Today is our last ProSat (Professional Development one Saturday a month) for the Fall semester. At ProSat we always have an opener that performs or talks, etc. TFA tries to always have it be students so that we have a chance to see some of our Delta kids. Well...today it's my kids!! I am so excited!!!! (and a little nervous)
We are having two types of performers. First, we are having 6 students come and say a little speech about how Teach for America has impacted their lives in the classroom and out. And then second, we are having a boy come who is really talented at playing blues music and singing. It is going to be great!
I am going to post pictures afterward. Hopefully it goes well! :)
Saturday, December 11, 2010
Saturday, December 4, 2010
Rough Draft Proposal
Hey everyone! Here is a rough draft of the letter I am going to be sending out for TFA. Email me what you think about it with suggestions, kudos, grammar/punctuation fixes, etc. Thanks!
p.s. I had to edit out my name and town name for some protection purposes.
Country roads, one gas station towns, class sizes less then 15, and business closing times around 5PM - are just a few of the shocks that came with moving to the Mississippi Delta. At first, the thought of surviving these types of road blocks were difficult to overcome, now it is just part of the day to day mix we each push through. My name is Caitlin Butler, and I am a 2009 Teach for America Corps Members, placed in [town], Arkansas and part of the Mississippi Delta Corps.
Perhaps the most eye opening part of this movement and experience is the student’s ability to push through adversity. Students reading at an average of 5 years behind their grade level are achieving every day in the classroom because of their personal motivation. What a powerful concept. Self respect and determination driving success, not money, not economical class, not privilege. Petrified of my End of Course English III exam scores, I felt like there was a mountain to climb to get to any level of measurable success. And yes, maybe I was right - there definitely was a mountain - but where I was wrong was what type of mountain. Students in my classroom these past two years have the desire inside of them to succeed. Now, it is simply putting the tools in their hands and empowering them.
Perhaps my largest success in the classroom each day has been investment. I have had the opportunity to have the best students in the Delta in my classroom each day. Because of this fact - I can’t stop loving them each day! We may disagree and get annoyed with each other, but these students have become my number one. As a result they are just as committed to the goals we have in the classroom as I am. Last year we had students answer every single open response and essay question, something that has not happened at [town] in 5 years. We went from 21% completion of open response questions to 100%. Students understood where they were going and how they needed to get there.
This impact has gone far beyond my classroom though. Now with seven Teach for America teachers at [town] High School we have seen the biggest math score gains in Southeastern Arkansas, an actual Spanish teacher instead of distance learning instructor, reaching the national standard of Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) in middle school literacy, and the first Biology teacher in 5 years to last more then 1 year. All of these accomplishments are positive. All of these accomplishments are directly from Teach for America.
Please continue to support this movement in [town] and far beyond this. When I coach basketball in our district there are 5 Teach for America teachers involved out of 10 schools. Let’s grow this to each and every town. The students are responding, and so must we! Teach for America for the win!
p.s. I had to edit out my name and town name for some protection purposes.
Country roads, one gas station towns, class sizes less then 15, and business closing times around 5PM - are just a few of the shocks that came with moving to the Mississippi Delta. At first, the thought of surviving these types of road blocks were difficult to overcome, now it is just part of the day to day mix we each push through. My name is Caitlin Butler, and I am a 2009 Teach for America Corps Members, placed in [town], Arkansas and part of the Mississippi Delta Corps.
Perhaps the most eye opening part of this movement and experience is the student’s ability to push through adversity. Students reading at an average of 5 years behind their grade level are achieving every day in the classroom because of their personal motivation. What a powerful concept. Self respect and determination driving success, not money, not economical class, not privilege. Petrified of my End of Course English III exam scores, I felt like there was a mountain to climb to get to any level of measurable success. And yes, maybe I was right - there definitely was a mountain - but where I was wrong was what type of mountain. Students in my classroom these past two years have the desire inside of them to succeed. Now, it is simply putting the tools in their hands and empowering them.
