Hello World,
So I sort of suck at this blogging thing and need to get on more of a routine. What lead me to tonight's post is a need to process and reflect on my new found line of work. I am still doing this Teach For America thing and I have been placed in the amazing Twin Cities working as a 6-12th grade science teacher. Thus far many things have happend and I am just beginning to find balance in my new role as an educator. (But things are still rocky and it has taken a lot emotionally, physically, and mentally to get where I am at.)
To give you a quick look into my classroom and current state of our education system as it relates to low income communities I will give you a quick profile of one of my students. One of my favorite students from day one has to be Abdirizak. He is a 6ft tall Somalian 7th grader who aspires to be the next greatest basketball and soccer star the world has ever seen. He arrived to America 5 years ago with his family who were fleeing conditions in Eastern Africa. Before arriving in America he spent a few months in a refugee camp where conditions were explained to me as unbearable. However for the most part Abdirizak is a well adjusted young teenage boy.
Abdirizak has been attending my school for 5 years and has made many friends. Senior staff explain him as a leader among his peers, for both good and bad behavior. He faced a few challenges with assimilating and adapting to a formalized education system and american culture in general as well as learning a new language that is not spoken at home. But needless to say Abdirizak's true potential is not being met by my school. After five years of instruction, he is still reading at a 1st grade level. He is doing math at a 3rd grade level. And when he took a national competency exam he scored in the bottom 1% in every category. Abdirizak struggles with even the simplest word problem simply because the words mean nothing to him, yet he can speak english very fluently. The most astonishing thing is I asked him how his grades have been in the past and he said he usually receives A's in most of his classes. If things were to continue Abdirizak would not be on track to graduate on grade level and would likely not attend college. My school, simply put, is a failure factory specifically catered to recent immigrant and refugee families that know no better. My families are falsely told that 100% of our school graduates go on to attend college. And due to housing shortages and the neighborhoods that have grown around this immigrant community, my families are comforted by the fact that approximately 90% of the school population is Somali, even if very few of the staff are.
In my short 9 weeks of teaching several senior staff teachers have quit because they wanted to work at a "better" school. It's ironic that the name of my school is Learning For Leadership because very little leadership exists within the administration of my school and even less learning is occurring. We are in stage one of not meeting our AYP goal. We are allowed to come up with our own plan of how we are going to fix the lack of student learning, if we do not see remarkable improvement the state will come in and basically fire or "restructure" all staff. (Meaning the few good and mostly sub par teachers will be hired at a different school, perpetuating the problem of low performing schools) Given such an ultimatum you think our school would tackle this challenge head on with full force and innovative ideas or even sticking to the fundamentals. Instead, we talked about how perhaps our students did show growth if you look at the data in a certain context, and the new standardized test was simply too hard. I don't know much about standardized tests other than the fact that they were a joke when I was a student and every student got above 90% in the school I went to. But I do know that when only 12% of a school population is on grade level and the remaining 88% scored below, there is a systemic flaw in how things are being done at our school.
Again, I am new to teaching and do not pretend to have the answers. I also think that the answer does not rest with one single thing. To quote "A Chance To Make History" I believe the answer lies in a hundred different 1% solutions." Simply put the current level of learning at my school is not enough to give these students a chance at being successful in a world where they already have so much working against them as poor, black, immigrant citizens, receiving an education that graduates them at an 8h grade level (or lower). I simply wish I could put all of these students on a bus and bring them to the school I attended.
As glim as some of this sounds, I do want to take a moment and talk about positive things I see happening every day. I will admit that my perceptions of the parents of my students before I started working at my school was not a positive one. I created a totally made up vision of what they might be like and I have found that I was unfair. My parents are amazing and truly do care about their students success. Sometimes even to a fault because they trust in our education so much to give their children a future much better than their own. It was so painful to tell many parents their student was failing because our school had neglected to give them the years of reading, writing, and math skills they need to be successful.
