Sponsor A Teacher

Teach for America has a Sponsor A Teacher program, in which community members donate $5,000 to TFA in exchange for personalized letters and updates from a teacher, as well as special events like a golfing outing or barbecue. I assume the sponsors were assigned alphabetically, because I am the only CM without one, but I have to complete the updates anyway. It's a good opportunity for me to practice my formal reflecting, but I'm a little disappointed that I don't get invited to the special events because I don't have a sponsor. Our end-of-the-year update is due this week, so I thought I'd share.


Thank your sponsor for their sponsorship. If you met with your sponsor, be specific about your meetings and conversations. IF TEACHING next year, consider expressing what you're looking forward to in the classroom next year. IF NOT TEACHING next year, consider sharing how your experience at TFA will influence your motivations, goals, and decisions for the upcoming year. 
I am looking forward to building a classroom environment correctly from the start, not slowly developing it over the year. I have plans for my classroom routines and procedures that I am comfortable with, and that will be put in place from day one. I can't wait to work on a smoothly running classroom in the first few weeks, so I can spend the following months teaching, teaching teaching. I have a better idea of what my yearlong goals will be, so I can start planning the steps students need to follow in order to accomplish them. I also have a better idea of the students' background knowledge, so I can incorporate that into my planning as well. I will make my plans better and more consistent.
Describe the differences between where your classroom culture is now from where you started in the fall. What behavior, characteristic, and social gains do you see in your students? 
I spent the first half of the school year trying to keep my kids from being terrible. I yelled a lot about them sitting down and not screaming across the room. My goals were all behavior-related, and nothing about academic achievement. I realized that kids need higher expectations. They are always challenging authority and pushing boundaries, so if they are expected only to sit quietly, they will neither sit nor be quiet. However, if they are expected to work hard and be creative and achieve greatness, they are satisfied to merely skip a homework assignment or crack a joke. When I spend time aiming to achieve 100% compliance in classwork, I don't have to spend an ounce of breath keeping the students in their seats.
Update your sponsor on the same student you spoke of in your winter update. You may also tell a new story about one of your students and their change through the year. The more character you can write into the story, the better. 
I have a difficult student in my 8th grade class. He is very smart, but halfway through the year, was failing every single one of his classes. He refused to do work, every day. He would sit through an assessment, silently staring at me for 40 minutes. He didn't cause trouble, but didn't do any work. He would just sit, rocking back in his chair until I asked him not to. Over the course of the year, Jaime started to do some work. I think it was a combination of his teachers caring so much for him, better explaining the "why" of the lessons, and his desire to make a fresh start in high school next year. He now completes all his work, and matching his intelligence, scores exceptionally on every assignment.
Update your sponsor on where you plan to conclude against the goals you set in the fall. Please be as clear as possible. 
My major goals that I set at the beginning of the year were 80% on the Final Assessment and a certain score on an Inquiry Rubric. I've since changed things around a bit, including deciding against a final assessment, but I'm really approaching the goals anyway. Although I do not have a final assessment, my chapter assessments have improved from 40-50% to 70-80%. My improvement at planning lessons, managing my classroom, and building relationships with the students have really paid off. The other goal referred to the Inquiry Rubric, an arbitrary set of standards describing competency in the Scientific Method. I made far too many assumptions about background knowledge in science (They've had science in their classrooms previously, right? No? Isn't it required? They don't test for it? Oh.), which made Science Fair a challenging mess of learning and teeth-pulling and learning, but we've gotten there. My students are comfortable asking questions and making hypotheses and writing procedures. It's not as good as I hope for next year, but it's a lot better than it was in September.
Share a Proud Moment: Have you overcome a specific obstacle or had a breakthrough with a student that you are really proud of? Briefly describe it, talk about your approach to it, and summarize the outcome and any learning experiences. 
A few months back, my classroom management skills were in need of improvement. My classes were no longer disastrous, but students were not held accountable for their learning. I made an appointment with TFA's real-time behavior management coach and had her come to my classroom immediately. I spoke to her ahead of time, planned a good lesson (which I later realized wasn't all that good), and she coached me through it. It was confusing and overwhelming, but she gave me some concrete advice on how to improve before she returned. I followed her advice, and when she came back, the class went even better. In fact, about ten minutes into the lesson, she says into my headset, "Look around. You have 100% compliance." I could have cried. It took a lot more work and a lot of practice to get that without her there, but I've done it. It's not perfect all the time, not every day in every class, but I can get there when I need to.

