPP Works

Today at our grade level meeting, I witnessed and took part in one of the many traditions at KIPP: the Pinning Ceremony. The Pinning Ceremony takes place when the freshmen are nearly done with their first semester of high school as a symbol of their recommitment to college. The seniors apply a pin to their dress uniform and tell them that they commit to being role models. The freshmen commit to working their hardest to get to and through college; teachers commit to helping all of them do this. As much as I say that the kids at KIPP are brainwashed (and many are), it is amazing the impact these types of rituals have. When they happen often enough, it reminds students of why they are here: to get to and through college.

After the pinning ceremony, I witnessed another tradition: the esse quam vederi award. This award can be given to any student or faculty member, and is awarded by the last recipient. The newest recipient is a senior student who I do not teach, but who always greets me with a "Hey Ms. Redman. How you doin?" (Not in a Joey from Friends way, but in the most sincere way possible.) It turns out this student has wanted to be an astronaut since he was a little boy, and all of the faculty and his classmates believe he will someday get there due to his relentless pursuit of excellence. He is always studying and emailing teachers and trying his best. The teacher who nominated him started to choke up just talking about him, saying she believes someone will someday make a movie based on his inspirational life.  Even I began to get teary-eyed!

This kid, to the chants from his classmates, made a short speech and thanked everyone at KIPP for believing in him and pushing him constantly. He said he did not know where he would be without KIPP and is so thankful for the opportunities he has been given.

And that's what KIPP does. It gives students opportunities and support that they might not receive elsewhere.  And that's why I love it here. Despite the fact that my workdays are often 12 hours long, these kids need me to put in the hours, and they need me to care, and they need me to push them. It will all pay off in four years when I see the class of 2013 walk across the stage and receive their diploma.

Music

I often play music for my students if they are working on a group or individual project and are working quietly. I've played LFO, Pink Martini, Billy Joel (Pronounced Billy Joe-Elle when requested by one of my students), Elton John, John Mayer, Bob Marley... A mix of music. Today, as I was choosing the music for my students, my Beatles-obsessed student pulled out a book of CDs. I told students earlier that I am always looking to expand my music selection ever since I lost my hard drive at the beginning of the school year (and have since learned what Time Machine is for, and why my dad bought me my external years ago...). A.R. jumped all over this and brought a few discs in. I flipped through them and pulled out his John Lennon CD, and the CD we didn't recognize: Bobby Darin. Lennon is wonderful, and Darin is the guy who recorded "Splish Splash". Surprise!

I was hoping for more Beatles, but I'm sure I'll stumble across that at some point. Now that 3rd period knows that I'm serious about this quest for new music, I'm sure I'll get some more! I really can't wait!

And looking at the music I've played, it looks like I need to integrate more female artists. Whoops.

NOT teaching my class

There is another teacher in my classroom right now, teaching my kids. It is such an odd feeling, sitting back and letting someone else do the work.

I am pretty proud, though. My kids are answering questions and showing that I've taught them something in the past few weeks!!

On a completely different note, it's snowing right now. Umm.... I moved away from Portland to what I thought was a warmer climate. The temperature should be dropping today, and the snow should pick up around noon, and then freeze overnight. It's going to be on hell of a drive home.

Time home = time to reflect

It is really amazing what a couple of days and nights spent at home can do for the body and mind. I feel reconnected, rejuvenated, and reinvigorated. Maybe it was the fresh air, the fresh faces, or the fresh conversation, but I'm ready to head back to Houston with a new mind set. I have a job to do, and I don't think I've been doing it very well. If what I am doing is so important, and unique and impressive, why don't I feel that way every day?  Each lesson I plan should be important, unique and impressive. Each student should feel important, unique and impressive. Every MINUTE should be important, unique and impressive. OK, I know every minute is pushing it, but it's the goal and I don't feel like I've been meeting that goal.


Back to Houston, and back to the grindstone.

I'll miss you, Portland.

What's For Lunch

On Fridays, I assume the role of Teacher on Lunch Duty. This entails me walking around our very crowded cafeterium (cafeteria + gymnasium), making sure a food fight doesn't erupt. Friday is by far the best day for lunch duty because the principal puts his iPod on shuffle and connects it to the speakers. He has great taste in music, and the kids seem more mellow. Some dance a little, which makes us laugh, and time flies by when you are singing along. 

As I was walking around and monitoring my students' eating habits, I started to make notes of what they were eating. Here is a short list, with items that are served at school in blue, and items brought from home in green:

• Some sort of fish patty 
• croutons, cheese and ranch dressing all mixed together 
• a big bowl of chicken salad and white bread and doritios 
• flaming hot cheetos and a yummy looking browny
• breakfast burrito 
• unidentifiable meat on a bun 
• soup
• madagascar cupcakes
• disney princess cupcakes
• a jar of peanut butter
• more flaming cheetos
• sandwich

Yummy, no?

P.S. The Mountain of Grading keeps growing.

Make like a tree...

Bio-Diversity


I miss the season of autumn. Houston doesn't have a real autumn, but this false, pseudo, not-real autumn that consists of sunny days with highs in the low 70s, and no beautiful fall colors.

I remember walking across campus with one of the Hawaiian students at UP freshman year (Robbie), and seeing him see the colors for the first time. It was really magical to see his eyes light up and just stare at the colors. I miss the cherry trees and the color of red that they became.

Thanks, NYT, for bringing me some autumn, and some fun.

AIDS and Blood Diamonds

I'm trying to piece together some interesting outside resources for my students for when we study Africa. I want to them to write a paper either about Blood Diamonds, or the AIDS epidemic. If you know of any great books, movies, articles, or anything else, please let me know.

Cheers,
Ms. Redman

I lost count of what week it is

It's Monday morning, and I'm not exactly prepared, but it's OK. My students are going to be starting a new unit this week studying Asia. I'm pretty excited for them, since it means that I'm going to show Slumdog Millionare, and we are going to study the war in Iraq and the middle eastern conflict. This unit will be big on writing!

