Beautiful Sunrise

Today I got up real early and decided to take some photos.  This has nothing directly to do with teaching, but very important.

How to love where you are:
1. Know what is free.
2. Talk to your neighbors.
3. Take a walk at sunrise.
4. See what it has to offer.
and, 5. TAKE SOME BEAUTIFUL PICTURES!

This one is hanging in the living room

tried so hard to get those two photos to align. will have to go back again. (taken from WWII memorial)

lets notice the lack of other people at the Lincoln Memorial on a Sunday morning

and no one at the Vietnam

with patience and effort i do have to say these photos are kinda sorta more than a little cool. come visit!


w/love ks

Anti-Bullying Month

This month is anti-bullying month.  The problem does not end on the 31st. Check out this clip.

http://www.upworthy.com/bully-calls-news-anchor-fat-news-anchor-destroys-him-on-live-tv?g=2


w/love ks

Lots and Lots of Coffee

recap about the last post: everything is good now :)

So my teaching coach from Urban Teacher Center came and visited my school yesterday and sat in during Math 7 and Math 8.
Since it's been a while I need to tell y'all about the school schedule.  School begins at 8:45 and ends at 4:00pm (except for Wednesdays school lets out at 2:55 and teachers have professional development).  With only 4-1.5 hour periods a day, the time with the students can seem too little, but the days feel so long at the end.  Our 30-35 student per class Junior Academy (one period of 7th and one of 8th grade) finally cut down to about 20 in each...Thank you increased enrollment!
Although I thought the schedule change was a blessing, my teaching coach could not believe the class was worse than what she just observed.

How to not be discouraged:
1. Realize each day is new. Better yet, each class period is new.
2. Great people in your life to support you (or to complain to).
3. Coaches that provide productive feedback.
4. Build relationships with all students individually.
5. Have your outlets.
6. Separate work from pleasure.
7. Eat.
8. Sleep.
9. Drink.
10. Pray.

I have so much else to say and little time to spend right now.

Final thoughts: Thank God for everyone in your life that continues to lift you up and support your endeavors.  Without them, you would not be who you are.

w/love ks

Fight

So I just saw the beginning, middle, and end of a physical girl fight...

bottom line: if you are going to fight each other, don't expect me to break it up because I am not going to get hurt. if you "accidentally" hit me on your way to hit her, the last thing you can expect is for me to get involved. You make up your own mind up about good or bad decisions and deal with the fall out. ie. getting hurt, getting suspended, not having a birthday party, etc.

8th grade girls can be trouble. Too much gets under their skin.  This was the second or third or....who really knows...fight of the year.  ok so let me give you an example of it all (names excluded) so apparently K told D that L was saying  stuff about D and J, so L went to J and told J that K was lying to D and was afraid D would get mad and try to fight L. L, D, and J are besties.  Once D found out that K was lying, J and D were furious because they were about to fight L and L and D were kind of "going out."  in the beginning of the day K already got sent to the dean for her attitude.  2nd period starts and J keeps walking out. I walk out to talk to J and she starts sharing all of it. ....K starts strolling down the hall (she's supposed to be in In-School-Suspension). I'm standing in between K and J because I'm talking to J. All of a sudden a fist flies around from behind me (from L meant to hit J) that ends up socking me in the gut. J then pushes me out of the way and yells "oh i know you didnt just try to hit miss. sun." after i get up from the ground the next thing i know is that L has her hand dug into J's weave and vice versa.  They are on the ground fighting.

Security shows up and i walk J to the principal. In the End: 2 girls suspended. one expelled. none physically hurt long term.

