Getting a Little Better

Life is getting a little better, the more time I am able to spend in my classroom the better my days become. I would much rather be in my classroom than be in Teach For America sessions all day long. It has been amazing to see the growth of my students in just the 7 class periods I have had with them. The English exposure I am providing the students is a great thing for them. Today I overheard two of my boys speaking in English to each other in the lunchroom. It’s the little things that make me really excited. Today, one of my collaborative members told me that a student was telling her all about lakes and oceans because Mr. Street taught her about them, I was jazzed to hear that.

Yesterday they surprised us all with an afternoon off, they called us into the curriculum specialist room (the place where we have the dreaded horribly long TFA classes) and lectured us then told us we were going to spend the rest of the day in horrible sessions that made a few people start to cry. Then they said, just kidding, go home, the busses are waiting! There were so many people that cried when that announcement came. We arrived back to the University of Houston campus to massage tables, food, fun music, games, and beds to fall asleep in (which is what I did). Then most of us went out to happy hour and enjoyed breathing for the first time in awhile. Such a relief!

We get the keys to our apartment on Sunday, very excited about that! It still seems surreal that I signed a lease, have a salary, and have to wear a shirt and tie to work everyday, still feels like dress up.

I love you all, thanks so much for the emails and comments, I can't tell you enough how great it is to hear from friends and family at home.

Much love,
Robert

p.s. the first picture is my friend Cristina and my housemate Nels... Cristina will be living in an apartment above Nels and mine. the next photo is of our 1st grade classroom and the last photo is a cheesy picture of me asking to the kids what flag i was holding and explaining the dreaded "Pledge to the Texas Flag".

New Appreciation for the Weekend

I don't think I have ever enjoyed weekends his much in my life. The anticipation for Friday at 4:00 from Wednesday onward was too intense, when Friday at 4:00 and Teach For America let us leave our schools I was praisin Jesus, as I think we all were. We had a school social, something we do every Friday, at this Mexican restaurant in South Houston. This week was one of the worst weeks I have had as far as being torn down and feeling like I am incapable of doing anything including sleep.

It is insane as to how little people are sleeping and how irritable people are getting, it seems that people's sleep schedule is a long nap right when they get home from school followed by sleep from 3-5 am, people aren't sleeping.

I had my first 30 minute observation on Wednesday by the school director and my advisor, it was intense... the lesson was a good lesson but my classroom management was a little lax. Of course they were only observing my lesson during the opening, intro to new material, and beginning of guided practice, they did not stay to see the end when all but two boys got the objective and could accurately describe a river (this is failure according to the Teach For America rubric of being an effective teacher). According to the feedback I got from TFA, I sucked. Their feedback makes me feel sick. What really bothers me is that I am in this ESL class, all-alone, teaching them! I haven't ever student taught, or had any practice! I am their teacher! By Friday, after 4 lessons with them, I began to feel really good about what they learned as they all scored 100% on the summative exam. One thing about Teach For America, which my cousin Lisa just pointed out, it how heavy they are on data and recording supposed student progress so that students can be tracked. While some of it is ok and can gauge how effective the teacher is, most of it takes away from students and the idea of student centeredness.

I am going to get away from campus today, I borrowed a friend’s car, and I am going to Starbucks to study for an exam that I have tomorrow to be certified in the state of Texas.

I miss you all, I really miss Portland!!!
Robert

The wall

I hit a wall today and really need to get over it soon, so this is my attempt. I am so tired and can't go on with 3 hours of sleep a night. I am feeling so much pressure to do stuff I have a hard time seeing imperative when I just want to be in the classroom helping the kids. I am tired of being talked to like I am 5 from the program staff that are teaching us to be teachers. Today, after two weeks of note taking on my lap top (something many of us do), we were told we could longer use them to take notes because they, the TFA staff, think we are being distracted and not engaged in the material. First off, laptops were originally required and now I have a great organizational system on my computer. I am a successful college graduate who feels I should be able to organize myself in the way that I have learned, over the years, allows me to succeed best. In addition, our whole corps at my elementary school got talked to about not being engaged and not falling asleep/doodling (yes, a friend of mine got written up yesterday for doodling). This talk was right after a session that talked about if your students are not engaged and excited about what you are teaching then the teacher is failing the students and not doing their job effectively. It is so hard to stay awake everyday during these sessions with my un-engaging instructor when I slept for 3 hours the previous night because I was lesson planning.

