This is baseball?

is not equal to

So, finally something non-school related. Today I decided to tag along with the boys for an afternoon at the ballpark. I had heard things about Minute Maid Park and its luxurious AC and roof but not until I arrived was I hit full force.

First, we arrived halfway through the first inning to find that we could still purchase tickets from the gate for 7 dollars.....yes, you read that right. SEVEN DOLLARS! Its craziness! So upon getting tickets and shuffling our way inside we find a completely enclosed ballpark with escalators, air conditioning and lots of fancy screens in the outfield.

So as we settled into our seats I couldn't help but be distracted by the atmosphere. Having spent the last 4 years in Boston being surrounded by Red Sox madness (and happily taking on a bit of it myself in the last year) I didn't know how to take this. No sunshine? AC? No Sweet Caroline sing along? My future roommate and I remarked on the old school charm of Fenway and my love of the Kenmore buzz pre and post games. Unfortunately these Astros just weren't doing it for me.

I admit, I had fun. It was a nice escape

from lesson planning and a relaxing way to spend a sunday but to me - this was not real baseball.

but look how adorable my roomies are:

Can we agree that you are all acting like maniacs?

So, of course no more than 24 hours after I posted about how much I love my kids, I have the worst school day to date. Friday was our final TAKS test day and the kids finished their reading test right before my period began. This meant that they had been sitting still in total silence for 2 1/2 hours and had a lot of energy to get out. Any shot I had at being able to teach them how to add and subtract fractions was shot. So instead I ended up fighting to get through my lessons and ended up moving kids around because they couldn't behave next to their friends.

By the end of the day, we ended up far behind finishing our lesson and instead I took the time to have a serious discussion about classroom behavior and its affect on our ability to learn everything we need to for eighth grade. They all agreed that their behavior was out of line and we agreed to be focused on Monday. One student even came up and apologized to me for being disrespectful by talking in class.

Needless to say I never thought I could feel so utterly defeated by 14 year olds. Apparently I have quiet a few days like yesterday to look forward to in the next two years. So tonight, we toast to that.

"I wanna be a lawyer but a good one that really helps people"

So as I'm rounding out week two in the classroom I felt it proper to update.

This week has gone by SO fast! I can't believe its already Thursday and I only have two weeks left with these awesome kids! In short, this week has been fun. Well, fun may be a stretch but compared to last week it is so much smoother. I am starting to get my teacher-legs I guess and feeling more empowered as the leader of my classroom. I'm getting much stronger at classroom management which included teaching my students about a little thing Aretha called R-E-S-P-E-C-T.

On Wednesday I was actually able to videotape myself teaching so I can see how I present my material and if I really come across as clear and concise as I'd hoped. I've yet to watch the video since its on a mini-dvd that I can't put into my mac so I'm going to have to find some PC friends. This video should also include my respect lecture so I'm excited to see what my teacher face actually looks like to the kids :)

Otherwise, I'm preparing to send progress reports home and today we had the TAKS (texas state standardized test) retests. This meant I didn't actually get to teach which was a bit of a bummer. I did get the students who were finished with the test to write me a paragraph about their goals and dreams for the future. These are some of the best things I've read since I got here and it is so inspiring to hear about all their goals. I loved reading one student who wrote "I would want to feel achieved when I finish college because I worked hard and got something that pays off by changing my whole life." My kids seem so motivated to go to college and get rewarding careers (three want to be vets!) and its inspiring to know teachers like us can help them do that. I really think it is insane how invested we become in our kids in just 2 weeks. They so quickly become a part of your life and you realize that despite sleeping very little and being stressed to the point of tears you do this for them.

Finally, the weekend is approaching and mine will be filled with more teacher stuff. Saturday I will be taking the TeXes teaching exam which I've yet to prepare for. I'm not too stressed for the most part but I do need to learn something about the history of Texas so I don't bomb the social studies section. Sunday I need to finalize stuff for next week and work out combining some of my lessons that have been pushed back because of testing.

Of course I'm sure there will be some sort of fun involved in those couple days! For now its off to finalize lesson plans!

