After spending a week and a half at home with the family, I'm back in St. Louis busily getting last minute chores done before Induction (which begins Sunday at Saint Louis University). Writing this actually just reminded me that I need to go pick up my dry cleaning this evening! I still have several TFA assignments I need to get done today and tomorrow, and I still have stuff I need to move from my old apartment over to the house.
Here is the schedule for this summer:
-Induction (St. Louis) ... June 1 - June 5
-Institute (Houston) ... June 8 - July 12
-Orientation (St. Louis) ... July 28 - August 2
-School Begins ... August 18
The entire St. Louis contingent (100 strong for the '08 class) will be at Induction. Items on the agenda include an induction ceremony at the Arch, sessions that deal with how to make the most of the summer Institute, the TFA-STL support structure available to us, diversity training, our partnership with AmeriCorps, information on the Master's and certification programs, and a whole lot more.
At the Houston Institute, I will team-teach a summer school classroom with three other people. I will teach a one-hour lesson every day, as well as work with small groups during a morning "literacy hour." Besides being responsible for my class, I will attend seminars detailing things like lesson planning and instruction. The days begin at 5:30 and don't end until well into the night, so it should be a very tiring yet rewarding five weeks.
My goal is to update the website twice a week during Institute. So, check back often.
Friday, May 30, 2008
Monday, May 19, 2008
New York Times TFA Editorial
The New York Times published an editorial on May 16 about the effectiveness of Teach For America teachers. While I think the article's broad generalization comparing education programs to diploma mills is a little unfair, I thought I would pass this along.
Also, here is an Associated Press article about the growth of TFA this year. 25,000 applicants and 3,700 new corps members - both new records.
Also, here is an Associated Press article about the growth of TFA this year. 25,000 applicants and 3,700 new corps members - both new records.
Sunday, May 18, 2008
Commencement & Carnahan Visit
Some of you may have already heard about the controversies surrounding the 2008 Wash U Commencement. A few weeks ago, Wash U announced that it would give alumnus Phyllis Schlafly an honorary degree. Schafly is an 80+ year old outspoken leader of the social conservative movement. Over the past few weeks, Wash U students and faculty organized a protest of the Schlafly degree. Two Facebook groups that were created in response to the University's decision garnered over 4,000 members in only a couple of weeks. The result? Over half of the student body turned their backs to Mrs. Schlafly when she was awarded the degree at the commencement ceremony. Furthermore, several faculty members walked off the stage in protest. The controversy was featured on CNN and created quite a buzz in St. Louis.
I am all for political and social engagement. I am all for the right to protest. I think it's great that young people seem to be getting more interested in politics. However, Wash U students, for all their strengths, are not politically active on the whole. Rarely is politics discussed on the way to class or in a campus coffee shop. Obama stickers cover many student's mac laptops because it's the cool thing to do. If you were to ask those same students to name on legislative accomplishment of Senator Obama, you would get a blank stare. This is why I had a problem with the protests. The drill is the same every year: once or twice a year, students will get organized to protest some conservative that comes to campus or some incident that they see as a grave injustice to liberal thought. The whole show will last about two weeks, and then Wash U will go back to the same apathetic place that it was before. Wash U students are among the greatest in the world; however, it has always been disappointing to me that there isn't more REAL political discourse on a daily basis at one of the elite institutions in America. Instead, many Wash U students fool themselves into believing that they are actually politically and socially aware because they periodically join a Facebook group devoted to some en vogue liberal cause.
HOWEVER, commecement was terrific in every other way. Mom, Dad, Brittany, Brady, Bryce, and Brooklyn came, as well as both sets of grandparents. The weather was beautiful, and Chris Matthews gave a really good commencement address. It still hasn't really hit me that I am an alum of Wash U, with a bachelor's degree in hand.