I'm getting so excited for Thanksgiving, I can't even explain it. I cannot wait to see my family.

:) New Seating Chart = Genius

7th period has been driving me crazy for about 14 weeks. Today, I put them in a new seating chart and LIFE.IS.GOOD. Students are more engaged, it is quieter, and I'm not shouting over people.

I just hope 8th period takes to their new placements just as well.

Water + Computer

And you can guess what happens.

:-(

At least it's not my Mac. It was the school Dell. Those things are pretty much rocks, so hopefully, once it dries out, it will be just as crappy as it was when I got it.

The Mountain

This is the homework I should have graded this weekend. Well, actually, this is only part of it. Oh well. I have 2 off periods tomorrow to get some of it done.

In other news, this weekend I went to a Third Eye Blind concert, made pizzas, laughed a lot, drank too much wine, spent time with wonderful people, saw downtown, saw the typical Saturday night downtown crowd, got kicked out at closing time, played shuffleboard, and stayed out way past my bedtime. Success, but not something that I can do multiple weekends in a row.

Is shuffleboard an olympic sport?

I can't wait for Thanksgiving and cooking, and eating and seeing family and friends and sleeping, and the Saturday market, and the Portland skyline, and the Portland radio stations. 

This week in my classroom, my students learned about the history of Russia. Thursday and Friday were spent understanding Lenin and Stalin through pictures, quotes and some other resources. Some of the quotes that I used are pretty amazing. Here are my three favorites:

"Death solves all problems - No man, no problem." - Stalin

"One man with a gun can control one hundred without". - Lenin

"Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns, why should we let them have ideas." - Stalin

My students had really great discussions about these quotes and pictures and stories. It sure is something when students grab ahold of an idea, especially controversial ones.

This is what happens when they see you in high school...

My desktop picture is a photo of my dad and I when I was in high school. This photo:

When I was opening up iTunes, the questions about this photo drew some interesting questions/statements from my classes. They included "Is that your husband?", and "Wow, Miss. You were really small." Mr. Schindler's 2nd period sophomores said, in response to hearing those comments: "I thought you were like 40, so I can see why they thought you were married."

My responses? "No, that's my dad, but he does look pretty young", "Um, thanks", and "What? You just told me I look 40? Thanks."

I think I'll photoshop a picture of Taylor Lautner and put me in it, and then put that as my background. I wonder what their responses will be then...

Has anyone else heard some ridiculous guesses/comments about age come out of your students' mouths? I'd love to hear some more.

The Countdowns have Begun

I'm counting down the days until:

New Moon: 17 days

When I fly back to Portland for Thanksgiving: 21

When I leave for Barcelona: 39

That's a lot to look forward to!!!!!!!

A Day in the Life...

Some of you may be wondering what a typical day looks like for a first year teacher. If you fit into this category, allow me to break a typical morning for you.

5:00 AM My first alarm usually goes off. I fumble around, and depending on how much I need to get done at school in the morning and my immediate need of a shower, I either get my butt up, or I set the snooze for 30 minutes.

5:15 AM Shower time, make up time, hair time

5:45 AM Breakfast? Yes.

6:00 AM Brush teeth, scramble to find keys, papers, throw a lunch together, find cell phone and shoes

6:15 AM Out the door! Time for my commute, which I lovingly think of as the reason I will someday have high blood pressure.

6:45 AM At school, and it is usually still dark out. Time to sign in, check my box, put my lunch in the faculty work room, and go unlock my door. Now I can clean my desk, which probably looks like a national disaster area, update my board for today's objectives, and print off any last-minute papers. If I'm really ambitious, I'll update my grades and/or get the rest of the week's lesson plans in order. Also a great time to check out celebrity gossip!

7:45 AM Students come in for homeroom, and my whirl-wind of a day starts!

Brrr

It's happened. I've officially become a wimp when it comes to cold weather. I've always ran a little cold, and have never had a high tolerance for chilly weather, but this morning, I was just ashamed of myself. When I stepped out of my car this morning, putting me out in the "elements" for the first time, it was SO COLD! When I came in and checked the current temperature, it was only 56 degrees!!!! That's nearly short weather in Portland! I swear it felt closer to 40. I wanted gloves and a hat. Thanks, Texas, for turning me into one of those people who will always complain about the cold weather in Portland. Great.

Last night I chaperoned the freshman movie night with three of my favorite co-workers. It was fun to watch the kids play soccer for a while, and then we ordered hamburgers and ate and watched The Unborn. Well, the kids watched and we talked. I was at school until 9:30, but I know the kids had a great time.

Fun KIPP Houston High School fact...

I've seen the word "Kerberos" on lots of KIPP things. Sweatshirts, emails and signs are all adorned with this Latin word, and until yesterday, I had no clue what it meant, or why it was such a big deal at KHHS.

Turns out, Kerberos is the name of our mascot. Kerberos is the Latin name for Cerberos, or the three-headed dog that guards the gates of Hell. I'm not kidding. That is our mascot. And that is BAD ASS. Why is this our mascot? Well, the mascot of the middle school is the Big Dog, and a three-headed, gates of Hell guarding dog is the next logical step, right? OF COURSE!

But here is where things get really funny. Because we are a small charter school, we mostly play the other small, private, CHRISTIAN schools in sports. These small, private, CHRISTIAN schools don't look so kindly on our mascot, and really don't want their little darlings going up against the monster that guards the gates of Hades. So, when we play these schools, our mascot becomes either the Wolves, or the Kippsters (lame).

So for all of you who think your high school had the most bad-ass mascot, I dare you to try and up the KHHS Kerberos!

PICTURES!

