maybe i haven’t updated in so long because the semester was crazy busy, and it just escaped my mind, or maybe i haven’t updated in awhile because i have stopped looking at what i do as this crazy sequence of events that are extremely temporary and started looking at it more as just my life. either way, that was a crazy long, run-on sentence. i found it doubtful that anybody wanted to hear about my day to day wake up, eat breakfast, go to school routine, but i suppose there are still those out there who are interested in what i’m up to. three parts: part 1 - the semester, part 2 - next year, part 3 - thoughts.
part 1 - so the switch from teaching the fluff class to teaching algebra was certainly the best thing that happened to me this year. i realized just how much i love teaching algebra 1, and how vital it is for kids' long term success in math. i taught all my favorite objectives from last year, and i tried like crazy to get those kiddos ready for the end-of-course test. test scores should be coming in within the next week or two, and i will update once we get those. i think they will be pretty solid, as most of the kids were double blocked (took two math classes) for algebra this year. the practice test scores were a lot higher than last year’s scores, so i hope to see some pretty substantial growth. despite the fact that this year was a bit crazy overall, (with our district laying off a fourth of the staff, our ninth grade academy principal being out for surgery over half the year, and half of the school getting reshuffled at christmas time) i managed to hold it down to the best of my abilities in room 7, and teach those kiddos a bit of math. other highlights of the year include but are not limited to: cooking breakfast for the kiddos the day of the state test, teaching and playing ultimate frisbee with several kids on several different occasions, ten or so study sessions at wendy’s before the end-of-course test, doing insanity with a couple of the kiddos, and a water ballon fight with several kids on the last day of school. good times.
part 2 - next year i will be staying in helena, ar teaching algebra 1 at KIPP delta college preparatory school. (http://www.kippdelta.org/) i hesitate to say too much about next year because i am extremely excited about it, and i have a tendency to get a little amped up about things (this may come as a shock to many). things i do know: i will be pushed extremely hard to get results, i will have an administration behind me that supports what i do and knows how to develop good teachers, and i will work. a lot. this summer i’ve been working through my curriculum (saxon algebra 1) for next year, and that stuff is on an entirely different level of rigor than what i’ve been teaching for the past two years. this is good. this will push me to push the kids. it will be quite difficult, but i am ready.
part 3 - what has this semester taught me? or more importantly, what has this past two years taught me? i am officially done with “teach for america,” and now i’m just a regular ole teacher in a charter school. i can barely even begin to answer the question of what i’ve learned this past two years, and i think i will be answering that question for the next ten years, or maybe for the rest of my life. i know i am a different person than the one that walked in the doors of central high school on day one, not knowing that i was about to have my rear end (i’ll leave it G rated for Mee-Maw) handed to me. “their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive what he is due.” - 1 corinthians 3:13 - 14. my kids have taught me through the fire. they have run me through the gauntlet over and over. they have taught me that all the idealistic, “hopey changey stuff” (cite sarah palin) is all great in theory, but you better come ready to bring it. i’ve learned that the hopey, changey stuff is meaningless without solid planning, solid expectations, solid execution, and on and on it goes. several people have asked me as of late, “so what happened to seminary? i thought you were going into the ministry?” first, this is most certainly ministry work, and i have started to see more and more that the achievement gap is one of, if not the, greatest injustices of our generation. i cannot walk away from that after two years in search of something more substantial. does that rule seminary out? of course not. we all know i change my mind every day, but for now, i am content where i am. i am excited about a new chapter. i am hopeful, and i am ready to plunge back into the depths of teaching algebra 1 to some crazy crazy kiddos in helena, ar. summer school starts in a couple of weeks...... peace.
