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Goodbye

waywardjournalist — Mon, 20 May 2013 04:03:39 +0100

I held off on telling my students that I was leaving at the end of my corps member experience. My kids don't know what Teach For America is, but they do know that all of the white teachers in this town have a weird habit of staying for only a two-year period. And I knew that, despite my intentions, I had to make that announcement to somewhat cap off the winding down of the year, as I felt it would result in lesser investment from students. I knew the cat would get out of the bag quickly, so I chose to break the news to one of my afternoon classes on Thursday -- the class most curious about me as a person -- before telling every other class on Friday. After spending weeks deferring all questions, I promised that I would make an announcement in the final five minutes of that Thursday class. And so, I did. And it was hard, in a way that I never thought possible. As established in every other post on this blog, I don't really like anything about my placement. And in that way, my job search and subsequent employment in Houston was so exciting and liberating, because I had nothing of value that I was losing by leaving this place. Or so it seemed. But by telling my students in that class that I was leaving, I broke the 21 most valuable relationships that I had made at the school where I teach. It was hard to make the words come out, but they did. The class turned somber, a few mouths dropped, and others were left speechless. Yet there was an awkward sense of excitement.

"Sir, can we take pictures?" "Sir, will you sign my yearbook?"

(we did neither, as I am still there for a few more weeks.) While I was not in tears, I was closer than I could have ever imagined. (Spice Girls - Goodbye)