So here are some of my students just being kids - It was a free day in advisory so we went outside to enjoy the BEAUTIFUL weather!
That giant pile of dirt was left over from the construction, and instead of paying someone to move it, they left it there and now call it The Mountain to College. You see, you have to climb a mountain to get to college, and it is hard, and difficult, and you often want to give up. But when you get to the top, you feel GREAT. I often see pre-k kids climbing the mountain from my window. It's pretty cute.
These lucky students were some of the 55 who didn't get a single fishbowl this quarter. You get a fishbowl for not turning in homework, and that means you must eat lunch in one of the teachers' rooms in SILENCE. And you can't do anything else. BORRRING!
These students were not posing - they were actually working. All of them were working!


I love my kiddos!!!!

End of the First Quarter, and Fall in Texas

Well, if this isn't a milestone, I don't know what is. I have officially finished my first quarter as a real, genuine, paid teacher. I made it through the first twelve weeks of school without crying, not sleep deprived, and without any major illness. No one has cussed me out, and I think most of my students like me and enjoy my class.

The end of the quarter leaves me in a reflective mood. There are some things that I can give myself kudos on, and some things I need to improve. Here are the lists:

Kudos:

5/6 periods have class averages at or above 84%.

No major discipline issues

Good relationships with my students

Lots of professional compliments from teachers, administrators and offices staff

Not falling in front of students

Getting a grade book and using it on a daily basis

Improvement list:

Tracking!

Passing back student work

Documenting modifications

Handing out discipline for habitually late students

Assessing FOR learning

Positive reinforcement

Calling and emailing parents on a more regular basis

Keeping up on TFA paperwork

Period 8's 74% class average. Ouch.

Keeping my head above the water!

Cheers,

Danielle

Literacy in World Geography - HELP!

Here's the deal, I'd LOVE to integrate a novel into one of my upcoming units (Russia, Asia, Africa, The Pacific), but I'm not sure what's out there. I've heard about books that are about apartheid, life in the Middle East, and so forth, but would love suggestions. Read any good books that would be appropriate for high school aged kids? Let me know!

Week VIII

Big, big news. I booked my airline tickets for Europe for this Christmas! I will fly into Spain, spend a few days there with Wyeth and then we will fly up to Sweden on Christmas eve and I'll stay there until the 1st! I am SO excited to see Wyeth and travel a bit. Unfortunately, this means I won't be home for Christmas. I'm trying to figure out if I can afford to go home for Thanksgiving so that I get a little family time before, oh say, next spring! I really miss home and need to get a dose of the North West.

My classes are going pretty well. I am working on getting their tests graded (I WILL have grades updated by Monday!) and hopefully all of my kiddos will pass this quarter. There are a handful of them that I am worried about, but I think I can work with them to get them to passing. I'm building in a lot of participation and "completion grades" into this next week. After looking at all of these test grades, I am a little worried that some grades are going to drop significantly. Ugh. It is easy to tell who studied and who didn't. I think that I am not going to require 5 paragraph essays on tests anymore, but I will have them do IDs. That will prepare them for AP classes, and will be easier to grade. I think I will also let them use a study sheet on the test, or a notecard. That way, they will study while they create their notecard, and hopefully do better on the test.

I have a lot to do in the next few weeks, but I'm keeping my head above the water. I've run into the problem lately that I just DO NOT want to work when I get home. When I get home, I am tired, hungry and just have no motivation. I try to stay and work here, but I'm always starving, or have a headache, or am just tired and so I'm not getting all of the work done that I need to get done. Time to start packing more snacks (HUMMUS!) and working more hours here.

An open letter to all Texas drivers

Dear Texas drivers,

I understand that you have some sort of warped sense of reality and often believe that Texas is it's own independent country, but this just is not the case. I would greatly appreciate it if you would drive "the Texas way" and stop tailgating, speeding, and swerving in and out of traffic. Yes, the traffic is often bad on your poorly designed freeways, but you are not gaining any time by cutting me or other drivers off just to get two cars ahead. Every time I see this happening, I get frightened that you are going to cause one of the many horrific accidents that occur each day here in Houston.

Thank you,

An Oregon Driver

Week VI: 1/6th of the way done!

Hola from the 1/6 point of my first year of teaching!  Wow, I can't believe I'm already here... half-way to 1/3!

Thank you to everyone for the birthday greetings! It was great to go home for the weekend and witness Garrett and Ariel's beautiful and fun wedding. It was so them and Portland that it was probably the best wedding I've been to! I also loved seeing Dana and Allison and Jackie and my Dad. I miss all of my Portland people so much.  My birthday was awesome, even though I wasn't home. Wyeth sent me a miniature yellow rose plant (since I am in Texas) which arrived during my 5th period class. I've always wanted to get flowers at work, so this was so so so exciting and unexpected!  That night I bought a yummy chocolate cake and some Oregon Pinot Noir and invited the ladies over to celebrate. They brought more wine (YAY) and pretty flowers. It was great to see them since we are all so busy we feel like we never see each other. 

My second unit is winding to a close (Latin America) and today we are talking about culture. It's a fun topic since many of my students' lives are filled with examples of Latin American culture, and it gives me a chance to talk about Dani in Honduras and UP's "Real Futbol". I've learned a lot these past few weeks, and I'm going to change how my unit is layed out and what is expected of my students. I'm going to employ more AP strategies (hello, weekly vocab tests and longer writing assignments!) as well as more outside readings. The only problem with this is finding those outside readings. I really need a copy of the AP human geography book so I can see what they use.

On that note, the teacher in my classroom during this period was answering this question from a student taking a test: How long does the essay have to be? His answer: long enough to convey the information and answer the question. 

This reminded me of a quote from Dr. Ells at UP. We asked him the same question, and he imparted this wisdom unto us. "A good essay is like a mini skirt. It should be long enough to cover the subject, but short enough to keep your interest."  Is this appropriate to say to my students the next time they ask  me that question? Hmmm...

Well, I'm going to get back to entering the names of my students in my official grade book that I bought. Yay.