I am just complaining and it’s not getting me anywhere. The kids are great... I have no idea why I am teaching 1st grade bilingual when I signed up for upper elementary English speaking as I do not know Spanish (yes, I know it is possible to teach English to Spanish speaking children without knowing Spanish, but I don't have a full understanding of proper methods and pedagogy. I would not mind the bilingual part if I was taught how to the material. Thank God for Kay's class at Whitman on teaching bilingual education, but, that didn't equip me to all of a sudden be alone in a first grade classroom and teach my lessons in English (they have never had an English teacher--Houston School District requires English to be taught starting in the 3rd grade) But, for some odd reason I am teaching these kids in English--mind you these are kids who are in summer school! So, they clearly need extra help. Am I really the person to provide that to them? I was a Sociology college student just a month ago... I am not trained for this!

Ok, I am done! I am meeting such amazing people here and I do like it... it is just an emotional roller coaster... seeing cockroaches attack my room, seeing students say new words in English, seeing them comprehend something I just taught them--today it was what a river is, and being called Ms because they have never had an English class and do not know the difference between Mr. and Ms makes it all worth it. -Robert

First Day of First Grade

I was terribly nervous going into Ms. Hernandez's first grade classroom today to take over her class for the next four weeks. I was nervous for a variety of reasons that include failing as a teacher, not seeing the achievement I want to see in my children, messing up lesson plans, losing control over the class, etc. I had extreme stomach nerves as the children fled into the cafeteria for morning stretching and dancing (something Browning Elementary does every morning... I can't explain it; you'd have to see it!) My tense nerves were calmed once I began meeting students. "You're Mr. Street! Are you going to be my new teacher?" several students asked. It was really awkward to hear little 6 year-olds use my last name. I taught the first block of the day when the children were the best behaved.

After the Pledge of Alligience and the Pledge to Texas (something I hate!) I introduced myself to the class and my other collaborative members who were in the room to begin the diagnostic testing process to see how much our children knew and what our goals needed to be in order for them to be at or above grade level by summer schools end (19 more class days!). The kids were awesome, after taking the kids to the bathroom (we have to take the whole class every 90 or so minutes) we learned classroom rules, expectations, and what it means to be a super star (our achievement program to get them excited for learning). I had their attention and had fun in the process... Then, the air conditioning system broke down and remained broke for the whole entire day... it was miserable. The kids didn't mind nearly as much as we did. After my classroom teaching block, I had to go into CS session (the class that we are all taking to learn pedagogical skills, lesson planning, etc, a VERY miserable class to begin with as our instructor is not the world's best and the room is cramped and we have to sit on little stools and most classes are 120 minutes) with 35 other people who, after 5 minutes, were drinched in sweat. To make it worst, a lot of us fell asleep at various points during the miserabley hot and gross session and got written up for it, it was horrible. Everyone was extremely irritable and tired. I fell asleep the second I got on the bus. I am cooled off now both physcially and mentally and ready to begin lesson planning and preparing for tomorrow.

I am so surprised as to how little our studnts know according to the diagnostic tests we administered today. It is extremely motivating though as now I know what to begin attacking so they can be better learners with more confidence and prepared for 2nd grade next year. I was definitely tested today, on my first day, and am excited for tomorrow and for the days to come. I'll be honest, there were moments today where I told myself, "Why the hell are you in here and doing this?!"

Much love to you all, stay cool.
Robert

First Weekend Off and a New Home!

This weekend has been a much-needed break with time away from school and TFA. I learned quickly the importance of Fridays at 4 and happy hour. On Fridays the schools we work at hold socials for us at various parts of Houston. This last Friday we went to David Buster's an adult version of Chuckie Cheeses with a lot of arcade games, good food, and a large bar area. Saturday morning, Nels and I were picked up by our apartment locator who took us around for a good part of the day to look at apartments. We looked at 4 different apartments but found that we actually are kind of picky, as we really wanted something that was not too apartment-esque, we wanted something that is well put together and fairly nice. The last apartment we found we immediately fell in love with.