Another positive is my school has resource upon resource. In my room I have a full set of microscopes, an interactive white board, a school provided laptop, and so many other high tech widgets and gizmos. Yet I have a busted window, dirty bathrooms, floors, and toilets, and our buses can't seem to get our students to class until part way through third period some days. As great as the resources are I feel the money is poorly allocated and to be honest I think it is fiscally irresponsible for this school to be allowed to operate in the way that it does.
Finally, the students are amazing and have unbelievable capacity and potential to learn. simply given the exposure to science, which they did not receive years prior due to a teacher quitting, ignites a flame of learning. It can be slow going at times but they are learning and showing steady improvement. I don't know if my true talent rests with being a teacher but I enjoy seeing my students develop an appreciation for their own educational development. I give so much credit to my students, they are the smartest, strongest, most determined scholars I have ever met. They are slowing becoming world problem solving scientists. My experiences in the classroom are giving me the exposure to the types of social injustices that need to be fixed, and its exciting to see where this new and challenging path takes me.
That is all for tonight because I need to get some sleep for the start of another busy week of teaching. I hope to take some time each night to bring my story up to speed and keep writing about my educational and social philosophies as they are challenged and developed.
Peace,
KDFW
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Hello World,
So it has been a few weeks since my first post but a whole lot has happened. I finished my job at the hospital where I spent my final weeks being a sitter for slightly confused and/or crazy patients as they dreamed of whatever a crazy person dreams of (most likely conversations with past celebrities reminiscent of their "experimental" years). I even had a very eventful night in which I participated on a Code Blue, which was exciting but something I hope I never have to experience again.
However, my professional career has headed down an entirely new path in which I will attempt to be a Jr. High Science Teacher for Learning For Leadership Charter School in Minneapolis Minnesota for the next two years. I am participating in an amazing program called Teach For America, and hope to aid in their mission to eliminate the educational achievement gap.
On Tuesday I drove 4.5 hours from Iowa City to St. Paul, MN and began day one of an intense 6 week process in which I learn about TFA's corp values and receive a military style bootcamp on how to become a teacher. Needless to say this is a recipe for disaster. However, I am blown away by the amazing individuals that have decided to partake in this journey with me and I am excited to get to know them all better. The TFA staff was also very welcoming and I am finishing up my first full day of Induction at Hamline University. I find it sort of ironic that I graduated college with multiple degrees only to return to a college dorm room and fight over showers to get ready in the morning. And although it may get old with time, I am loving the free cafeteria food and all you can eat. I haven't had that since freshman year, but I think that means I will probably put on the graduate 15.
The day was spent filled with mission & vision statements and goals for the upcoming year. But TFA has managed to pepper in some activities with past TFA Alumni that included a happy hour at the Wild Onion and tonight a current TFA corps member is inviting me over to their house and making me dinner. I am blown away by the kindness and excitement of everyone involved so far.
However, there has been one slight SNAFU and I hope to figure it out. I originally thought my placement included a masters option along with teaching licensure but I think my undergrad course load and teaching assignment conflict and it might require a full extra year and thousands of dollars of taking classes that I have already taken. (For a degree I don't necessary need but would be nice to have for the amount of work I will be putting in.) Admittedly this is my own fault as I come under the minimum GPA requirement by .01, which prevents me from transferring any undergrad courses to round out my masters degree. I talked to the admissions counselor and he said I may be able to challenge the ruling, and at least get the classes I scored a B- or better in, which would knock out all of my science related courses.
Overall, most of my anxiety has been put to rest or perhaps I am just to busy to think about them as much. For now I am just along for the ride and hopefully I manage to find a roommate or two along the way. In the next coming days I hope to do some apartment hunting and visit my placement school to get a look at my future classroom. That is all I have for today but I am sure tomorrow's busy schedule will bring some updates.
-KDFW
So it has been a few weeks since my first post but a whole lot has happened. I finished my job at the hospital where I spent my final weeks being a sitter for slightly confused and/or crazy patients as they dreamed of whatever a crazy person dreams of (most likely conversations with past celebrities reminiscent of their "experimental" years). I even had a very eventful night in which I participated on a Code Blue, which was exciting but something I hope I never have to experience again.
