Teacher Corps Poem

My MTC Haiku:

In Mississippi

I love to teach children here

They may teach me more 

One of My Favorites

Despite all of the challenges that come along with every _________________ middle school’s first period class, some of my favorite students came from that section.  At my middle school the first period is the designated holding section.  This week alone was 9 week testing and we held first period for at least 75% of the day – every day so far this week.  During picture day – we hold 1^st period all day.  Whenever the superintendent visits the school we’re in 1^st period…and stay there until he leaves.  As a first year or 15 year teacher an outside observer can see why this relationship with 23 students may be strained.  As a first year teacher I’d often resort to 4 hour (no lie) games of class-wide pig.  It’s possible this didn’t close the achievement gap like other activities could have but  it kept everyone sane when you’re in a classroom with the same 23 students for the entire day due to a 16 question district wide test.

            Not to get off track but as a second year teacher in my school I see some of the fruits of the teacher-student relationships built from those (what seemed like decades) days spent together in the classroom.  One of my many favorite students is who I will call ‘Darius’.  He is an huge Yankees fan and we would constantly trash talk each others favorite team – obviously as a native Philadelphian I love the Phillies.  Interestingly enough he was an incredibly hard worker but NEVER strung together a week where he earned Student of the Week award.  One or two days a week he wouldn’t be able to stop from calling out and walk out of my class with a double writing assignment. 

            Now that he isn’t in my class and has since graduated from the 7^th grade I miss seeing him each day in class.  He is certainly far from a teacher’s pet, however, he loved sports and was one of the few 7^th graders that didn’t resort to the classic Kobe-Lebron debates or whether Rondo was better than Derrick Rose.  Most 7^th grade sports fans are only concerned with the ‘flavor of the week’ in terms of sports topics but he was even more knowledgeable than myself on several sports topics.  Oddly enough Darrius takes his 7^th period with a teacher I share a back door with and often visits my room at the end of the day.  More times than not he says ‘your kids are quiet this year’.  I take that as a complement.  Thinking about students such as ‘Darrius’ makes me realize how incredible teaching is and rather than punching a time sheet or simply collecting a paycheck teachers pour into students and can really make a profound impact.

My Wedding in Photos

Portfolio Reflections

           As soon as the second years aka class of 2009 posted their blogs this past spring I anxiously perused them.  I find this program so interesting and it is kind of difficult to picture what everyone’s experience is like so many portfolios painted that exact picture.   Not all were portfolios were created equally though.  As my second year of teaching and first year of marriage begin to fly by, both are awesome so far, there are certain Do’s and Don’ts that will be in my portfolio.

Do’s

• ·      Take a lot of Pictures = Everyone in the program is so spread out in the program that many of the schools in stories from fellow corps members only exist in my head.  I have no idea what the school looks like, what the kids are like or anything about certain areas.  I thought Sharon did an awesome job documenting her students, school activities and life outside of North Panola.
• ·      Be Humble = Humility is one of my favorite traits and Chris Curran excelled in this (although he would never say so).  I was fortunate enough to teach at the same school as Chris and live in the same apartment my first year and saw that on a daily basis.  Although he won the ‘Teacher of the Year’ at our school and was voted by his peers for the ‘Mullins Award’ he will never shy away from saying how difficult his first year was.  It was a grind and in his portfolio, when he could’ve been trying to keep his reputation clean he videotaped some of the horrors of his first year.  I can barely stomach looking at some of the video I took because it reminds me of that difficult year but he included it in his portfolio.

Don’ts

• ·      Overuse Clipart = Not everyone needs a high tech $3,000 camera but I did not like how many teachers used clipart in place of where perfectly good pictures could’ve been used.  So many of the teachers in the program helped me even though I was far away and I would like to see less clipart and more photographs.

            Overall I would like to thank one more time the class of 2009 for all their help.  I feel like an adequate teacher that can easily run a silent classroom and I definitely would not be able to say that if it wasn’t for all the mentoring, tips and legitimate help from many of the members. 

1st v. 2nd

So far I really like my second year teaching.  Besides the fact that I am a newlywed with my best friend down here, teaching has been a huge blessing.  It is way more similar to how I envision teaching where the teacher is confident and and in 100% control 100% of the time.  Below are some comparisons between the two first days of school:

LENGTH OF HOLDING HOMEROOM

1^st Year: 5 days or 40 hours in the classroom

2^nd Year: ½ day or 4 hours in the classroom

SCHOOL and GRADE LEVEL:

1st Year:  Solomon MS - 7th Grade Math

2nd Year:  Solomon MS - 7th Grade Math

HOMEROOM SIZE

1^st Year:  23

2^nd Year:  21

LEVEL OF STUDENT TALKING (1 – 10; 10 is the hearing a pin drop)

1^st Year:  5; Mild comments and questions without raising hand

2^nd Year:  10; Silence is golden

AMOUNT OF FOOD CONSUMED THE FIRST WEEK

1^st Year:  3 meals over the week…seriously

2^nd Year:  3 meals per day…everyday

TIME SPENT EACH NIGHT PLANNING THE FIRST WEEK

1^st Year:  Every waking moment

2^nd Year:  About two hours a night

TEACHER CONFIDENCE IN RULES (1 – 10; 10 is complete confidence)

1^st Year:  4; Summer School was helpful but little confidence

2^nd Year:  10; I wish they would test me

MOST TIME CONSUMING ACTIVITY THE DAY BEFORE SCHOOL STARTED

1^st Year:  Planning + Worrying

2^nd Year:  Kayaking with my wife

FEELING IN LEGS LAYING IN BED THE NIGHT AFTER SCHOOL

1^st Year:  Ached as much as when I ran my first marathon – seriously

2^nd Year:  Felt like I ran 5 miles

LEVEL OF OPTIMISM AFTER THE FIRST DAY

1^st Year:  How will I get through the year?

2^nd Year:  This year will be great!  This is why I wanted to be a teacher!

            As hopefully this picture will paint, the first day of school was incredibly different between my first and second year.  I always thought that and believed that my second year was easier but didn’t realize the level of confidence I gained throughout the first year even though it was so hard at times.  As this year continues I look forward to growing as a teacher and continuing to run a silent classroom.  There is hope for all first years!

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to two of my biggest blog followers - Natalie Miller and Tim Palma on their recent engagement!  I don't expect anyone else to read this but I look forward to the wedding and keep it real you two up in Pittsburgh

Summer

Even though teaching can be real rough at points, I'm currently sitting in the waiting room getting the 15,000 mile inspection on a Friday morning at 10AM.  I didn't have to take off and actually haven't worked in over a month.  I need to remember the pros of teaching as well.