Love to all,

Danielle

crap

My sandal just broke. In class. And I am leaving right after work for Portland with only these sandals and a pair of heels.

So I just stapled my sandals. 

:-(

Culture

My students and I have moved on to the next unit of study, Latin America. We started by learning about the physical geography, and I showed them a short clip about healthcare in Ecuador. There was a part about a local medicince woman who used a Guinnea Pig to detect ailments in the people she was treating. She would take a live Guinnea Pig, and move it slowly around the person's body. She would then kill and disect the animal and where the pig had an ailment, supposedly so did the person. Well my kids thought this was cool/wierd/sad/gross, but related it to their own lives!

Most of them have had something similar done, but with an egg in place of a pet. Their mother or grandmother would move the egg around their body, and then crack it into a glass of water and let it sit. They would then examine the egg, and depending on it's color/the way it rested/what stuff was in it, they could tell what was wrong with their kid. AWESOME. They also told me about the "ojo" which is spanish for eye - they do the same thing to babies and also give them a black and red bracelet/necklace to wear to warn off the "bad ojo", or bad luck/sins. I then asked my students if they would raise their hand if they or their family was from a country that we are currently studying. Over 80% of my students raised their hands! Many are from central america or Mexico, and I hope to use that connection to make this unit especially relevent.

One of my students also introduced me to the idea that you can tell what gender baby you are going to have someday using a necklace and a ring. If it spins one way, it's a boy, and the other if it's a girl. Turns out I am going to have 4 kids - 1 girl and 3 boys. Umm... probably not! Hahah.

Mi Familia...

Found these photos this past winter.

They make me happy.

For Mom...

After talking to my mom, and hearing Dominic shouting in the background, I've realized I have been absent from the blogging world. So what have I been up to? What could possibly be going on in Houston? Well, allow me to fill you all in...

I love my students. Hands down, the freshmen class rocks. They are polite, smart, and inquisitive. They ask a lot of questions and seem to really like me! I'm glad that they seem to be enjoying school and my class especially.

Last weekend, being a three day weekend, meant that I could relax a tad and get some stuff done. And boy, did I get things done! I built (and by built I mean struggled to follow IKEA's directions) a desk, bookshelf, and side table for my room. I now feel like I have a bedroom instead of a room with a bed and some random boxes. I also finally unpacked the last of my belongings. I am no longer using boxes as night stands (but I still don't have night stands...), and my shelves are full of pictures of people I love and miss immensely. I definitely need new frames and need to print off new pictures, but that can wait. 

And do I need to mention again Twilight? I'm racing on of my students, Jim, to see who can finish the series first. As of today I was ahead. I really want to beat him!

I've been missing home a ton lately. It rained all day today, which is really strange for Houston. Usually it's just a STRONG thunderstorm in the afternoon, but today it started around 10 and stayed gray and wet all day long. I LOVED it!!!!!!!!!  My coworkers think I'm a little crazy, but that's OK. It reminded me of something I read a year ago in a class. It was about how the Scottish or Irish have over 20 words to describe snow, and that Portland has probably just as many to describe rain. I don't think my kids would know what I was talking about if I said the word "drizzle."  I really need to find that quote...

Oh! And I got a massage and haircut and I bought a George Foreman grill and a food processor! So many great things!

I really must get back to reading Breaking Dawn now. I think I might finish it tonight...

Cheers and love to you all!

Open House!

Open house is tonight. Let's see... I have 130 students, and each parent is required to come, along with their child. So if each student comes with two parents, I will have 390 people to greet, and possibly 90 people in my 8th period class. Wow. I only have 8 minutes with each class, so I really only have time to introduce myself and give out my contact information. I will also have a contact sheet for the parents so that I can contact them as well. 

I'm nervous because many of my parents don't speak English. I've decided to chose one student from each class to translate for me, and I hope that goes well. 

Pray for me. Please.

I'll update tonight!

I've been Twilighted!

I've been sucked into the obsession. I've spent all day reading Twilight and have moved on to New Moon. Dear Lord, what have I gotten myself into? I don't have time to be doing this!

When they can write what they really think...

I gave each student a survey to fill out on the first day of class. Here are some of the questions and answers I received. 

Q: What is your biggest fear entering high school?

A: how big it is and not having the courage to ask for help; 

Q: Who was your favorite middle school teacher and why?

A: Ms. Javidpour because... she understood us students...when I needed help she was able to help me when I needed help...she challenged me to do my best...

Q:What profession are you interested in?

A: Pharmicist, police, engineering, Be a CEO of something like Microsoft; Musician; geologist or archeologist; 

Q: Who is your favorite singer/band?

A: Demi Lovato, Michael Jackson!; ACDC; Selena

Q: What qualities do you like in a teacher?

A: Make class fun; nice, fair, helpful, and non neglecting; I hate a push-over; that doesn't yell; 

Q: If your life were a movie, what would the title be and why?

A: Conspiracy theory because I believe everything is a conspiracy

Q: If your movie had a soundtrack, what would one of the songs be and why?

A: It's all a lie because as I said everything is a lie and the government is out to get me

Wow. There were even more but I can't enter them all. I really love learning about my students. I am still having trouble putting names to faces, but that has always bee a problem of mine! 

Highs and Lows

I'm almost half-way done with week 2!  Here are some highs and lows:

Highs: getting to know my students, being called "miss", text messages from my kids, the VP sharing my bathroom pass policy with the other teachers as a great system, reading the essays my students wrote and laughing periodically when they write things like "Pop goes the embryo" and other musings, getting paid.

Lows: lack of sleep, lack of internet at school on sporadic occasions, loss of my computer's hard drive and all of my music, pictures and documents.

At least my highs is a longer list than my lows! As long as that trend continues I know I'm in a good place. 

Everyone needs to check out Wyeth's blog: wyethlarson.blogspot.com. It's all about his Sweden adventure and he puts up some really pretty pictures.