The highlight of the weekend came an hour after commencement when I visited Carnahan High School with my family. Mr. Green (the assistant principal) took us on a tour of the school. The technology at these kids' disposal is amazing. Every student has access to a laptop, the rooms are equipped with SmartBoards, there are multiple computer labs, video-making technology, etc, etc. The school is beautiful. I was able to visit several classrooms, which made the wait to actually start up my own classroom almost unbearable. The students that I talked to were all respectful, and some of them said they couldn't wait to have me as a teacher next year. I CANNOT WAIT TO BEGIN IMPACTING THE LIVES OF THESE STUDENTS. Carnahan has great resources and a very supportive administration. The students just need teachers who will invest in them, teachers who will set high standards, teachers who believe in them.
I visited the classroom of a fellow TFA teacher, Greg Laposa. Having him as a colleague will immensely help with my transition to the classroom. He has already been very helpful, and I'm excited to learn from him. My principal, Dr. Roach, is receiving an award on Wednesday for her work at Carnahan. She is one of 25 principals across the country to receive this service/leadership award -- the prize is $5,000. Dr. Roach has decided to donate the money back to the school. This fact tells me everything I need to know about her committment to her students.
Have I said that I can't wait to get started??
I am all for political and social engagement. I am all for the right to protest. I think it's great that young people seem to be getting more interested in politics. However, Wash U students, for all their strengths, are not politically active on the whole. Rarely is politics discussed on the way to class or in a campus coffee shop. Obama stickers cover many student's mac laptops because it's the cool thing to do. If you were to ask those same students to name on legislative accomplishment of Senator Obama, you would get a blank stare. This is why I had a problem with the protests. The drill is the same every year: once or twice a year, students will get organized to protest some conservative that comes to campus or some incident that they see as a grave injustice to liberal thought. The whole show will last about two weeks, and then Wash U will go back to the same apathetic place that it was before. Wash U students are among the greatest in the world; however, it has always been disappointing to me that there isn't more REAL political discourse on a daily basis at one of the elite institutions in America. Instead, many Wash U students fool themselves into believing that they are actually politically and socially aware because they periodically join a Facebook group devoted to some en vogue liberal cause.
HOWEVER, commecement was terrific in every other way. Mom, Dad, Brittany, Brady, Bryce, and Brooklyn came, as well as both sets of grandparents. The weather was beautiful, and Chris Matthews gave a really good commencement address. It still hasn't really hit me that I am an alum of Wash U, with a bachelor's degree in hand.
The highlight of the weekend came an hour after commencement when I visited Carnahan High School with my family. Mr. Green (the assistant principal) took us on a tour of the school. The technology at these kids' disposal is amazing. Every student has access to a laptop, the rooms are equipped with SmartBoards, there are multiple computer labs, video-making technology, etc, etc. The school is beautiful. I was able to visit several classrooms, which made the wait to actually start up my own classroom almost unbearable. The students that I talked to were all respectful, and some of them said they couldn't wait to have me as a teacher next year. I CANNOT WAIT TO BEGIN IMPACTING THE LIVES OF THESE STUDENTS. Carnahan has great resources and a very supportive administration. The students just need teachers who will invest in them, teachers who will set high standards, teachers who believe in them.
I visited the classroom of a fellow TFA teacher, Greg Laposa. Having him as a colleague will immensely help with my transition to the classroom. He has already been very helpful, and I'm excited to learn from him. My principal, Dr. Roach, is receiving an award on Wednesday for her work at Carnahan. She is one of 25 principals across the country to receive this service/leadership award -- the prize is $5,000. Dr. Roach has decided to donate the money back to the school. This fact tells me everything I need to know about her committment to her students.
Have I said that I can't wait to get started??
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Carnahan High School!
I just found out that I was hired at Carnahan High School Of The Future! This is the school that I interviewed with two weekends ago. The more that I researched the school over the past two weeks, the more I fell in love with it. Carnahan has partnerships with Dell and AT&T, which give the school state of the art technology in every classroom. Basically, Carnahan has suburban resources in an inner-city setting. The building is only a few years old, and they actually just recently converted it from a middle school to a high school. They are adding a grade each year during their transition into a full-fledged high school. I can't wait!!