My first week in triple digits

Check out what I have to look forward to this week....

thanks weather.com

"Hey miss - can i have your number?"

So it is currently 10:45 on Friday night and what am I doing? trying to keep my eyes open long enough to update this and then pass out.

I just finished my first week teaching and oh.em.gee. I have never been more exhausted. I pulled my first all nighter in my life (yes, four years of college and I was always able to sleep). I have had a total of 12 hours of sleep since monday night. Despite my exhaustion I have never had a more exciting week.

In short:

I am the proud math teacher of fourteen 14yr olds. My kids are great. Of course we always have a few difficulties that require me to pull out the "teacher face" and they LOOOOVE to chat when they aren't supposed to but overall they are a great bunch. On the first day I had them fill out surveys about themselves and I got some awesome insight about these kids. In response to "Tell me something interesting" I got everything from students telling me they are good kids but get mad easily to their goals about graduating from high school and becoming professional athletes.

On Tuesday I actually gave them the opportunity to write me questions. I told them they could write me anything they wanted....oh my did that get interesting. Almost every note card included something about "Do you have a boyfriend" or "Do you have a crush on one of the other teachers" or "What's your number." Oh 14yr olds and their obsession with dating. I did have a touching question when a girl asked "Do you think you will be able to pass us to eighth grade?" YES I WILL.

While there were some fantastic moments of getting to know these kids there were also many harsh realities we all faced in our classrooms. I found a student struggled on my word problems not because of math skills but because he reads on a third grade level. I found a girl who has passed through the education system to 7th grade without knowledge of how multiplication and division work. I have colleagues with pregnant 14 year olds. It is something you can read about but when facing in reality is completely astounding.

I imagined I would be working hard these few weeks and next two years but the reality of actually doing it is taking a toll on me. My goal for the weekend is to refocus for next week so I can maintain proper sleep patterns and in turn be more prepared to deliver the lessons my kids deserve. I will try to update with more anecdotes from my school days but unfortunately this ranks far below the millions of hours of lesson planning and prep I have to focus on.

I apologize if this isn't coherent but I believe you understand why.

One day, all children in this nation will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education.

Dear Teachers,

For many of you, tomorrow is a day that has been in the making for a very long time. An event, or a series of events, has ultimately shaped you in such a way you were compelled to spend at least the next two years of your lives shaping the minds of our youth. You were not deterred by the fact that teaching is extremely difficult. You were not deterred by statistics recounting the dismal state of our educational system because you knew you had strength. You knew you were dedicated. You knew you could persevere. You knew you would be the one to put our children on the path to success. There was never a shadow of a doubt in your mind that your students will not succeed. The next four weeks of your life undoubtedly will be difficult, but trumping the difficulty will be the reward. The reward of seeing a student participate in class for the first time. The reward of a student finally beginning to love learning. And the reward of a student finally believing that they can achieve. Starting tomorrow, your commitment is no longer about ideas, theories, or beliefs. Starting tomorrow you will see the faces of students you will lead to a better life. It won't be easy and some days it will push you to the brink.... But it is worth it. Every single day will be worth it.

Get your rest this evening and go to school tomorrow ready to change lives.

----final note of the weekend from my corps member advisor. Its just what I needed for next week to begin.

Work Hard! Get Smart!

The first week of institute is almost at a close and I can't even begin to express everything I have learned about teaching, the achievement gap and classroom management. The first few days focused on how to create our visions for lessons and then backwards plan to ensure our key points for the lesson were taught, practiced and assessed by every student in the class. With this we had to turn in our first two lessons today. Now, it is impossible to begin to explain the complexity of understanding not only the process for creating a plan but also in teaching myself how to TEACH math. So much of this I just know. Of course 1/2 is 0.5 which is 50%. But what about 8th graders? So the last few days I spent perfecting my first two lesson visions and then yesterday spent all day/night completing five-step lesson plans that I turned in at 8am this morning after a mere 3 hours sleep.

The best part? I found out this afternoon that I would actually be switching to teach 7th grade math so those two lessons were useless to me.....awesome! Really it wasn't all bad since the reason I was changed was because my 8th grade lesson was very strong. Also, since its just the first week I won't really be behind.

