I got a BIG piece of paper

"From Wendy Kopp". Thanks, TFA! And with that, I'm officially done. Today I had my End Of Year conversation with my Program Director. (Quick game: how many TFA accronyms can I name? TFA, PD, EOY, BOY, ACE, BG, TALON, TAL, CIE...) Whew! And there are so so many more. :) My PD and I talked about a lot of stuff, but it was mostly focused around how I and my kids did this year. It made me realize just how bad I am at reflecting. Not only can I not, on demand, name things I did well, I can't even name things I need to improve upon. My poor PD, it was such a painful conversation. But then we started talking about KIPP and how I believe it's growing a bit too quickly for it's own good. I'm not the only one who thinks this - 2011 had a sit in a few weeks ago to make a point about it. It just makes me nervous about the future of such a great organization. There is so much work to do and I hope they don't forget that as they grow.

Guess who won't have to teach the physical geography of Russia next year?


THIS GIRL!
That's right, I'll be teaching the one thing I truly, TRULY love - US HISTORY! I even get to teach AP! I'm so excited and nervous, but mostly excited. I went to half price books after my conversation and bought this book:


as well as an AP prep book. As much as I love Zinn ("We'll never know unless we begin"), I've never actually read this book all the way through. I have a lot of studying to do this summer in order to prepare myself to get my kids through one of the hardest AP tests. I feel like this will be the year I cry from exhaustion. Oh well. I'll just keep reminding myself that I WENT TO COLLEGE TO DO EXACTLY THIS. How lucky am I?!?!?!?

And even though it's summer, I'm still working. Tomorrow is the meeting where all of the grade level chairs talk about what students are failing for the year. We have two on our list from 2014. These kids and their parents have been pulled in for several meetings, and never got their acts together. It's sad really, but sometimes it's what they need. On a higher note - NO ONE FAILED MY CLASS! Yes! So exciting. :)

I can't even wrap my head around all that I have to do this summer. I'll be teaching reading during the Summer Bridge Program, which is where all of the KIPP 8th graders come to the high school to "bridge the middle schoolers into one cohesive group". (OK, I made that up, but that's the mission). Then, I'll have a few weeks to relax (I mean plan and study). THEN, I have AP training. THEN I GET TO GO HOME!!!! Then school starts.

It's hot in Houston, and I miss Portland summers, as well as my friends from back home. They are all doing such wonderful things such as having babies or continuing to kick ass in grad school. I love you all.

My really quick, end of two years reflection

I've learned:

The achievement gap is really achievement GAPS. There is one here within our country, and a global achievement gap. And they are both growing.

There is no easy answer to this problem. If there was an easy answer, it would have been fixed a long time ago. But I'm going to do my best to make the problem smaller in any way I can. And you should too.

Without my friends, I wouldn't have survived these two years. They have been my rock and my constant entertainment. I don't want any of them to leave. Ever. I want to pack them in my pocket and take them to Oregon with me and teach them to like the rain and the gray.

A lot can change in a year. Wow.

Cue constant nostalgia........ NOW

New Year Resolutions

There's this new bar that I love, called Community. I went there with some friends on January 1, 2011, and they had a stack of post its, a couple of markers, and a large wall to post your new year resolutions on. So I did. A couple. So did my friend, Caroline, and some strangers. Below is a selection... 

I love this bar for three reasons.

1. The people - the bartender Mark is awesome and was drunk the last time he served me alcohol. The manager is Bob and he is an AMAZING cook who just has this personality that makes total sense for someone who runs this kind of establishment. He's a flirt. Ladies love him. I love him.

2. The food - OH MY GOD. So it was January 1st and the bar was pretty empty and I asked if Bob was running a full kitchen. He came over and said he had only prepared one thing since it was the day after new years eve and he was hungover and it was for his lady, but he would get me a plate if I wanted. It was amazing. And then the next time I went to Community, I had the best steak of my life.

3. The drinks - The Moscow Mule. First time I had this, Mark was drunk when he made it and I almost stopped him because he poured so much vodka into it. But then I tasted it... DELICIOUS! Vodka, ginger beer and fresh lime juice. Perfect.

We're getting to the end of January, and I'll be in DC soon for the Teach For America 20th Anniversary Summit. Can't wait.

The ACE Effect

Once a month, all corps members are required to attend an All Corps Event, or ACE. They take place on a Saturday, and often last about five hours. To a first or second year teacher, the idea of giving up ANOTHER Saturday often seems unbearable and cruel, and we often plot ways to avoid the ACEs, but for the most part, we go. And you know what? I always leave feeling a mix of emotions.

I leave with a new sense of community. Sometimes I forget that I'm not in this alone, and that I am part of a BIG, national movement to do something momentous.

I leave with a sense of urgency. OK, so that is a BIG TFA-ism (one of the MANY). It's almost a cliche, but it's part of the push this year. What we are doing needs to feel urgent in our classroom, and they convey that feeling at the ACEs.

I leave feeling confident in knowing what I can do to improve. This is a big change over the ACEs last year. Every time I leave my sessions, I take away one concrete thing I can do in my classroom to help my students. Yesterday's concrete idea: scaffolded checks for understanding.

I leave feeling like a pretty crappy teacher. I know this isn't the point, but at the ACEs, I am always confronted with my own short-comings as a teacher.  The fact that I wasn't already doing scaffolded checks for understandings really shocks me. There is so much more I could be doing for my students.  I can't imagine being a second year teacher NOT in TFA, and not having the opportunities to to continually build my skills and reflect on my practices. I would stay a crappy teacher. KINDA SCARY.

I leave inspired. This didn't happen at yesterday's ACE, but normally there is some sort of uplifting story about how one current or previous corps member changed the life of a student, and those stories are so wonderful to hear. They give me hope and keep me going. The fact that this has been missing from the ACEs this year is really starting to wear on the corps members, and could explain the absence of MANY of them on Saturday.

And now I'm thinking that I need to get to planning and implementing all of the great changes I need to in my lesson plans. I do get to end on a VERY positive note, though.  I will be in Portland this weekend to watch Dominic test for his black belt. It's a very big, awesome occasion, and I couldn't be a prouder sister! I can't wait to see my family. :)

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.