I'm home for the next few days, but I can't wait to visit the school next week when I get back back to St. Louis. I feel so blessed to know where I am teaching already, as it often takes until August to find out your placement.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Results
After watching cable news for more than 6 hours, it looks like Indiana has finally been called for Clinton. Results as of 12:12 CST -
Indiana: Clinton +2
North Carolina: Obama +14
My predictions were close, but Obama definitely had a great night. For all intents and purposes, the race is over. MSNBC is acting like Obama is already the nominee. I agree that there is really no chance that Obama loses the nomination, but I wonder how long it will take Hillary to drop out. She will most likely easily win both West Virginia and Kentucky, but it doesn't matter in the long run. Running mates? Perhaps.
Off to bed.
Indiana: Clinton +2
North Carolina: Obama +14
My predictions were close, but Obama definitely had a great night. For all intents and purposes, the race is over. MSNBC is acting like Obama is already the nominee. I agree that there is really no chance that Obama loses the nomination, but I wonder how long it will take Hillary to drop out. She will most likely easily win both West Virginia and Kentucky, but it doesn't matter in the long run. Running mates? Perhaps.
Off to bed.
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Quick predictions
So, we're only a few minutes out from the polls closing in Indiana and North Carolina. My predictions...
Indiana: Clinton +8
North Carolina: Obama +10
The word is that a lot of Indiana Republicans turned out to vote today, which bodes well for Hillary. It's a combo of Rush's "Operation Chaos" and I also think there is a touch of sincere voting going on here -- Hillary has transformed herself into a gun-toting, beer drinking, good 'ol girl social conservative.
And the fight goes on...
Indiana: Clinton +8
North Carolina: Obama +10
The word is that a lot of Indiana Republicans turned out to vote today, which bodes well for Hillary. It's a combo of Rush's "Operation Chaos" and I also think there is a touch of sincere voting going on here -- Hillary has transformed herself into a gun-toting, beer drinking, good 'ol girl social conservative.
And the fight goes on...
Sunday, April 27, 2008
TFA Weekend
This weekend, in short, was an awesome experience. About 60 of the incoming St. Louis TFA corps members arrived at the downtown Hilton on Thursday...and let me tell you, the staff wined and dined us all weekend. We sat through some seminars on Thursday and then headed out to dinner where everyone introduced themselves and got to know one another. It was great to see all the colleges represented. Wash U easily had the most people there, which makes sense considering the huge presence of TFA on our campus and the proximity of the school to inner-city STL. St. Louis University (SLU) has a strong contingent as well. The running joke from the SLU students all weekend was that they weren't multi-millionaires and thus couldn't attend Wash U. (I must not have received this memo - the last time I checked, my family is pretty middle class.) There were people from Yale, Vanderbilt, Rochester, Butler, Notre Dame - you name it.
Friday began with a classroom observation at Vashon High School. Along with three other secondary English teachers, I observed a class of sophomores learning literary devices via YouTube clips. The teacher who we observed was a second year TFA corps member, and he conducted his classroom extremely well. It was obvious that he had the respect and admiration of his students, and he was great at individually instructing them throughout the class. The kids were great. I was amazed at their concentration, and they furiously took notes during the lesson. I got a chance to talk with several of them, and I quickly found out that Vashon High is known for their football and basketball teams. One of the kids told me to talk to the Wash U football coach for him because he wanted a full-ride scholarship to Wash U. I attempted to explain to him that Wash U doesn't give out athletic scholarships, but I assured him I would see what I could do. The school was only three years old, and it was beautiful. Their gym was fantastic, and it was obviously a point of pride for the students. We got to speak with the assistant principal, and he was extremely helpful and complimentary of the TFA teachers in his building.
Saturday was interview day. We headed to Gateway Elementary on Saturday morning for the first annual TFA/St. Louis Public School interview fair. About 20 principals showed up, and most of us got to interview with at least one principal. To say the least, my interview was quite the experience. I was told I would be interviewing with Carnahan High School, so I walked into the gym and looked for the Carnahan table. The principal was all business and wasn't there to mess around. She was flanked by two assistant principals who took notes throughout the interview.