This week we also focused on literacy and I was met with some of the most disturbing statistics. Really? States use third grade literacy scores to predict prison sizes! My kids are not going to be some prison statistic and regardless of subject matter there is a grave need for every teacher to focus on our kids' literacy.

Tonight, I get to focus on classroom management. This includes everything from how to walk into the class silently and begin working to rules and consequences to rewards and incentives. One person pointed out today that "We live in a state where corporal punishment is okay but its not okay to give a student candy." Ridiculous.

Anyway after an exhausting week I am looking forward to a little Houston fun this weekend in between planning next week's lessons and objectives.

until next time....

How many acronyms can one organization have?

CMA, ISAT, SD, CM, PD, TAL, IEP, AIM, GAP...... really the acronym possibilities are endless. We like to try and make the longest sentences possible using all of these options and have added a few of our own to the list.

Anyway, today I finished my second institute day here in Houston and learned I will be teaching 8th grade math for the next four weeks. Yes, on Monday morning I will be in charge of managing a class of 8th graders! Eeeek! (I guess I've got to prepare somehow)

Today we spent the day focusing on creating vision for our lessons and began the lesson planning process. It is really much harder than I think anyone who isn't a teacher ever expected and trying to learn it in two days isn't making it any easier.

Post school activities consisted simply of comparing school stories and giving ourselves a break before getting back to work.....speaking of....

oh and have a look at my sweet lunchbox......

"Two buck chuck? is that a brand? "-- "No, its a lifestyle"

Since I have been without internet for about a week now real updating has been almost impossible. In quick recap:

I made the four day drive from Virginia to Houston and arrived with a few silly stories.

First, apparently in the state of Alabama if you are stopped on the highway in traffic that means you have an open invitation to wander around on the highway. Literally I was stopped (with my car off) for a little over an hour and everyone in the cars around me just got out of the

ir cars and left the doors open wandering the highway....I tried to catch a glimpse in my mirror for you ^

In other news Baton Rouge couch surfing was a total success. The girls were super nice even if I was exhausted and just wanted to sleep.

Finally, arriving in Texas is absurd. First there are GIANT TX flags to greet you and there is a sign for El Paso 878 miles. Really? I know you are a big state but come on.

Finally I made it to Induction is Houston on Thursday night and have met some awesome people over the last few days. We have been spending all day in different lessons about the achievement gap both in Houston and nationwide. We discussed diversity and teaching as learners while learning about the amazing gains past corps members have made with their students.

The sessions this weekend and my conversations with current corps members have been extremely inspiring and really reinvigorated me about why I am doing this. The students. Every child has the ability to love learning and it is my job to really show them how to do that. My students can and will make significant over the next two years and while I know this will be the most difficult two years I have experienced they will be the most rewarding.

In other big news - I GOT A JOB!!!! I had an interview on Friday and apparently my firey hair and energy about getting to teach science inspired my principal to describe me in one word as "Fun." I will be working at a middle school in the north part of Houston but I'm not yet sure of my exact content. I am really excited to have the job placement over and be able to focus on my summer school students for the next five weeks.

Finally - and probably most importantly for you, my dedicated readers - I we

nt to a Honky Tonk last night!!! I have NEVER seen anything like this in person before. People really

were dancing like in Urban Cowboy and I got to (try to) line dance and learned from a real T

exan how to two-step. ---oh and the bar came complete with a DISCO SADDLE!

Tomorrow starts REAL institute. Wish me luck!

PS- there is a placement coordinator who shares the name with a certain Trader Joe's staple who inspired the subject.

"OK! Stop yelling at me!!"

So, even though I've spent the last few days on the road alone I kept finding myself screaming the subject quote frequently in my car.

Yes, my very unpleasant GPS guide "Samantha" has been very rude with me if I decide to take a stop for food or gas or ANYTHING that isn't exactly what she wants me to do.

So today- she died.

I have currently replaced her with a much sweeter british lady who, because Garmin didn't do it for me, I am naming Nigella....yep, after Nigella Lawson.

More exploits from the road to come.