Latest posts from Baltimore

Feb 20 2012

Praxis Follow-Up and Realization

So I promised I would post a follow-up to my Praxis post.  I checked my Score Report and it turns out I was correct, unfortunately.  I passed within the top 15% of all test-takers with a raw score of a 39 out of 50 on the exam.  I needed a scaled-score of 141 to teach…

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Feb 11 2012

Passed!

The Praxis II in Math Content (0061) is finally behind me.  I received notice that I had passed with ROE!  That actually startled me.  I was relieved and happy and even somewhat proud, but the reaction I received from other TFAers about the Praxis Exam was along the lines of “Good job! We knew you…

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Jan 15 2012

Praxis Praxis Bo-Baxis, Banana-fana fo Faxis…and Discipline

Yuck.  That was excruciating. 50 multiple-choice mathematics questions within a two-hour time limit didn’t seem like too bad of a thing.  I thought I paced myself well, but took a bit longer than expected or recommended on one problem.  That sabotaged my poise for the remaining ten or so questions, and I had to rush through…

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So it begins.  This enormous electronic blank page is at my disposal to document my journeys through what some may call the “trenches” of American culture; where the dirty work is done, the long hours spent, the most casualties occur: education.  Education of others, education of myself, educational inequity, education reform, educational systems, education administration,…

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Jan 10 2012

An Education

At last weekend’s Professional Development Saturday, the CEO and Superintendent of Baltimore City Public Schools came in to give  a whole group address to the TFA Baltimore Cohort of 2010-2011.  I have always thought that Dr. Alonso was an interesting guy who had some sharp opinions on education policy (I like to listen to the…

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Nov 11 2011

not saying i regret it

the following contains my own personal advice and it’s not meant to offend or whitewash anyone else or their experiences.  it’s just things i wish i had thought about way back when (actually, not that long ago).  but still… i see that some people have been accepted into TFA this week and are probably considering…

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Oct 31 2011

roc-tober

it’s pretty well known in teacher lore that october is a horrible month.  at least, that’s what everyone says.  students become curious about how definite their teachers’ expectations and purported limits are, and start to test the waters more, behaviorally and also emotionally.  the honeymoon phase starts to wear off and leaves something downright exhausting…

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Oct 18 2011

on sick days

i am sick.  not just a cold, but a stomach bug, vomiting, achey, can barely stand sick.  it started on friday evening as soon as i got home from work and continued throughout the entire weekend.  i had to call in sick yesterday because i was still so weak and out of it and queasy,…

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Oct 07 2011

the best birthday ever

well, after my last post, it’s only right i check in today to say that i had the best day ever with my kids and that it is my birthday (hello 22) and my kids were just DARLING.  some of them even brought in cards and little presents and one parent brought flowers from the…

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Oct 05 2011

just… wow.

i just got home from probably the worst day i’ve had so far as a teach for america teacher, which is weird, because the first half of the day was AWESOME (we know P!  we love the P song!  we can say /p/ and no one mixes it up! we love our literacy alphabet song!…

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