Babysitting

Today was an absolute MESS. Leave it to this school to take a potentially relaxing day and turn it into a ridiculous nightmare.

About half of the 7^th and 8^th grades were out on a field trip today. All of the smartest and best behaved students were at a pre-college fair at Eastern Connecticut State University, so I was left with small classes of the students who need the most help. Except, that’s not how it was organized.

Since some of the teachers were missing, and we can never get substitute teachers here, the 8^th grade was combined and the 7^th grade was kept separated. We didn’t know this right away, though, so I was told to watch all 25 7^th graders for first period and the English teacher would watch them 2^nd period, so I’d get an extra prep 2^nd period. Of course, at the end of 1^st period, after having a wonderful time watching an enrichment video on the human body and discussing some physiological anomalies, I was told that the 7^th grade would be split up, and I did, in fact, have a class 2^nd period. Not only that, I was told by the principal (in front of the class), “You can’t even control one of the classes, you shouldn’t have both of them.”

Thanks. After that, I couldn’t wait to have my nice small 8^th grade classes. Wait, what? The 8^th grade is all being combined? Into a class of 28 kids? Awesome. I have them 3^rd and 7^th periods, and I can’t do anything with the class, because each of the 3 classes is in a completely different point in the curriculum, as well as being differently differentiated. So, I had them “sit quietly and relax” for the duration of 3^rd period.

I also found out that the schedule involved another teacher having both the 7^th and 8^th grade for a period. I keep forgetting, the priority is not teaching students, it's babysitting. Making sure nobody causes trouble. No teaching allowed today. That really frustrates me today.

I forgot to mention a few good pieces of news. Last Wednesday, I was able to cross an item off of my bucket list. I don't actually have a bucket list, but I have always wanted to learn how to shuck oysters. I really enjoy eating them, and I could eat them a lot more often if I could buy them for 50 cents each at a grocery store rather than $2 each at a restaurant. One of the vocational high schools in the Bridgeport district is food service themed, and they maintain a fresh fish store. Our monthly department faculty meetings are usually held there, so I have been meaning to go for a while. Last week, I finally went there, and they had beautiful looking oysters. I happened to mention that I love them, but don't know what to do with them, and the women behind the counter jumped up to help. She pulled out an oyster knife, and showed me how easy it was to open one! I then bought an oyster and tried it myself. It wasn't very graceful, but I didn't lose any fingers, and they oyster was delicious. Success!

I also received a care package from my new employers yesterday. It contained an Uncommon Schools pennant, mug, post-its, and achievement-themed magnetic poetry. Much better than the welcome I got here, which was, "Oh crap, the science teacher we really wanted turned down the offer. Wait--who are you?"

I can't wait!