The end

waywardjournalist — Thu, 02 May 2013 03:23:25 +0100

I have a story to tell. And it's going to be one of very few positive ones on this blog. When I joined Teach For America, I talked a little bit online with a corps member who grew up in suburban Houston. When we both moved to the Valley, we became quick friends, despite being worlds away - her in the McAllen area and I out in the country. She would often talk about spending her middle school years at a middle school in this Houston suburb, which encouraged project-based learning and, truthfully, just learning, rather than an obsession with test taking. When I planned to move to the Houston area, I intentionally ignored the district that she attended for quite a while. The district felt far away from the city, and I hadn't really spent any time in the area. While other districts seemed to call my name from afar, this one didn't. But when I discovered that finding a position wasn't going to be as simple as I thought, I decided to open up to said district. And I really liked what I saw. Great schools in great communities with dedicated teachers. And true diversity: students from different backgrounds together in the same school; not TFA's definition of diversity - working at a school that is either 100% Hispanic or 100% African American. Several weeks ago, my MTLD met with me in my classroom, and expressed her excitement over my relocation to Houston, where she knew that I would be much happier. But when she asked where I was applying to work, it was worded something like, "Surely you are applying with YES and KIPP, right? Or Houston ISD's Apollo 20 schools?" I forgot how I responded. But truthfully, I wasn't looking at these schools. I felt those charter school districts and those specific HISD schools that draw TFA corps members and alumni weren't where I needed to be if I was to gain what I wanted to from this next teaching experience. After sending off letters and resumes, I was offered an interview at a Title I school in this district a few weeks ago. After spending a half-day at work on a Thursday, I floored it out of the Valley and headed to suburban Houston. Passing school busses and traversing through areas of Houston I'd never seen before, I rolled into the parking lot of the school about 15 minutes before the interview. It all seemed to go well. I didn't get to meet the principal, but I was so impressed and truly enjoyed conversing with those who interviewed me. The fit of the school just seemed to be a perfect match with my abilities, but I didn't want to get too excited. I left the school and headed back to the Valley, with the plan of teaching the next day. Sugar Land, Victoria, Goliad, and Beeville all passed without issue. I entered George West on US-59 around 11 p.m., and turned south onto US-281. But about 20 miles south of George West, after hours of smooth driving, a rock-like object suddenly popped up in my lane. Before I could turn to avoid it, my car's tire indicator light came on, and I had trouble steering. I managed to pull over to the side of the road, and was stuck, with the belief that I had a flat tire. After using Google Maps to try to figure out where I was, I called the Hyundai roadside assistance number. While it felt like the middle of nowhere, it turned out that I was only about an hour west of Corpus Christi. A Canadian Hyundai representative who was very "sory" about the whole ordeal sent a tow truck to tow me to the Hyundai dealership in Corpus, but after waiting about an hour, I learned that the tow truck had hit a car on the way to help me, and could no longer assist. A second tow truck eventually arrived, driven by Kenny, a friendly former-Marine. He shared stories about his views on gun control, his pride over being armed as we spoke, and his certainty that Obama had found a loophole for a third term. Kenny also informed me that I had not one flat tire, but two. The Hyundai dealership in Corpus Christi happens to be the only dealership in Corpus Christi that doesn't close its gates at night, so Kenny dropped me and my vehicle off in front of the service bay. While I considered getting a hotel room, it was 3:30 a.m. by this point, and it seemed a poor use of funds to get a hotel room for just three or four hours. So I tried sleeping in the car. I found it impossible to sleep in the driver's seat, and found the backseat much more comfortable. Unfortunately, it was one of the coldest nights in recent memory in South Texas, and the interview clothes that I was wearing were not enough to keep me warm. I thought about driving to a 24-hour Walmart or Target to buy a blanket, but then remembered that I only had two functional tires. I was also extremely distracted by my phone, as this was the night of the Boston Marathon manhunt and I was glued to Twitter. So I froze and tried to sleep as the hours went by. At 7 a.m., after calling in absent to work, the head of the service department arrived at the dealership, and saw me in the car. We talked, and he planned to get me on my way as soon as possible. Unfortunately, he soon informed me that I had not only two flat tires, but the object that I had hit had ruined my rims too, turning this into a $1,200+ repair. To make matters worse, he had no rims, so the repair would not be completed until the next day. Because I had nobody to stay with in Corpus, I got a rental car, began to drive home, realized my house keys were at the Hyundai dealership, drove back, got the keys, and then drove the remaining three hours back to the rural Rio Grande Valley. The next day, I drove back to Corpus Christi in the rental car. Before returning it, I stopped at a very shady Stripes gas station. I quickly fueled up and quickly threw out the fast food wrappers in the car. As it turned out, I also threw out my credit card. After returning the rental car and failing to pay for the repair, I went back to the rental car lot, realized I threw out the card at Stripes, went back to the dealership, cancelled the credit card, paid with alternate means, got in my car, and finally made it back home, frustrated at having dropped around $1,500 in total on an attempt at a job I'd probably never get. A week went by, and I never heard back from the school I interviewed at. I took it to mean that it was a lost cause, but didn't give up hope on the district. I headed up to the district this past weekend for its annual job fair, and had great conversations and even interviews with different middle schools. All the while, I ignored the table of the school that I initially interviewed at. All of a sudden, on Monday morning, I received a phone call from a Houston-area area code. It was the principal of the school that I had interviewed at on that fateful Thursday afternoon. When I returned his call, he told me that he had spent the past week sitting on an offer while trying to check references with administrators from my current school, but nobody was responding. I approached my administration, calls were made, and a few minutes later, I had a verbal job offer from the school to teach eighth grade language arts. Later that evening, I signed a letter of intent with the district, and for the past two days, I have been receiving constant welcome e-mails and phone calls from my new co-workers. I couldn't be more excited with how things have turned out in the end, and I just can't wait to begin. My new school is a close community, but it's one that I'm already being accepted into. While I remain committed to my current students, I can't help but think about next year. I'm going to be able to focus so much more on teaching, on turning my eighth graders from middle schoolers into high school students, and arguably, on myself. I like to think of the whole rock incident as the personified version of the Valley, in the final act of this TFA adventure drama:

ME [thinking]: Wow, I'd really like to work at that school I just interviewed at. RIO GRANDE VALLEY [concerned]: Oh no. Sounds like that interview went well. I'm about to lose the language arts teacher with the highest STAAR scores in a three-county area! How dare he leave... I'll show that puto! [RIO GRANDE VALLEY places rock in prime spot in travel lane on US-281]

This isn't the last post that I'll make here. But knowing the negative tone that emanates from many of my posts, I did want the world to know that no matter how hard it is to see at times, there is light at the end of the two-year tunnel. (The Beatles - Golden Slumbers, Carry That Weight, The End)

Dirty pop

waywardjournalist — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 22:41:18 +0100

