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

I'm Almost Done

I'll expand later.

This is me procrastinating. Big Time.

There are nine weeks until summer vacation, and tomorrow I begin the 4th quarter - the final push! Spring break was sooo fantastic, very relaxing, but not remotely productive. It would have been nice to finish all of my grading, plan the rest of the year, and have all of my materials created for the last quarter. I really needed to work on some Big Goal things, create a public tracking system for my kids, and do some serious reflection on my teaching. But none of that happened. Instead, here is what I did:

New Orleans::

Houston::

More Houston::

I really do love Houston, and by Houston I mean all of my friends here. They keep me sane and laughing and thinking. I don't know what I would do without them.

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.

When Your Family Breaks

Team and Family.

It's a KIPPism that I LOVE. And I love MY Team and Family. I know that I am lucky to work in a building filled with trust, honor, and humility. I come to work every day and know that my Team and Family is there for me and for the kids that we all teach.

Yes, I am lucky.

That is why it is so hard to understand why someone would tear this family apart. We work well together. Our family is cohesive and we've accomplished ALOT (Hello, 16th best high school in the NATION!) But that is exactly what happened when I returned to work on Monday. I expected our faculty meeting to focus on some sort of inspiring professional development. Maybe we'd talk about rigor, or scaffolding, or vocabulary in the classroom.  Instead, we were informed by our school leader (principal), that he would not be returning next year and it was not by his choosing. It turns out he had made some mistakes a few years ago with the budget, and that he was not going to return for the 2011-2012 school year.

This announcement brought an immediate outpouring of emotional thank-yous and stories of how Ken has changed our lives. There were few dry eyes during these couple of hours, and it was made VERY clear to the two people in the room who did not work at the high school that this outcome is not what we would have chosen. It's hard to imagine this team, which Ken has built, without him.

I'm a bit angry over all of this. It seems that the higher powers ignored the good (and there's LOTS of good) that has happened at KHHS over the past few years.  Sigh.

Looking Back

I learned a lot in 2010, but I think the most important thing I learned was that I have a good, knowing, gut feeling. And I learned to trust it. I learned to trust it when it felt good, and when it felt bad. I'm never going to ignore this feeling and I'm thankful to all of the things that happened this year that helped me learn this lesson.

So here's to 2011 - I can not wait to see what happens.

Cheers!