The apartment is called Broadstone at West Eighteenth. It is a brand new apartment, so we are the first ones to live it. It feels more like a loft/condo. The place is absolutely amazing. It has a very contemporary feel to it. The clubhouse area has an outdoor living room with fireplace, wireless by the resort style pool, free espresso machine, and an AMAZING gym with a spin room with 8 bikes and flat screen TVs. All of the cardio machines also have their own TVs. The apartment we are renting has three bedrooms (a guy named Drew from Chicago is our 3rd roommate). The apartment features granite countertops, hardwood floors, track lighting, large oval bathtubs in both bathrooms, double sinks in both bathrooms, stainless steel appliances, pantry, washer and dryer etc. It is amazing! We are on the second floor right above the pool. The apartment is also very secure with a remote access parking garage where all cars are under cover with a security guard monitoring 24 hrs/day. You can check the complex out at: http://www.broadstonewest18th.net/home.html We are paying a little over $600 a person which is much cheaper than a lot of the other places we saw and were not nearly as nice.

We move in July 1st, so soon. Last night TFA took us to the Mariners vs. the Astros game at Minute Maid Park. Despite the Mariners losing we had fun.

Time to lesson plan, I can't believe my first day in my classroom is tomorrow, yikes!

Robert

It seems like it has been a month

I cannot believe how long it has taken for four days to go by and I cannot believe how tired I am. I will try so hard to not make this a pity party for people to read, but it has been so tiring. It will be so much better once class time starts and we actually get to work with children.... 14 hour days of solid class has just been one of the most brain exhausting things I have been through. It has, however, been fun with the amazing people I have been meeting. Its funny the things we all begin to find funny and how crazy we all act. Today was a day of laughter, as it seems we have all gone crazy. Our advisors give us silly puddy and play doh to play with during class to keep from falling asleep and we are asked to stand up in the back of the room if we start to nod off, sure enough after 10 minutes of class today I was standing up in the back of the room... it didn't help so I was given an apple to eat and silly puddy. I was so tired.

One of the girls got silly puddy stuck to her new suit pants, comical for quite awhile. We've been having fun speaking in phonemes and watching others pass out on their desk only to wake up to a strong jolt. As hard as this is, I am having fun. Today, I left my lunch on the school bus, something you don't want to do! So I didn't have a lunch and I did not have my mom to come and bring it to me... I used to do this type of a thing fairly often.

I am teaching 1st grade Science next week, I will be teaching all about oceans, rivers, and lakes.... pretty excited about it. I am so thankful for having some Education course background as it has made me more of an expert than the kids without any Education coursework. Lesson plans are so hard though! Especially teaching 1st graders, it has been awhile since I have been around that age. I will have a language barrier as I am teaching in a monolingual Spanish 1st grade class with 12 boys and 1 girl. I hope it works out, it means a lot of pictures!!! Here is a sample of my very silly first grade lesson:

"Good afternoon boys and girls! I am so excited to be back in class today to fill our minds with more science smarts! Are you all excited?! Yesterday we talked about rivers, who can tell me what a river is? Today we are going to talk about another body of water, this time we are going to learn about oceans!"

Dramaturgical I know, but that is what is needed!

I have these random bouts of extreme longing for Walla Walla and Whitman, which makes me so sad. This city is just so large with so much traffic, I will just have to adjust and know that Walla Walla can be in the future if I want it to be.

Last night I had dinner with one of my students from the boarding school I worked at last summer. He is from Houston and went to Wolfeboro last summer. I tutored him as well as Resident Advised him. He is a wonderful kid and someone who really looked up to me last summer. We had a wonderful meal as we caught up on what he has been up to. He had a lot of academic apathy prior to coming to Wolfeboro. Last summer changed him and now he is doing really well at a boarding school in Virginia.

