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

When do you become a teacher?

Today was trying.

There is a big difference between teaching 7^th grade and 8^th grade.  All my students are so smart in their own right.  8^th grade students are all bigger than me. Girls have drama, and guys try to prove something.  7^th grade can get reckless some times.  Extremely participatory but every class has their troublemakers.

My biggest struggle right now is relating to these students.  Lets be honest here, I am a 5’4” Korean 21 year old.  My students have gone through so much more and seen a lot more than I have.  On another note, my two co-teachers are two tall athletic black males…see the physical difference???

Mr. George, Miss. Katie, and Mr. Clint…outside of teacher mode.

I cannot pretend to be Clint or George. I need to find my own way to be assertive to both grades…any suggestions?? Clint and George will step in and support when I need them too. I think I got lucky with my co-teachers. Great support to start off my teaching career. 

As long and tiring as the mornings seem, the afternoons are longer. Classes can seem like a bore (especially since we get like zero hours of sleep a night). But, there are a lot of important lessons to remember.  This summer, Secondary Math section is taking 5 graduate level courses: Foundations, Special Education, Adolescent Development, Classroom Management, and Math Immersion. I like, perhaps, a few of these courses… I’ve only been here for a couple of weeks and know that this will be the most difficult summer of mi vida.

Today’s Adolescent Development course was reserved for a Daily Rap Session training.  In a Daily Rap Session, everyone sits around in a circle, including the facilitator.  The point of these sessions is to create an open and safe space for all to share about themselves.  It can be anything simple from your favorite color to the worst moment of your life.  The key to a successful Daily Rap session is to maintain that sense of security.  This has to do with respect for all in the circle.  To help facilitate the discussion, we have a talking piece.

(Important things about the talking piece…no hard objects, nothing with edges, nothing too bouncy…you can just assume why)

The Talking Piece exists to systematically reiterate the concept of respect for each other’s voice. 

Since arriving at Coppin State University for summer training, today was the first day I got really emotional.  There is just so much going on here that at times I just feel like I’m in a perpetual state of catching up and never giving 100% to any of my assignments. My thought process went from “Am I really a teacher?” to “Do they want to be here?" to “Do they know they matter to me?” It wasn’t until talking to my mom during break that I was able to call my mom during break (SHOUT OUT TO MY MOM FOR EXCELLENCE) that she reminded me that all those doubts are important to reflect on to make me a stronger.  Mom told me that my little sister said the other day that she thinks I’d make a great teacher one day. Apparently when I work with her, I still make her feel smart as if she is led to the answer and then can do it on her own.  How many times does a 12yr old tell someone that they would make a great teacher one day?

w/love ks

Procrastinating

So I'm starting this blog a little late but figured that I could use this as another way to procrastinate. Either way, a first post is long overdue.  I'm sitting right now in my bedroom of a 6-person suite at Coppin State University.  For those of you who aren't quite sure what i'm up to lately, I am now a Resident at Urban Teacher Center (UTC).  Essentially, take any teaching resident program, expand it to a 4 year commitment and throw in a Residency-Based Master of Education Degree in Secondary Math (7-12) and Teacher of Students with Moderate Disabilities (6-12), all leading to Initial Teacher Licenses.
Summer session began on June 20th and ends July 30th.  Along with the 5 masters courses we are currently taking, we teach from 8-12 everyday to middle schoolers in a summer program called Higher Achievement.  Let me give you an sample of an average day...

6am WAKE UP
8-12pm at Placement (Collington Square Elementary/Middle School)
1-6pm 2-2/3hour courses...with or without a break
6pm Dinner asap before the dining hall closes
7pm workout?...(shout out to all my insanity workout buds)
or-7-9pm UTC discussion panel
9-2am hw. reading. writing. reading. thinking. discussing. snacking. procrastinating. reading...
2am-6am? mentally prepare in my dreams for the next day

Either way, i definitely don't have time to be blogging haha and my friends are yelling at me right now to do work. MAWRters, does that sound all too familiar?? haha.

going to pause on the writing for now and try to get at least one assignment done before i go kinda crazy.

w/love, ks