Every couple of weeks, I get an e-mail from TFA begging me to check out the latest posts on TeacherPop. When TeacherPop launched, I checked it out a bit in its first week. I liked some of what it had to offer. I liked feeling like I was part of something bigger. Now, however, it seems to be a random collection of pictures, teaching-related Pinterest links, and articles about how to take a poop. Yesterday, I was sort of rubbed the wrong way by an article titled "How to Make Non-TFA Friends". Since I don't really have any non-TFA friends in the Rio Grande Valley, I was excited by the magic secrets I would soon learn. Instead, I came, once again, to the bitter realization that all regions and placements are not created equally. It's not to say that none of these could be accomplished in the Rio Grande Valley, but in my area, there's not a chance. 1. Take a grad class. Hey, maybe you’ll even learn something. The nearest four-year college is 1.5 hours from my placement school, and it's one of the worst four-year schools in the U.S. Not happening. 2. Get involved. Volunteer. While this is possible, the volunteer opportunities available are extremely limited and mostly limited to athletics. One rural CM who I know is coaching a special ed baseball league, which he loves. Personally, coaching is really not my type of thing. 3. Get creative. Take a class or join a club. In urban parts of the Valley, this could happen... just not here. 4. Get active. Join a gym and take the classes they offer, like Zumba! The nearest gym is 1.5 hours away. Not happening. 5. Get specific. What are you passionate about? Whatever your immediate answer was, there are people out there who share that interest. Honestly, there aren't. I feel like my interests are very general (news, writing, etc.), but are only shared by those who value education and have a college degree. When teachers are the only people in my town who have been to college, options are limited. 6. Get agreeable. Ever hear the phrase “beggars can’t be choosers?” Say yes to every invitation and suggestion you’re offered, even if it sounds boring or “not your scene.” In my two years at my placement school, I have attended three after-school socials, which I loved! But I've never been invited to anything else, and have never been invited to any of my co-workers houses. I've said yes to every invite; they just haven't been extended - and other TFA colleagues would cite the same. 7. Get friendly. You know those corps members who are locals—from the region you teach in? Befriend their friends! There is one local CM, but he doesn't associate with the other CMs, so there's really no chance of meeting his friends if I've never actually met him. The most important thing to remember: Don’t get sucked into the black hole of the couch. Get off your butt and go to a concert or bar or park or bookstore. You’re not going to meet anyone on Netflix. And I think that's why those of us out here do get sucked into the black hole of the couch. I have nothing against the CM who wrote this piece. She doesn't know what life is like in the rural Valley. And I imagine that South Dakota and New Mexico have the same problems. But for a city person, it's pretty miserable. I feel like Teach For America constantly tells me that I'm not doing enough in my classroom. Usually, that's not true, because the individuals responsible are not looking upon the full picture - making assumptions from just a single classroom observation on a state testing day. As a result, it's hard to look kindly on the fact that TFA is backing a blog that tells tells me I'm not doing enough in my personal life, too.

The final countdown

waywardjournalist — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 02:22:09 +0100

Spring break has begun! But more importantly (since if not for my job, I wouldn't actually have a spring break), it's test time in Texas schools, and the test that my students will take is about ten-or-so class days away. There's been a lot of tension going into this past week, so the break is much, much needed. The good:

STAAR scores from last year are in. Students who scored in the "advanced" category are great kids who deserve it.
Recycled probably 20 reams worth of old handouts and papers (a big deal, since the nearest recycling center is 1.5 hours from my placement school).
Got to meet with the two alternative spring break trips from my college that came to do community service and learn about the Brownsville and McAllen areas. So exciting to feel like I was back in college... for a hour or two, at least.
Received effective classroom design tips from Pinterest.
My kids continue to be awesome, hard workers (well, as hard as can be expected when every other class is a free period).

The bad:

Not as many kids scored "advanced" on last year's STAAR as I was expecting (see above).
Due to communication issues, 40-page benchmark tests for Monday were run-off on Friday afternoon, so the copy lady and I are no longer friends.
Nearly killed on the way to work once this week, since I drive on a 60-mph highway with side streets; said side streets are full of country bumpkins who don't think twice before pulling out. Nearly hit two other times.
After running out of breakfast food at my house, I learned the wrong way that the Dough Brothers Bakery pastries from Stripes will not only fill you up for breakfast, but they will give you over half a day of fat and calories, so you had better not be hungry until dinner.

The ugly:

"We're having a dance"... "We're opening the school snack bar"... "Track students report to the gym"... "Go to period X instead of lunch"... "Band students report to the busses"...
It's been pretty much impossible to teach anything this week. And that normally wouldn't be a big deal in the days before spring break, but the state test is right around the corner. I don't teach to the test. But at the moment, I feel like I'm taking state testing more seriously than the administration at my school.