I think I'll be back in Oregon for a short time in September for Garrett and Ariel's long-anticipated wedding. I can't wait!

Love you all tons!

First Week = DONE! Ha!

It's Friday, and I am still alive. In fact, I had a very successful first week! I have met every single freshman, and I can say without a pause that the class of 2013 is going to be the class to beat. They are such a polite, focused and curious group. I can tell who the class clowns are, and who is going to need some extra encouragement to participate, and I want to be the best teacher these kids have ever had!

I gave each of my students a survey on the first day, and the answers I got back were often halarious, and sometimes frightning. I've learned a lot about my kids through this survey, and their answers will be indispensible when it comes to helping them grow as learners. One student said he had really low self-esteem, and many say that they struggle with organization. It's these types of things that I want to help them with!!!!

Everyone has been so supportive this week! Everyone is always asking how I'm doing, and if they can do anything to help. It has been such a good week, that there is nothing that I can complain about. Alright, there is one thing... You see, most teachers teach three classes a day and have one period to prep. My schedule is a little different because the teacher I replaced wanted to do things differently. On "A" days, I only teach two classes (my Honors classes) and then I have two preps. On "B" days, I teach for all four periods, with my only break being lunch. And sometimes I'm on lunch duty during lunch! Whenever someone hears about this schedule, they can't believe I have to go through that! It's amazing how much that one class off helps you regain focus and your sanity. So on that note, I went to bed at 8 pm yesterday because I was so exhausted! I had a horrible headache coming home and then fell asleep on the couch. I wasn't even hungry because my headache was so bad. It was pretty crazy, but I felt so much better this morning! 10 hours of sleep will get you into a good mood faster than anything else I've found!

Now I have a mountain of grades to enter into the gradebook, and some lesson plans to make for next week! Yikes! I hope I find some time to relax this weekend. I need to get in some serious pool time since my tan is fading fast. And I miss seeing my girlfriends, so a girls night out is in order I think!

I'm missing Oregon a lot lately. Wyeth leaves for Sweden tomorrow and that makes me miss everything from Oregon even more!

Cheers,
Danielle!

Woah. 1st day, almost done

I'm sitting at school in my prep period (one of two on "A" days) and I have no more classes today. I survived! The students I have all seem so great, and there are some real characters. The student survey I had them fill out is really telling me a lot about them, so I'm glad I did that.

I was really worried about timing today, but everything went smoothly! I even gave my kids homework today (I know, I'm THAT teacher). And it was a 5 paragraph essay on whether they agree with the idea of malleable intelligence. I'll do the same thing again tomorrow since I have more world geography kids.

I'm going to try and hammer out some stuff for the rest of the week. I need to make my diagnostic! Ahh!

Ciao!

I have my very own classroom!

So I am finally posting pictures of my classroom. I spent all day yesterday trying to get my room situated. I was lucky in many ways in that the teacher whom I am replacing left me tons of resources. Unfortunately, I have never been good about making decisions when I have many choices, so trying to figure out what to keep and where to put it turned out quite difficult. With that in mind, I think I have it mostly figured out. My bulletin boards don't have anything on them yet (I'm thinking a map would be a good idea),but other that that, it's about where I want it! Enjoy!

This is the view when you enter my classroom.

This is my view when I stand up front.

This is my desk! It looks a little disorganized right now, but that'll change when I find my system!

As you can see, it's a big room, and it has tables instead of desks. Also, it is painted that lovely...greenish/yellow color! I'm so excited to get some kids in there!

I'm at a training right now for all new KIPP teachers in Houston. There are a few other TFA people here which is a welcomed sight, and the gentleman giving the training is a TFA alum. Wish me luck as I plan out the first few days of class!

Cheers,

D.

The Countdown Begins!

Wow! I cannot believe that I am almost a real teacher! This is so unbelievable! I was in inservice all day today and met the rest of the Social Studies faculty and the rest of the staff at KHHS. Everyone is so incredibly nice and supportive! I am the youngest on staff, but not the only TFAer. There are two '08 corps members and a couple of veteran TFA people on staff. I know that they will be a great help to me since they all said how nervous they were when they were in my spot. I just can't wait until I am as confident as they all were today. Each of the them has at least a year under their belt and has learned from their mistakes.

Oh, and I have homework. On top of my unit plan and classroom management plan and syllabus that I need to create by this Friday, I have to think of 2 professional goals for the year and complete the following sentences: I am at my best in the classroom when______, and I am challenged in the classroom when ________. I knew my personal goals since I had thought about those a lot during my last year at UP. I want to start and maintain a lot of contact with parents this year and I want to be very diligent about documenting and tracking student progress. The tracking is super important to TFA because we need to have hard numbers to show student growth, and I know that contact with parents and guardians will essential to success for my students - I have to fight this war on two fronts! Well, not that I think this will be a war. My experience is going to be very different than normal TFA experience. I'm at a school where the students and parents sign a contract about their behavior at KHHS, and want to be there. They are all working towards college, and the faculty all seem to be on the same page. My fellow corps members will mostly be in schools where the faculty and staff aren't on the same page, and the students are often overlooked and where no one signs a contract showing their commitment to excellence.

So as a new teacher without my first paycheck, I am keenly aware of how expensive it is just to be a teacher. KHHS provides me with a lot of supplies, but there are some things that they can't pay for. Their budget was slashed over $1000 per student. That is over $500,000! So I need to buy decorations for my class and who knows what else later down the road. This brings me to a little plug: if you ever want to help a teacher (and probably me in the future), I urge you to go to this website: www.donorschoose.org. This is such a cool website! On this website, teachers can post items they need for their classroom, and then you can donate however much you want to towards their supplies. When the total needed to fund those projects or supplies is reached, the supplies will be shipped to the teacher. I know one girl who has done this already. She is a kindergarten teacher and didn't have a rug in her classroom for her kiddos to sit on. What's a kindergarten classroom without a rug?! So she found one that would work and posted on the website. Within 2 days the amount had been donated and the item was shipped. Now her students have a rug to sit on when they learn about numbers and letters and sharing and all the fun stuff you learn at that age. So take a look around - you can donate as much or as little as you want!