The first question that I fielded was: "I'm going to be honest. You're white. You've been priviledged your entire life. How in the world are you going to teach black kids who you know nothing about?" Wow, what a tough first question. I explained to Dr. Roach that I could have easily fled to the suburbs to teach more wealthy students, and there would be nothing wrong with that. But I have decided that the education gap in this country is unacceptable and it has become my passion to help close it. I explained to her that I wouldn't be sitting in that chair if I wasn't 100% committed to her (my) students. I told her I was willing to stay after school, come in on Saturdays and Sundays, coach, do anything in my power to reach students. I then told her about Brooklyn's story and how she inspired me to apply for TFA. If a little girl left to die in the middle of China can receive a good education, why can't the kids who were born in the richest country in the world receive the same?
She asked me what I would do if I was cussed out in front of the class (clear rules, consistent and firm consequences). She asked me if I would be embarrassed to be seen with my students out in public (of course not). She asked if I was ready to "get down in the trenches" (if I could start tomorrow, I would). Throughout the interview she remained expressionless with no hint of a smile or understanding head nods. Near the end of the interview, however, she faintly smiled and said "I think I like you." Up to that point, I didn't know if she liked me - and if I had to guess, I would have said no. But it was great to get a sort of stamp of approval from a lady that has a small chance of ending up as my boss next fall. As I walked away at the conclusion of the interview, I could hear her whisper to her colleague, "I like him." A smile covered my face as I exited the room.
Friday began with a classroom observation at Vashon High School. Along with three other secondary English teachers, I observed a class of sophomores learning literary devices via YouTube clips. The teacher who we observed was a second year TFA corps member, and he conducted his classroom extremely well. It was obvious that he had the respect and admiration of his students, and he was great at individually instructing them throughout the class. The kids were great. I was amazed at their concentration, and they furiously took notes during the lesson. I got a chance to talk with several of them, and I quickly found out that Vashon High is known for their football and basketball teams. One of the kids told me to talk to the Wash U football coach for him because he wanted a full-ride scholarship to Wash U. I attempted to explain to him that Wash U doesn't give out athletic scholarships, but I assured him I would see what I could do. The school was only three years old, and it was beautiful. Their gym was fantastic, and it was obviously a point of pride for the students. We got to speak with the assistant principal, and he was extremely helpful and complimentary of the TFA teachers in his building.
Saturday was interview day. We headed to Gateway Elementary on Saturday morning for the first annual TFA/St. Louis Public School interview fair. About 20 principals showed up, and most of us got to interview with at least one principal. To say the least, my interview was quite the experience. I was told I would be interviewing with Carnahan High School, so I walked into the gym and looked for the Carnahan table. The principal was all business and wasn't there to mess around. She was flanked by two assistant principals who took notes throughout the interview.
The first question that I fielded was: "I'm going to be honest. You're white. You've been priviledged your entire life. How in the world are you going to teach black kids who you know nothing about?" Wow, what a tough first question. I explained to Dr. Roach that I could have easily fled to the suburbs to teach more wealthy students, and there would be nothing wrong with that. But I have decided that the education gap in this country is unacceptable and it has become my passion to help close it. I explained to her that I wouldn't be sitting in that chair if I wasn't 100% committed to her (my) students. I told her I was willing to stay after school, come in on Saturdays and Sundays, coach, do anything in my power to reach students. I then told her about Brooklyn's story and how she inspired me to apply for TFA. If a little girl left to die in the middle of China can receive a good education, why can't the kids who were born in the richest country in the world receive the same?
She asked me what I would do if I was cussed out in front of the class (clear rules, consistent and firm consequences). She asked me if I would be embarrassed to be seen with my students out in public (of course not). She asked if I was ready to "get down in the trenches" (if I could start tomorrow, I would). Throughout the interview she remained expressionless with no hint of a smile or understanding head nods. Near the end of the interview, however, she faintly smiled and said "I think I like you." Up to that point, I didn't know if she liked me - and if I had to guess, I would have said no. But it was great to get a sort of stamp of approval from a lady that has a small chance of ending up as my boss next fall. As I walked away at the conclusion of the interview, I could hear her whisper to her colleague, "I like him." A smile covered my face as I exited the room.
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