It's sort of crazy to think that I have under three months left of employment with my placement district. It'll be smooth sailing and a great project to close the year soon, but for now, the heat is on.

Everybody talks

waywardjournalist — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 22:41:29 +0100

In the small community that I teach in, there's no shortage of gossip (better known as "chisme"). And in many cases, individuals are too consumed with their own reputations. In two particular actions in the hallway one morning this past week, one teacher - who claimed the day before that she knew that one of my students had failed the past grading period with a 68 - stood inches from my face with a printout, highlighted with the student's name and the 68, and shouted, "See, [student] got a 68!". Seconds before, another teacher claimed that I was "insulting" her by not having some of my students attend a training with her students, because it was making her look bad. (In reality, the reason my students did not attend was because after months of work, my classes averaged a 96 on that objective, while her classes had never seen it before.) Thankfully, I was able to have someone cover my class, so that I could catch my breath and put myself together without my students needing to see my frustration. Without turning this blog into that same frustration, I can only say seeing how these teachers treat other teachers terribly in order to prove their points and defend their reputations, I am eternally thankful that I was never one of their students. But the counter side of things is that when something positive catches someone's eye, others are quick to notice it, as well. This past week, I have been teaching all of the seventh grade students at my school in somewhat of a "boot camp" initiative. I'm using a large room, teaching easy-to-remember strategies, and I have the support of all of the other teachers in the department, so that independent practice allows us to have a 1:5 student-teacher ratio in some classes. The results have been extremely positive in terms of student outcomes. On Friday afternoon, I was called over to the high school that we feed into. Turns out that one of the students told her mom about our "boot camp". Her mom is a teacher at the high school, and she proceeded to talk with her assistant principal. The end result is that I will be meeting with the entire high school E/LA department for a half-day (paid) training to show them the strategies that we will be using, and trying to come up with ways that they can incorporate them into their curriculum. Even though "chisme" comes in its negative forms, it's somewhat exciting to realize that before leaving town, I've somehow managed to pierce its gossip bubble at least once with what I'm doing. (Neon Trees - Everybody Talks)

Going back

waywardjournalist — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 23:22:27 +0100

[caption id="attachment_106" align="alignright" width="300" caption="No tenemos Walgreens."][/caption] It's my last day away from the Rio Grande Valley. I'm flying back tomorrow, and will be in the Valley and Texas until my time in Teach For America draws to a close in June. I'd pretty much had a meltdown before leaving for the holiday break. After having two stints with the flu during November, it was really rough being 50 miles from the nearest Walgreens/24-hour Walmart. During the second stint, I took a trip to a clueless McAllen doctor, who wasn't familiar with my pretty-basic-but-uncommon-in-the-Valley medical situation, and gave me medicine that made me even sicker. Finally, I ended up in an emergency room. I considered resigning from TFA... before things slowly started to get on the right track. Delays with getting my car repaired a few weeks later led to a week where I drove to-and-from McAllen for four consecutive days after work - a total of 2.5 hours of completely wasted time every day. When you live in the middle of nowhere, getting access to the most basic things become a giant deal. And it's a situation that really can't be explained and understood if you haven't lived it. Obviously, when one is extremely sick or spending hours a day in one's car, planning and grading have to take a backseat... and it's impossible to be the effective teacher that I set out to be. Perhaps if I could find a place in this town, things would look up. But that's not destined to be in an extremely cliquey small town, where there is only myself and another CM at my school. Before I left, I was pretty much counting the days until my contract ends and I can move up to the big city. I'm sure I'll fall back into that mindset before long, and I know that the next few months are going to be the hardest. I love my students; they are without question the reason that I'm still here. And my MTLD has advised me to do all I can to get them on the right track despite these obstacles. Again, that's why I'm here. I can't leave them now. But the end of rural life for me is going to be a very welcome change. (Phil Collins - Going Back)