Well, I need to get back to working on my unit plan and classroom management! EEK! I miss you all so much!

Cheers,

D.

Why I love and miss Oregon

Have you ever heard of the website www.textsfromlastnight.com? Well, the premise is you send in texts messages that you either received or sent, maybe while intoxicated. The funniest of funniest end up on this website. You can search for texts from your area by area code. Well, I was killing time last night when I couldn't sleep, and ran across this one... "I just fired a shotgun out of the back of a pickup going 60. I'm going to miss Oregon".  I nearly fell on the floor I was laughing so much! If there is a better snapshot of an Oregon stereotype, I don't know what is. Well, maybe this one: u know ur in oregon when the cop tells u to keep the beer cans he made you pour out so u can recycle them.  Oh yes, that is PRICELESS!

Other news... I was in MY classroom today, getting a lay of the land and signing paperwork!  I completely forgot my camera and really wanted to take pictures, but I'll do that later this week. But take a look at my commute::

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Without traffic, it takes about 15 minutes. But let's get real - this is Houston. The only time there is no traffic is at 3 AM. So I will be expecting a 30-40 minute commute each way. And those who know me know that driving is not my favorite activity and there is one point on this commute where I know I will be pretty stressed out. It happens on my way home, where I switch from one freeway to another. The closest thing I can relate it to is the 405 split in Portland. But instead of over a mile of warnings of which lane to be in to go on either I-5 north or South, there is no signage and cars come to a sudden stop. On the freeway. Where the posted speed is 60 mph and the agreed upon speed is closer to 70. I nearly had a heart attack today. I've learned what lanes to be in to make this transition as easy as possible, but that still doesn't make it an enjoyable experience.

I cannot explain how excited I am to get started in my classroom. The teacher I am replacing is a TFA alum and she left me with TONS of resources. I got my paws on a textbook today, so I can start to look through that and figure out how I want to arrange my units. I also got the low-down on my salary (larger than I was originally told. yay), the computer I will be given, and the cell phone that each teacher is given and how to set boundaries for your students and calling you. I think I will set a "text-message only unless it is an in-depth question" rule. Oooh, and I need to go to a fabric store and buy some cool fabric to decorate my classroom boards!

Aaah, I need to go grocery shopping. I guess I need to eat something besides waffles and ice cream sandwiches!

The ball is rolling!

Well, after that last (and short) post, I guess it's time to fill in with some more information about my new trabajo (job)!  

I interviewed one week ago today at KIPP Houston High School, and walked away from that interview feeling excited about the opportunity to work at that school, and confident in the interview. I mean, the principal took me on a tour of the school, and I felt like it was more of an orientation to the school at that point. Good sign, right? Well, on Monday, I had a job there! I start teaching on August 17th (just 3 weeks away)!  Again, I'll be teaching 9th grade geography. I'm pretty excited because I'll be focusing on the world history during this class, and that will allow many opportunities for students to work on their writing. I really want to stress the importance of writing in my class, and would love to do a writing piece each unit, focusing on persuasive and analytical writing!  I'm just picturing my students, while studying Asia, writing an analytical paper about the issues in the Middle East, or writing a persuasive paper about the AIDS epidemic in Africa! It is going to be such an exciting year!

Oh man, I seem like a complete geek right now, but that's okay. 

I go in on Monday to fill out paperwork and sign contracts. Hopefully then I will get key information, such as whether or not there is a standard curriculum I must follow, access to textbooks, past exams, etc. What's cool about KIPP is that the school already has a built in motivation program. There are certain phrases I must have posted in my classroom, which I'm excited to break out my scrapbooking skills and make them look really great.

So what else has been going on in my most exciting life you ask? Well not a whole lot, to be honest. I've been working on my tan at our pool, and seeing more of Houston. We have gone to a bar that has a great view of the downtown skyline that is just a few blocks from our apartment. There are two bars - one inside on the main level, and an outside one on a rooftop. It is so great at night!  

My roommate, Jessica, has her room all set up, which I wish I could do. I'm waiting until I get paid to get furniture, since I am flat-out broke. I still don't know what I want to do as far as a theme... I was thinking Mediterranean inspired (white, blues, greens, yellows). I've been looking on craigslist for desks and headboards, just to get an idea of what's out there. There are some really cute, little desks. The headboards are a little harder to come by. There is a really cute on at Ikea, here. That's not too bad for a bed, right? Well, I'm looking for it on craigslist!

I'll post more pictures soon! When I go to my school on Monday, I'll take photos!

I love you all and miss you!

Cheers,

D.

EMPLOYED!

I just got off the phone with my new principal!  I am now a 9th grade Social Studies teacher at KIPP Houston High School! More details to come!

Interview! YAY!

Hello to anyone reading this! (Hi, Mom!)  

I had an interview today to teach 9th grade World Geography at a charter school here in Houston. I know that I have been asked by many people about how TFA places us, so here is what I understand of the process. TFA accepts a certain number of corps members based on how many people they think they can find jobs for. TFA then acts as the middle man, seeking out positions and setting up interviews. Through TFA, I was told that I had an interview, and if the principal choses to hire me, he will tell TFA and then they will tell me. When I do have a job, it will be with a school district, not TFA.

Whew!  Anyway, this position that I interviewed for sounds AMAZING! It was at KIPP Houston High School, part of the KIPP charter schools. KIPP stands for Knowledge is Power Program and was started here in Houston but is now all across the United States. It was started by two TFA alums and has grown since! You can read more about it here.  Anyways, I would be completely blessed to work at this school! It is in a great building, and the principal spoke very highly of his staff and students. What was really great was the amount of support that new teachers get!  This is pretty much a dream job and if I get it, I may not come home for a while!  