How to break up a fight:
1. CALL SECURITY
2. CALL SECURITY
3. CALL SECURITY

FYI, don't do anything but call security. have I got my point across??

hope you enjoyed a little story about my day. now on to the next day!

w/love ks

What to Expect for the Next year

Tuesday, 21 August 2012

I am now a resident of Washington, D.C. Hello cute little house on Capitol Hill J

Started Professional Development (PD) August 13, 2012 at IDEA Public Charter School in Deanwood.  So IDEA PCS became a military academy in 2005-2006. It is career-focused and aims for their students/cadets to go to college and/or maintain a career. It has a JROTC program that used to be required of all students focusing not only on academics but providing mentorship, leadership training, citizenship, and self-discipline.  The purpose and plan of the school at inception are great and have helped students in the past, but the school is struggling. http://www.ideapcs.org

Almost 4 years ago, IDEA PCS recovered from two major fires that threatened to shut down the school forever.  The first one occurred in the beginning of January by a student in the front office during winter break.  An accelerant was used in order to purposely destroy records.  After the first fire, the school made it its only mission to be able to reopen school within the next few weeks for second semester.  Only a week or two later another individual (student status unidentified) broke into the building to steal tvs, computers, and other electronics.  It wasn’t until early in the next morning that authorities were notified of a fire in the building.  By that time, the whole second and third floor of the historic building was torched. 

At this time, let me tell you a little bit about the community—Deanwood is a residential neighborhood that was not demographically zoned out.  There were no race or income restrictions in the area, as opposed to many other parts of DC.  The school itself used to be Carver Elementary School.  This building is preserved as a historic site because it was the first public school to admit black students.  Residents had to continually fight for basic city services, which brought out leaders and activists in the community.

The existence of IDEA PCS is a reflection of the growing community that is Deanwood.  Students of IDEA PCS come from all over the district but the majority of students come from the Deanwood and Minnesota Metro area.

This semester I will be working with Ms. Mallari co-teaching Math 7, Math 8, and one section of 9^th grade algebra.  I co-taught 7^th and 8^th grade math this summer so I cant wait to repeat that experience.

With all the administrative changes that have been taking place over the last month I am really excited to see how this year will shape out.  First day of school: 28 August 2012

w/love ks

mai burfday

Warning: this post is going to make me sound a little crazy.

Yesterday was my 22^nd birthday. I’m staying at Chelsey, Brittnee, Caitlin and Kyair’s house still because, guess what…I’m homeless still! I spent all day driving around by myself looking for apartments and houses. 5 hours alone on your birthday is not what I would call an ideal celebration.

So much crying.

Around 5pm Chelsey gave me a call to see when I was coming home. Stuck in traffic, was looking as though I wasn’t going to make it until 7pm.  Upset and lonely I told her that they can go ahead and eat dinner cause I didn’t know when I would be home…she refused.  Turns out all the girls made reservations at a Korean restaurant in Baltimore for my birthday.  I get home and am showered with hugs and so much love.  I wasn’t with family, but I was still surrounded by people who cared about me. 

One thing yall should know about me: I Hate Surprises.  Not because they are inherently awful, I just don’t like not being prepared. (good thing I’m a teacher right?) But, these girls are great at them. Somehow they hid candles, a cake, lots of wine, and people from me.  It was just a small celebration but I love everyone that was there. I have no complaints about the relationships I am building from this time of my life.  We all come from very different locations and life experiences but are brought together by what we care about and what makes us who we are, not what we are.

w/love ks

Olympics of the MIND

So to wrap up the end of the summer at higher achievement, we have an event called Olympics of the Mind.  Because I'm filling in this post late I'm going to refer you to another resident's blog post :)

http://badefauw.blogspot.com/2012/07/july-29-2012-justice-leagueassemble.html

make sure you watch this too! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XiQRIO11ZlU

The beginning of the summer as you all know was a challenge, but my relationship with the scholars changed so much over the last few weeks. We get through our lessons and have time to sit around and talk to each other. i now know where some of them want to go to college, what they hope to do with their lives, and other things that sound so cliche for a teacher to say.  i think i started to cry about four times Friday morning and thursday (the last day of instructional) because I was so proud of them and was going to miss them so much.  I had even developed relationships with the 5th and 6th graders where some of them even started to cry :(

UTC in Baltimore ends on tuesday.  As much as the coursework component sucked, i loved every minute of this summer.  One of the most rewarding moments of my life.  Thank you everyone for the support.  I will need much more this upcoming year!

w/love ks