Ok, I have to finish my discipline policy and try to stay awake to do it.
Much love, Robert

The Gift Houston Is About to Give Me

Houston is about to trust me with their most precious gift, the gift that is their future...their children. I am nervous as I embark on the journey to begin educating the children of Houston in just 6 short days. I will be teaching 1st grade for Houston's summer school program. I am nervous as I have so many goals and ideas to accomplish and nervous of how hard and difficult it will be.

Today was the first test of endurance as I sat through literally 9 hours of class where we didn't even have a lunch break (we ate in class). I was so exhausted by the end of the day, a tired I haven't felt in a very long time. Waking up at 5:00 am will be an adjustment but something I can do. I just need to remind myself what I am doing for the children of Houston, TX.

I found a really cool guy to be my housemate next year. His name is Nels; he will be an elementary science teacher at a different school that is not too far from my school. Both of our schools are very close to downtown and easily accessible. Nels just graduated from the University of Washington. We get along really well and clicked very quickly. He too has a long distant girlfriend who will also be in Washington next year. I am excited at the idea of looking for housing and looking for our ideal location; housing is cheap which honestly allows us to live in a really nice place. We are currently looking at some really nice town houses and apartments with all the amenities that we could ever need.

I am really tired, it is 9:00 and I am already going to bed... a big life change from my life at Whitman just three short weeks ago!

Robert

Day 1 in Houston

Life is crazy! I feel so many different emotions that I can't even describe how I really feel, does that even make sense? Graduation was 3 weeks ago, it seems so much more distant than that. Leaving Walla Walla was the hardest thing I have ever done... I haven't cried that hard in years. I grew to love Walla Walla and absolutely loved Whitman. Whitman gave me an amazing four years with a great network of friends that I will deeply miss. It was so hard to say goodbye to those I love. Making it harder was the idea of leaving WW to go to Houston, a scary, humid, and unknown place. I am usually up for adventures and relish the opportunity to explore new places, unfortunately, it was very difficult to have anything other than apathy toward moving to Houston.

I arrived in Austin a day and half after graduation. I had a job coaching at UT Swim Camp with the world's best swimmers (7 world record holders, including my favorite, Brendan Hansen the most amazing breaststroker alive) and the current US Olympic coach, Eddie Reese. Austin was amazing! I loved my time there, I loved my job, I loved the staff, and the kids too. I had such a positive experience. I really hope to come back next year and coach again. Austin was a perfect transition from my wonderfully relaxed and beautiful life as a Whitman student to an adult in the working world in Texas. The weather was hot and muggy, not as bad as Houston, but different than WW, again a good transition from home to the South. The long tiring days also helped me prepare for what is to come this summer.The last night I was in Austin, Brendan Hansen and his girlfriend and roommate took me to the Salt Lick, a famous all you can eat barbque place outside Austin, it was awesome!

I arrived in Houston last night. It is just as muggy and gross as I had anticipated. I immediately met some really cool people who I related to immediately. It is a small world, it is crazy how many people I know through people. We had a barbque dinner at a park near Rice which was a fun way to meet people. Last night a group of us had ice cream and wine in our 50 degree hotel room. I like the other corps mebers as of now... so much energy, enthusiasmm, and intelligence. I was a little weary of the Teach For America people prior to coming as I know their intensity and education backgrounds, this is a haven for Ivy league grads--there are so many of them. However, the people I have met, thus far, are really relaxed and fun and have procrastinated on all the pre-orientation Teach For America assignments that we had (think hundreds of pages of reading and 8 or so essays) to complete.

I am getting more and more excited to begin teaching and for being able to explore Houston. Right now, I am content staying inside the Crown Plaza where it is a comfortable temperature. This summer is going to be intense, working full time in a classroom, student teaching in summer school, developming lesson plans, etc on top of 8 hrs of classroom time where I will be learning to be an effective teacher who is equipped with the skills to create change in my students so that the achievement gap in America can be eliminated. I will be living at the University of Houston begining tomorrow. I have a job interview this next week at Garcia Elementary teaching 3rd grade in a 94% Hispanic school with several other corps members in other grades. Looking forward to it!

Love you all!
Robert