So keep your fingers crossed for me!

In other news, I'm getting to know my new home! Houston is actually a pretty amazing place, once you get passed the poorly designed road and freeways system and lousy drivers. There are lots of cute neighborhoods and lots of fun things to do!  I can't wait to explore more!  The neighborhood around my apartment is really nice. I finally found a grocery store and gas station that was close by, and am excited to learn more!

I hope I have an update soon about a job!

Love

Going broke... moving = expensive!

Oh man, furnishing a house is EXENSIVE!  But more on that later... First a bit about my road trip here!

After Exactly 36 hours in Portland spent frantically cramming most of my belongings into my tiny car, I set off on my epically short road trip to Houston.

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As you can see, I took a detour to Spokane to pick up Wyeth. We spent an eventful evening at Priest Lake where we thought someone was going around and looting cabins. Then on Tuesday morning, we left early and headed east. Our GPS got confused and took us to Bozeman (not our original plan) but that was great since Wyeth has a lot of family out there. We decided to stop by and say hello to his grandparents. Wyeth was trying to figure out just how he would get over to see them before the heads to Sweden, so this was a great opportunity. Turns out his cousins were in town for dinner, so we decided to join them for some authentic Chinese cuisine. Wyeth's cousin, Chris, brought his girlfriend to Montana. She is from China and cooked an amazing spread. Seeing this opportunity for Wyeth, I insisted we spend the evening there with his family instead of forging on down the road.

The next day we drove through Montana, Colorado, New Mexico and hit Texas. Along the way we saw lots of farms, some hilarious signs (strong winds exist, avoid windshield damage), the most spectacular lightning storm, and some abandoned missions. We heard some TRUE country music (one sang about how he hopes someone will take care of his dog, Jake, should he die before he wakes). We saw such beautiful parts of the country! We stopped just west of Amarillo and caught up on some sleep; around 1000 miles in one day makes anyone tired!

On Thursday, we drove right on through Texas! I saw it change from desert to whatever it is called here in Houston. There were oil drills and wind generators in the same fields! I wish I could have gotten a picture of that! Speaking of oil, gas is super cheap down here. I think that's because the oil is drilled right in the back yard. We arrived in Houston around 10:00 pm and were again exhausted! Sadly, I had to take Wyeth to the airport early the next morning. Hopefully he can come visit again before he heads across the pond!

So on to that expensive part... When i had to furnish Big Love (the name of my college house), it was pretty easy since there were six of us to contribute things. But this time it is just me and Jessica, my roommate. So we are purchasing things on the cheap and acquiring what we can. Today she bought a couch and chair for $499.99 from Cort Furniture. I'm waiting to do my room until AFTER I get my first paycheck! Hah!

Well, an impressive thunder storm is right on top of us, pouring down rain, thunder and lightning. It's really beautiful but is delaying our couch and chair from being delivered!

On Monday, it's back to teaching stuff for me. We start what is called Round Zero on Monday, which is just the term for the time between Institute and the first day of teaching. We will be working on learning our curriculum and making unit plans and assessments. I'm not really sure how that will work out since I still don't have a placement. It's been a little frustrating since my last two interviews never took place. By no fault of TFA, the principals both left before I got to the interviews, making them impossible to hold. I just hope I get a placement soon. I brought all of my teaching books and can't wait to use them again!

HOME

Home for one day! I flew into Portland last night so that I could pack up my car and drive to Spokane where I will pick up Wyeth and start the trek back to Texas.  I woke up this morning and made coffee and enjoyed it in the cool morning air on the deck. It was the most perfect thing in the world!!!  Mom and I spent the day packing and repacking my belongings so that they would fit into my escort. I'm having to leave a few boxes of books behind (tear), but everything fits!!!  It really is a miracle, if you think about it. I think I found grandpa Jim's secret to negative matter. It was a running joke that the only way he fit all of his tools into his tiny tin toolbox was because he knew the secret to negative matter. What ever happened to that tool box? I bet uncle Pat has it. That seems like something he would have.

Dad picked up a used GPS for me so I can make my way across country and around Houston. I hope that I won't need it to much once I get down there. What I am scared of though are the other drivers. They are CRAZY!

4th of July celebration!

Happy 4th of July! Above is one of the pretty fireworks that went off over Houston. Houston has the largest from-land fireworks in the USA. That doesn't surprise me. 
Clay Walker performed at the free Freedom over Texas celebration. He was pretty good live, and I was the only die-hard country fan in my group. I had to represent.
Houston downtown skyline. So pretty!
Houston + Rio Grand Valley friends at our new apartment. We had such a good time.
This is Jessica, my housemate!
And this is my bathroom!
... and my kitchen!
And this is what the pool looks like on a typical Saturday afternoon. Beerpong in the pool?
So this was actually good news - the water had been shut off because of flooding on two of the floors in the dorm I am staying at. TFA sure has great sense of humor.

I miss you all so much and am really starting to settle down here in Houston. I can't believe it's been nearly 5 weeks since I've left! I come home on Saturday and then will begin the epic drive to Texas in Rita with Wyeth.

XOXO

Danielle.

Finally, a thunder storm. And other adventures of a TFAer

Family and friends: I signed a lease. I am now the proud renter at the Bel Air http://www.belairhouston.com/. It's pretty crazy, but I figure, hey! I can afford it!  And I am going to want to come home to someplace that makes me happy and relaxed, and this DEFINATELY makes me happy!

On another note, I'm sitting in a coffee shop, writing lesson plans and watching an EPIC thunder and lightning storm take place outside. Here is where I am > http://www.agorahouston.com/. The coffee is yummy and the atmosphere is really great too. 

Oh yay! It just started raining! God I miss the rain. I think I have to go stand in it for just a second after I'm done writing.