Almost the End

Today, I was planning...and ran out of room. I have actually planned my 7th grade through the end of the school year. 20 days left, and many of them testing or field trips. Crazy!
Wednesday marks the end of the first 30 days of my 90 day challenge. The goals for the first 30 days were as follows:
First 30 daysWeight goal: 135 lbs (what it was before vacation)Running goal: average of 10 miles per week, maybe a 5K raceDiet goal: 3 full meals per day, only one microwaved meal per dayAll in all, considering the circumstances, I have not done too terribly. My weight (as of this morning) is 134.5, 1/2 lb lower than the goal. On my way! Due to some life challenges (family illness, job interviews), I haven't quite made my running goal for each of the four weeks. For 2 of the weeks, I averaged 10 and 10.1 miles, and I'm very proud of that. The other two weeks, though were around 5-6 miles each, which brings me to a monthly average of about 8 miles per week. Not terrible, but not ideal. I also ran a 5K this weekend (details to follow). As for the eating, I have actually averaged a little less than one microwaved meal per day. I am regularly sitting down for a bowl of cereal and a phone chat with mom every morning, which has made my mornings more relaxed and healthier. I've definitely been getting my 3 full meals, and by eating more and running more, I'm still losing pounds.My goal for the next 30 days:Second 30 daysWeight goal: 133 lbs (haven't seen this since...I don't remember)Running goal: 10 miles per week, plus biking 10 miles per week, sprint tri in JuneDiet goal: no microwaved foodThis weekend started with a family dinner Friday night, that probably involved a little too much wine all around, and I gorged on berries for dessert. Delicious, but tummy-ache-inducing. Saturday morning, I decided to compete in a local 5K. I signed up for the race and, proudly, refused to take one of the only XL t-shirts left. I don't need extra stuff if it doesn't even fit. The weather was perfect (70s and sunny) and everything was perfect until about 1/2 mile in. Then we got to the hill. I can't even say there were hills, it was just one hill. The first half of the race was uphill, and the second half was downhill. It was beautiful, but really challenging. I was pretty unhappy with my time (34:31), but unsurprised. I was solidly in the pack, finishing after around 75% of the field. I still want to break 30:00, but I have a lot of work to do before then. To my surprise, though, there were only 3 competitors in the F20-24 group, so I won a 3rd place medal! I was so proud.After the race, I realized I still had 1.3 miles left to make it to 10 for the week, so I did it. I was wiped out, and knew I couldn't run Sunday, but I did it anyway.Sunday, I was occupied all day on the TFA annual hike. It was lovely. Still perfect weather, and there were about 10 of us, 2 Labrador Retrievers, and 1 baby. The guide brought a full lunch spread for us up the mountain, including caprese salad, fruit salad, and pasta (which he cooked up there). The whole hike was about 4 miles round trip, which took about 4 hours total (plus lunch time). I did a good job avoiding sunburn, but I'm pretty bruised and scratched up. A deer tick tried to eat my lunch, so I made extra sure he didn't follow me home. It was a ton of fun and I got to hang out with some really good friends that I don't see too often. All in all, a good day. And I slept well afterwards.
School is still a struggle to stay motivated this late in the year, but seeing my kids every morning makes it easier. I love 'em.


Post Script: I just finished lesson planning for this year. DONE.

Imposter!

Today ended in an extremely frustrating way, and I was angry.

Once a month, the 7th grade teachers throw a Cougar Coupon event. The coupons are given to students who behave exceptionally or show significant improvement in class, maximum two given out per class. The event requires two coupons to attend, and today's event was hosted by Yours Truly. I did an old standard, movie and popcorn. I wanted to buy Finding Nemo, because it ties in really well with the next unit on ecology, but I couldn't find it, so I bought Chicken Run instead. I also got a giant bag of chips and a giant bag of popcorn, and scheduled the movie for my 7th period prep.

7th period came, and a TON of kids showed up. It wasn't a huge surprise, because on coupon event days, some of the teachers and aides give coupons to anyone who asks. About 30 kids (more than half the 7th grade) was there, and they were not calm. I kicked out a few kids for roughhousing before the movie even started. I put out the snacks and some paper towels, and within five minutes, there was popcorn everywhere (except in the bags). I kicked out a few more troublemakers who were trying to horde food and making the biggest mess, accepted the fact that I wouldn't get to much on chips, and played the movie.

And the sound didn't work. I'm pretty good with computers (although I have very strong feelings about the too-much-but-not-enough user interface in Windows), but couldn't fix it. So I turned on the lights, and announced that everyone would help clean up the room, and then they could hang out quietly or go back to class.

The clean up went smoothly and about half the kids left. With about 10 kids left, all the good kids who should have been there in the first place, we sat and watched Blue Planet for a half hour. We had a great time and some good discussions about polar bears and whales.

Of course, I then found out that a few kids forged their Cougar Coupons. There were a couple of really bad teacher signatures, and it made me very angry (the kids who told me got very angry about it too). I took the imposter coupons to the assistant principal...who didn't care about it. She told me to talk to the school social worker, because she's in charge of the coupon system. So I guess there will be no punishments for those kids. Maintaining status quo like only Bridgeport can.