However, my professional career has headed down an entirely new path in which I will attempt to be a Jr. High Science Teacher for Learning For Leadership Charter School in Minneapolis Minnesota for the next two years. I am participating in an amazing program called Teach For America, and hope to aid in their mission to eliminate the educational achievement gap.
On Tuesday I drove 4.5 hours from Iowa City to St. Paul, MN and began day one of an intense 6 week process in which I learn about TFA's corp values and receive a military style bootcamp on how to become a teacher. Needless to say this is a recipe for disaster. However, I am blown away by the amazing individuals that have decided to partake in this journey with me and I am excited to get to know them all better. The TFA staff was also very welcoming and I am finishing up my first full day of Induction at Hamline University. I find it sort of ironic that I graduated college with multiple degrees only to return to a college dorm room and fight over showers to get ready in the morning. And although it may get old with time, I am loving the free cafeteria food and all you can eat. I haven't had that since freshman year, but I think that means I will probably put on the graduate 15.
The day was spent filled with mission & vision statements and goals for the upcoming year. But TFA has managed to pepper in some activities with past TFA Alumni that included a happy hour at the Wild Onion and tonight a current TFA corps member is inviting me over to their house and making me dinner. I am blown away by the kindness and excitement of everyone involved so far.
However, there has been one slight SNAFU and I hope to figure it out. I originally thought my placement included a masters option along with teaching licensure but I think my undergrad course load and teaching assignment conflict and it might require a full extra year and thousands of dollars of taking classes that I have already taken. (For a degree I don't necessary need but would be nice to have for the amount of work I will be putting in.) Admittedly this is my own fault as I come under the minimum GPA requirement by .01, which prevents me from transferring any undergrad courses to round out my masters degree. I talked to the admissions counselor and he said I may be able to challenge the ruling, and at least get the classes I scored a B- or better in, which would knock out all of my science related courses.
Overall, most of my anxiety has been put to rest or perhaps I am just to busy to think about them as much. For now I am just along for the ride and hopefully I manage to find a roommate or two along the way. In the next coming days I hope to do some apartment hunting and visit my placement school to get a look at my future classroom. That is all I have for today but I am sure tomorrow's busy schedule will bring some updates.
-KDFW
Sunday, May 22, 2011
My First Official Blog
Hello World,
So I am new to this whole blogging thing and I thought I would give it a try. However, I should warn you that strange events have a habit of finding me and I view the world through a very animated set of eyes. I make every effort to maintain the accuracy of the stories you read but I take creative license in embellishing a few details from time to time (I get that trait from my father, Rod The Bod). Rest assured all stories are based on true events no matter how unbelievable they may seem.
To bring you up to speed...I am a recent University of Iowa graduate with degrees in Psychology and French. I really have no explanation for why I chose those degrees and I really have no set plan as to what I hope to accomplish with them. However, upon graduating I accepted a position with Teach For America and I will be teaching High School physics in an inner city school in Minneapolis for the next two years. I have zero experience as an educator and let's just say I have less than average skills when it come to physics (I dropped out of my high school physics class and physics is the only subject I failed in college). The positive spin on this situation is that when my students ask me why they have to learn this stuff I can look them in the eye and say with all honesty and experience, "Because one day, you may become a high shool physics teacher."
Situations like these are fairly common in my life. I actually tend to jump into things without much consideration and as a result I land myself in awkward situations pretty often. For example, my senior year of college I decided to try out to be "Herky the Hawk," the University of Iowa mascot. For two weeks I had to compete against 13 other strange individuals who thought it would be fun to dress like a bird and do the macarena in front of 70,000 people on a weekly basis (The position was unpaid and it actually cost me a couple hundred dollars just to drive to my appearances). Despite threats from my girlfriend to break up with me, I accepted the role and entered the secret world of mascoting. A couple hundred awkward birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, and weddings later I am happily retired and can now appreciate the amount of courage it takes an adult man to put on a costume and take ridicule from 8yr olds and awkard sexual advances from their mothers on a daily basis.