Perhaps my largest success in the classroom each day has been investment. I have had the opportunity to have the best students in the Delta in my classroom each day. Because of this fact - I can’t stop loving them each day! We may disagree and get annoyed with each other, but these students have become my number one. As a result they are just as committed to the goals we have in the classroom as I am. Last year we had students answer every single open response and essay question, something that has not happened at [town] in 5 years. We went from 21% completion of open response questions to 100%. Students understood where they were going and how they needed to get there.
This impact has gone far beyond my classroom though. Now with seven Teach for America teachers at [town] High School we have seen the biggest math score gains in Southeastern Arkansas, an actual Spanish teacher instead of distance learning instructor, reaching the national standard of Annual Yearly Progress (AYP) in middle school literacy, and the first Biology teacher in 5 years to last more then 1 year. All of these accomplishments are positive. All of these accomplishments are directly from Teach for America.
Please continue to support this movement in [town] and far beyond this. When I coach basketball in our district there are 5 Teach for America teachers involved out of 10 schools. Let’s grow this to each and every town. The students are responding, and so must we! Teach for America for the win!
Bah Bahhh
Yesterday was rough. I had to take a student to the hospital for the second day in a row. She is suffering from major dehydration and extreme fatigue. At basketball practice she collapsed and could not focus her eyes. She went completely cold and could not squeeze my finger or use her legs to walk to the car.
I thought maybe she was just dehydrated, so I had her sit for awhile at first (before the rest of that happened) and had her drink some water. She got progressively worse, until I thought it was dangerous to not take her to the hospital. I transported her there and then waited until her mom got there. Then the same thing happened the next day at the game (she did not play or participate, just sat on the bench).
Some of the things that have happened down here are things I never thought I would personally experience.
I thought maybe she was just dehydrated, so I had her sit for awhile at first (before the rest of that happened) and had her drink some water. She got progressively worse, until I thought it was dangerous to not take her to the hospital. I transported her there and then waited until her mom got there. Then the same thing happened the next day at the game (she did not play or participate, just sat on the bench).
Some of the things that have happened down here are things I never thought I would personally experience.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Burst out laughing
Just burst out laughing when these two photos came up. Try to find out why in both examples....
Frustration
We have two and half weeks until Christmas break. The last week used to be considered "exam week," but is now under review for a different possibility. Frustrating, frustrating, frustrating.
In the past on the Friday right before break, the kids would come in and have 1 exam, leave at 1030, and teachers would follow soon after at 12. Now, we are to have a full day on both Thursday and Friday. That's lame, and tiresome. The newly proposed plan is to have a one hour study hall before each exam. What!? I foresee a few problems with that;
1. No one will study the night before
2. People will not want to study during their time in class, equaling pink slips/write-ups
3. Teachers will not fill up the entire hour (myself included), equaling pink slips/write-ups
4. Students will be given the answers immediately before taking the test, therefor not testing their knowledge, but instead their ability to remember something in a short period of time
Just a few. Sometimes I feel like there needs to be more communication and group brainstorming before these type of decisions are rolled out. Especially getting input from the teachers that actually TEACH and deal with the issues/kids in this context each day.
In the past on the Friday right before break, the kids would come in and have 1 exam, leave at 1030, and teachers would follow soon after at 12. Now, we are to have a full day on both Thursday and Friday. That's lame, and tiresome. The newly proposed plan is to have a one hour study hall before each exam. What!? I foresee a few problems with that;
1. No one will study the night before
2. People will not want to study during their time in class, equaling pink slips/write-ups
3. Teachers will not fill up the entire hour (myself included), equaling pink slips/write-ups
4. Students will be given the answers immediately before taking the test, therefor not testing their knowledge, but instead their ability to remember something in a short period of time
Just a few. Sometimes I feel like there needs to be more communication and group brainstorming before these type of decisions are rolled out. Especially getting input from the teachers that actually TEACH and deal with the issues/kids in this context each day.
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