Then I ran 3 miles and everything was better. I realized that it's been a while since I've gotten really angry in front of my kids, and that is a good thing. I've been getting less personally offended by my students, and also keeping a cool temper, which is making me a better teacher. I guess I love the kids anyway.

Heat

They just turned on the air conditioning today. Before today, it reached 80 degrees F in my classroom. The kids were cranky, we were cranky, and it was hot and sweaty everywhere. Nothing is worse than a room full of sweaty, cranky, 12- and 13-year olds.

Still, I've been having fun teaching. Yesterday, my homeroom class was awesome. My toughest student in that class was wonderful, and we ended up having great classroom discussions. We were learning about the nervous system, and students really enjoyed hearing stories about the history of neuroscience. I had so much fun.

Other lessons have ranged from awesome to disastrous, but there are more and more good ones these days. One frustrating thing, though, is that the kids really want to learn but won't sit still for a lesson. They will chatter and complain throughout a lesson, but then need immediate individual attention so they can learn what they missed. It's frustrating! I've been doing a lot of reteaching, because I love that they want to learn, but I need to find better ways of keeping them engaged throughout the classroom lesson.

For the first time in a while, this week, I've been keeping up on my running. I ran 4 miles on Sunday (felt terrible, but the weather was great) and 2.5 on Tuesday, and I plan on adding a couple more today. I may throw a 5K in sometime this weekend or next weekend just for fun, but my sprint triathlon is in only a month. I need to get working!

New Adventures

This job hunt was a whole lot shorter than my first one after college. Within two weeks, I've got a new job for next year! I'm going to be working at North Star Academy in Newark, NJ, which is part of the Uncommon Schools network. It's a system of schools that deals with a similar population to my students, but with a whole new level of functionality. In that it is actually functional. More details to follow.

I missed two days of school this week for interviews/family support. I am exhausted. Both interviews went great, and I came back to school with a renewed sense of not-quite-so-blah-ness. On Tuesday, I really put some effort back into improving the classroom environment, and was rewarded handsomely for it. On Wednesday, we had one of those half days when I don't lose any class time, only my prep time. Fortunately for us, the principal didn't plan anything for the "School Improvement Day", so we organized some end-of-year logistics within the 7th/8th grade team, and then left early.

Today went really well. My homeroom class, without the biggest personalities, runs wonderfully. I end up with a classroom full of 100% compliance, and the kids are loving completing their assignments. It's like heaven.

And then as I was driving home, I got a call that a massage appointment opened up this afternoon. I squeezed in a one miler before a lovely, lazy massage. My body badly needed both of those things. Tonight's going to be a lazy evening with a beer or two, some ice cream, and maybe some actual food of sustenance (maybe).

Transitions

Last week was really tough, and I don't know how to write about it. My grandmother is sick, and to use her words, "This situation really sucks."

I've been extremely busy, and I think it's time to come clean. Hopefully, my students haven't found my blog yet (I don't think they have), because I don't want them knowing this until the last day of school.

I'm moving to New Jersey. I'm going to finish out the school year, and then I'm going to leave Bridgeport and all of my friends to continue my career in the New Brunswick, NJ area. I made this decision over Spring Break (in Berlin, specifically), but it's definite.

Since then, in addition to my normal exhausting duties as Best Science Teacher Ever and Closer of the Achievement Gap, and in addition driving back and forth to visit my family, I've refurbished my resume, drafted several cover letters, and written a bunch of applications. In the last week, I've even witnessed some success! I've had two schools contact me and ask me to do a sample lesson and interview (one done today, one to do on Thursday). Both schools are completely different from my current school, although in different ways, and I would be incredibly honored to teach at either one.

I'm proud about how far I've gone, but the piling of stuff on top of stuff is really exhausting. Back to school tomorrow. I've got a case of the Don't-Wannas, but I know that when I see my kids in the morning I'll get right back into the groove.