My other favorite past time is spending my nights working at a hospital as a nursing assistant. It's not for everyone, but I love the long hours, less than adequate pay, smell of feces, and slightly racist and sexual enuendos of the elderly patients I bathe. I now have a greater appreciation for my health and my ability to wipe my own butt. So many poop stories but so little time. My experience working at a hospital has been very insightful and one day I hope to open up a hospital cruise where people can chose to receive treatment aboard a 5star cruise ship and enjoy dialysis pool side while playing shuffle board and eating copious amounts of buffet style ribs. I also hope to open an adult version of Build-A-Bear called Build-A-Beer where people can come in and build their own style of beer and have it named after them like, "Dale's Pale Ale." Another idea I have is to design an MP3 tie clip. (I once used an iPod mini as a tie clip and someone asked what department store sold MP3 tie clips.) I think I have lots of great ideas but usually it's just my undiagnosed ADD and schizophrenia. My thought process is made up of a bunch of voices shouting inside my head and sometimes it is really hard to make them stop.
Despite how it sounds, I consider myself fairly average and I just try to live the dream one day at a time. I don't want to make this first post too long so I will end it there. Till next time.
Later dudes,
KDFW
So I am new to this whole blogging thing and I thought I would give it a try. However, I should warn you that strange events have a habit of finding me and I view the world through a very animated set of eyes. I make every effort to maintain the accuracy of the stories you read but I take creative license in embellishing a few details from time to time (I get that trait from my father, Rod The Bod). Rest assured all stories are based on true events no matter how unbelievable they may seem.
To bring you up to speed...I am a recent University of Iowa graduate with degrees in Psychology and French. I really have no explanation for why I chose those degrees and I really have no set plan as to what I hope to accomplish with them. However, upon graduating I accepted a position with Teach For America and I will be teaching High School physics in an inner city school in Minneapolis for the next two years. I have zero experience as an educator and let's just say I have less than average skills when it come to physics (I dropped out of my high school physics class and physics is the only subject I failed in college). The positive spin on this situation is that when my students ask me why they have to learn this stuff I can look them in the eye and say with all honesty and experience, "Because one day, you may become a high shool physics teacher."
Situations like these are fairly common in my life. I actually tend to jump into things without much consideration and as a result I land myself in awkward situations pretty often. For example, my senior year of college I decided to try out to be "Herky the Hawk," the University of Iowa mascot. For two weeks I had to compete against 13 other strange individuals who thought it would be fun to dress like a bird and do the macarena in front of 70,000 people on a weekly basis (The position was unpaid and it actually cost me a couple hundred dollars just to drive to my appearances). Despite threats from my girlfriend to break up with me, I accepted the role and entered the secret world of mascoting. A couple hundred awkward birthday parties, bar mitzvahs, and weddings later I am happily retired and can now appreciate the amount of courage it takes an adult man to put on a costume and take ridicule from 8yr olds and awkard sexual advances from their mothers on a daily basis.
My other favorite past time is spending my nights working at a hospital as a nursing assistant. It's not for everyone, but I love the long hours, less than adequate pay, smell of feces, and slightly racist and sexual enuendos of the elderly patients I bathe. I now have a greater appreciation for my health and my ability to wipe my own butt. So many poop stories but so little time. My experience working at a hospital has been very insightful and one day I hope to open up a hospital cruise where people can chose to receive treatment aboard a 5star cruise ship and enjoy dialysis pool side while playing shuffle board and eating copious amounts of buffet style ribs. I also hope to open an adult version of Build-A-Bear called Build-A-Beer where people can come in and build their own style of beer and have it named after them like, "Dale's Pale Ale." Another idea I have is to design an MP3 tie clip. (I once used an iPod mini as a tie clip and someone asked what department store sold MP3 tie clips.) I think I have lots of great ideas but usually it's just my undiagnosed ADD and schizophrenia. My thought process is made up of a bunch of voices shouting inside my head and sometimes it is really hard to make them stop.
Despite how it sounds, I consider myself fairly average and I just try to live the dream one day at a time. I don't want to make this first post too long so I will end it there. Till next time.
Later dudes,
KDFW
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