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. :)

4 minutes

I once heard that a child has, on average, only 4 minutes of genuine interaction with an adult on any given day.  It was shocking then, and it is still shocking now, but I see how it is true. Even at school, it's amazing how hard it is to find a few minutes to sit down with just one student and talk. This doesn't include calling on a student, but having a real conversation.

After a test today in 3rd period, we had about 15 minutes left of class, so I let the kids just hang out. One of the students, E.Y. is on a plan with me where he has to show me his agenda each day at the end of school, get it signed by his mom, and then show me in the morning. I saw that he didn't get it signed last night, so I asked him if he was staying with his dad this weekend. I know his parents are divorced, and heard from his middle school teachers that weekends with his dad are much less structured and his dad often doesn't keep up on his work. He said that yes, he was with his dad this weekend. I told him that my parents are divorced and that I know it's hard to switch homes on the weekend and keep up on your work, but that he needs to be sure he gets mom or dad to sign his agenda. I think that hearing that I had once been through a similar situation gave him a feeling of safety and allowed him to open up to me. He said that he misses how he and his dad used to get pizza on the weekends but now that his dad has a new girlfriend, they don't do that. And he said that he think he needs to probably grow up and understand that he can't have pizza each weekend but that he still doesn't really like this new girlfriend.

He was so sweet as he was opening up. Sometimes I forget that they are just children and they really need to just talk. Talk about friends, talk about family, and talk about life. It's something I need to make more time for - conversations.

On another note - TFA got a second shout-out in the Office this week. "Teach for America girls are way hotter. But they're nuts." Damn straight.

Making the rules up as I go...

I really do love the kids I teach. Even though they don't turn in their homework, don't study when they should, and sometimes won't stop talking, they are adorable kids. Today was a study day for my 8th period since they have a unit test on Monday. After studying for a solid hour, they seemed like they deserved a break for the last 10 minutes of class, so I broke out my Question Cube. The question: What is the best dish you can make?

Answers:

Eggs
I make a mean boiled water
Sopapillas
Tamale
Frijoles (I think he was being sarcastic, but I hope he wasn't)
Spaghetti (to which S.W. asked "with cheese?" WTF?????)
Pancakes
Poptarts
"Chicken Tuna" which ended up being chicken salad!

And then they asked what I can make. My answer: chocolate mousse. YUM

I've come down with a cold, and it sort of sucks. Still busy as a bee trying to keep my head above water.

Missing the Oregon fall.

The guy who works at the thai place up the road from my apartment was sure chatty today. First, he commented on my last name
"Redman. That's really German".
"Yep, it is."
"oh you drive a Subaru. Love them. It's the only thing that got me through the snow in the winter"
"You obviously don't mean here".
"Oh no, in Oregon."
"I'M FROM OREGON!"
*One of those awesome moments where someone else knows what we are missing here in Texas*


And congrats to Kitzhaber!

Nothing, really

Hey. It's been a while. I've been busy, stressed, and often very happy since the last time I posted. I don't really know what else to say but that.

Oh, the second year is harder. I'm a better teacher than last year, but I'm trying to be better than last year, and that means working harder. So I'm busy, stressed, and tired often. And I need to find some yummy slow cooker recipes.

2:3 - Things could have gone better

We're getting close to the end of the first month of school. The kinks are getting worked out, and I'm beginning to see just what the class of 2014 will be like. But this past week, my mind wasn't always on school. I bought a new car at the end of July, and on Thursday I hit a rock with my new car. Oops. So I have 2 flat tires, two bent wheels, and I'm using a rental until they give me a quote. EFF. That's going to cost me. At least the tires are covered under the Super Gold Star Extended Warranty that I bought. The wheels? Well, I hope it won't cost much to hammer out the two small dings.

I finally cleaned my room, which looked like a disaster up until yesterday. And I have my grading done from this past week. I still need to input it into the computer before I have to submit my grades by tomorrow night, but I can do that after school tomorrow. Now I need to plan for this week, which is one of those really weird weeks schedule wise. We have Stanford testing on Thursday and Friday, which means I will only see periods 3,4,7, and 8. So I can't teach new material... I have to do something supplemental. I'm thinking REVIEW since they have a test the following week.

And I had a meeting with my PD (program director) on Monday. He shared his thoughts on my class, and suggested that I integrate some sort of portfolio work into my class. I agree, this would be helpful and wonderful for the students, but I just don't know how to go about that. I have to  make EVERYTHING up from scratch: the rubrics, the requirements, the organization system, how it will fit into my Long Term Plan, how it will be graded, what PERCENTAGE of their grade it will be... It's a lot. Maybe I'll send an email out to the social studies teachers in KIPP and ask for some guidance.  I can do that now that they've created a list serve for all of us around the country. I might get some interesting feedback. But I don't want to piggy-back off of a woman who just sent out an SOS about 5/6th grade. I might wait a week.

This long weekend was a blessing for sure. It was great to relax yesterday and then spend today grading and planning. I hope the next week flies by.

Birthday Present Ideas

In case anyone is wondering what I might possibly need/want... here are a couple of ideas...

via: http://www.errolgraphics.com/

http://www.orkposters.com/portland.html

How it's different

1. My room is more decorated. And by "more", I mean decorated. Period.
2. I knew what I was doing on the first day, and it didn't suck
3. I have special rules. Like no pencils, and only loose leaf paper. This will save my sanity
4. I'm not worrying about dress code. Whatevs.
5. I am busier.
6. I have more responsibility. Grade level chair... No longer the "fetus"... Advisor of a real club.