I can't believe i am into my third week of teaching. Institute is almost over, and I will be home on the 11th. I have to figure out how to sell all of my stuff, so if you are in need of a bed, mattress set, bookcase and big comfy chair, let me know.  This also means I have to buy all of this stuff here. Shoot. 

Ok, back to lesson planning! Only a few more left!  

I miss you all!

P.S. Thank you Vicky and Paul for the great letter/card/book. All three mean so much to me and I know that I will use the book in the next few years.

Cheers,

Danielle

week 2 down, 3 more to go

I think I can count myself as one of the lucky ones. I've survived week 2 - my first week of teaching in Institute, and I did not break down. Not one single tear was shed.  Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for some of my peers. This week was HARD. We were sleep deprived, struggling with classroom management, and dealing with printers that were busy, out of paper, or not working properly. 

I was in bed by 1 each night, which is also early compared to others here. My roommate went to bed at 3 one night, and we have to wake up by 6.  We know that this life is unhealthy, and we complain. But I keep reminding myself that we are not the first to go through this and that those before us survived. And really, this isn't about us - it's about the kids. We have set Big Goals for the kids at our schools, and we need to meet them. It's unbelievable the amount of help they need. They are so far behind, and it's literacy that will really make the difference. 

Ok, enough with all of that....

Good things that happened this week:

1. Welcome celebration when we got back to campus after our first day of teaching

2. Found a roommate

3. Washed my laundry

4. Sat by a pool today

5. Turned everything in on time

6. My Co-Lab rocks.

7. Happy Hour last night.

8. Skype

9. My packages from Wyeth and Mom. (thanks!)

10. Sleep

Thinks I miss terribly:

1. real coffee

2. weather

3. Urban Growth Boundry

4. zoning

5. I-5, 405, 205 and 26. It's that simple. They each go one direction, you only have to switch to one or two to get from one side of town to the other. You should all see how the freeways are set up here. Google it.

I'm too tired to write any more. I'm going to bed. 

love!

Update!

This is where I live! North Moody Tower

This is what greeted us the first day at Dogan! Go Dolphins!

Well, I'm sorry this has taken so long, but to put it simply - I've been BUSY!  Typical day at Institute goes something like this...

5:20 Wake up

6:00 Breakfast

6:58 On the bus (and you BETTER be on the bus or it will LEAVE WITHOUT YOU!)

7:15 At Dogan Elementary School

8-4:00 SESSIONS (And teaching starting Monday)

4:30-7 Sessions in the only "Spare" time I have... this will hopefully stop soon

6-ish Dinner?  SO SLOW

7-10:30 Planning...

11:00 Sleep?  

But other than the crazy schedule, I'm having a blast. Some people think that just because I was an ED major, all this stuff would be easy (I was hoping that would be the case) but it's far from the truth. I am learning so much. One of my friends' mom put it really well - we are learning how to drink from a fire hose. So true!

I start teaching on Monday - I'll be teaching 4th grade Science. The students I'm teaching are mostly ESL (English as a Second Language) so vocab will be really important. My teaching group (called a Cooperative) is really awesome. There is a girl who went to UT Austin, a woman from Atlanta, and a guy from Portland who wen to school at San Diego. We all get along and work well together and I'm excited for our students and the goals we have set for them. 

Houston is a CRAZY city. I'm trying to get used to a lot of new things here, like no zoning and the disparity between the rich and the poor. The freeways are also pretty nuts. GPS systems get confused because they think you are on one freeway that is right next to the one you are really on.  On that note, I will need a GPS. It's crazy. Oh and drivers are nuts! I've seen so many accidents in my one week here. 

Ok, back to lesson planning!

Love!

Pictures...

Final countdown

So I leave in exactly 6 days, and I had to check the calendar because I wasn't sure how many days there are between now and June 4th. What does this say about me? If you guessed that I am NOT prepared to leave, you are correct! I still have to re-organize my belongings in storage, pack what I think I'll need for a month of teaching/interviews/training/craziness, and get all of my other crap staged to move when I get back. This is really just too overwhelming. As for the clothes, what I wear this weekend at the Lake (woo!) will be minimal, and what I wear next week will comprise of jeans and t-shirts. That will keep washing down, and I can pack pretty much everything else. Speaking of packing, how does one pack hangers? I know that I'll need them, I just don't know how to pack them. Any gems of wisdom would be appreciated.

So that list I made about the things I want to do while still in Oregon??? I don't think I've done one thing. Maybe I'll talk Wyeth into stopping and doing some wine tasting on our way to Spokane tonight. That will cross at least one item off my list. But I think that my relaxing and spending time with friends totally beats anything on that list. And it's not like I'll never return to Oregon and Crater Lake will probably be around for a couple more millenia, so what's the rush???

Alrighty, my mom wants to me type up a press release about my Teach For America position for the local paper. God I love being from a small town!

Cheers!

Graduations

I went to Caitlin's graduation from Willamette University yesterday, and enjoyed it. The speakers were much better than the ones at my commencement, and the prayers were more true and pure. I've loved the time I've had at UP, and wouldn't trade it for the world, but I think I might have missed something. There is a lack of realness here. Was I taught to question enough? Because that seems to be a big thing at Willamette - questioning. And did professors ask me to form my own opinions and then argue them? Some yes, but now in the classes that I needed it most - religion. In those classes, I was told what was what, and was not given the chance to figure it out on my own.

Oh well. There is always grad school...

Things I want to do before I leave Oregon

There are some things I want to do before I leave Oregon. Here is the list so far. I'll update later.

1. Wine tour

2. Girls Night Out

3. Crater Lake (I've NEVER BEEN!)

4. A hike in the gorge

5. The Coast (I was there on mother's day, so this one is not as important)

6. Take pictures of all the places that mean a lot to me so I can frame them and put them in my room.

7. GET RID OF STUFF I DON'T NEED!

8. Buy a pilots, timbers and blazers jerseys 

9. Go on a bike ride (fix my bike, for that matter)