Parent Whisperer

las — Tue, 06 Nov 2012 03:07:04 +0100

11/5/12 This week, we're taking the students on an overnight camp trip (cabins, challenge by choice activities, etc). We leave Thursday & return Friday evening. It's a reward for the students based off how many behavior points they have earned. The bottom 20% stay behind. Somehow, probably after people figured out which students weren't invited, it became "the thing" to just choose not to go. After we realized this, I somehow ended up in the role of calling parents to discuss with them so that we could hopefully override the student's friend-focused, short-minded decision. One example just required putting things into perspective for the students: "I just don't understand why you athletic boys would prefer to sit inside writing essays that I'm going to leave for you all day." oh, their faces were priceless. "But-but, last year, they got to watch movies!!" They signed up minutes later. If you know me, you know I love speaking to parents when they're not mad at me. I've successfully spoken with at least 10 parents now and gotten their students signed up. The best ones were today. I called a father who had grounded his daughter from the trip because she had lied about getting her progress report. I completely supported his decision, but also mentioned that I just felt bad that "your daughter is going to miss this unique leadership opportunity that she earned, and instead, she'll be doing work with other students who didn't earn the privilege of attending the trip." At first he said no, but she called later this evening saying he had changed his mind. I'm hoping for the same thing with the parents who were worried about sending their daughter on the overnight trip. Yay for promoting extra-curricular opportunities for students!! Quote of the week - "I can be myself without the sky falling in."

whew

las — Fri, 26 Oct 2012 01:21:43 +0100

10/25/12 The week finally caught up with me. Yesterday, I got home at 6:30, slept till 8, worked for an hour, then slept-slept-slept until the morning & 5 snoozes later when I finally woke up. I was worried I was getting sick, but I'm pretty sure I was just fatiguee. Tonight, I still have over half of my lesson to plan, and I have zero focus, but it's cool. I've already blocked out as much time as needed for sleeping this weekend :) Students who made me smile today - 1) My homeroom. They're just wonderful and smile every morning when they shake my hand. 2) My board game club. We were exchanging riddles today, and I gave them a good one. Two of the boys popped in during their next passing period, because my classes don't line up with the bell schedule, and they said, "MISSSS we can't concentrate, tell us the riddle answer!!" ...in the middle of my class. I, of course, pushed them in the hall & shut the door, but then smiled & tried to jump back into the lesson. 3) Children reading books!!!! They were all digging into their books throughout class, and so many of them have gone to the library or bookstore & checked out the different books we've been talking about. Yay for children wanting to read! I also love that the culture at my school is such that many parents will buy books for their students. Although I have a feeling that quite a few students told their parents they "had" to buy it. No complaints from me :) Ok, enough procrastinating, to finish. Friday night, you are going to be so comfy!!!

Smiles :)

las — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 01:51:12 +0100

10/23/12 I haven't written much lately, but many wonderful things have been happening. 1) I got to visit my old school. It was exactly what the visit should be - I loved seeing everyone, was smiling constantly, and was happy to be back at my new school on Monday. It makes you feel a bit like a movie star, to walk in and have students clamoring around you, saying how much they missed you. It was great to see them, and then to hear them sing an ELA song we learned last year. Their joy and obvious happiness with their year just made my day....I missed those kiddos! After school, I took the student who won the scholarship out for an early dinner, and we got to discuss her future plans. It's incredible the opportunities she has available now. 2) School has been going really well, minus lots & lots of sick teachers. The one con of our school is that we don't have substitutes....other teachers have to cover......so that stinks when it's the morning of, but it's definitely an incentive to stay ahead of the game. The goodness started in my meeting with my coach last week - based on her observations, I'm on track, a little above where I need to be. Her big feedback was that my lesson scope was too big (and I definitely agreed), but she said, "but your students kept trying. That's a testament to your relationships and the systems in your classroom....because the material was tough, a little too much, but they hung in there." AKA, I need to improve with planning, but at least the students are invested :) Yesterday, we introduced book of choice unit. In meeting with my coach, she said that I had the logistics, but where was the investment? So invest I did, through pictures, teacher testimonials, and by the end of the period, students were enthusiastically seeking out books & sharing ideas. I shared with them the 20 HOTTEST books right now, and the only sad thing was that after 2 periods, the library was depleted, and we had to seek alternatives. My favorite happenings were 1) students trying to "hide" books in all the nooks & crannies so that they could find them after school (when classroom checkout began), and 2) students clamoring for the "restricted books." Those would be books requiring parental consent because they contained mature material. I cracked up today when a student didn't have his homework completed....but he had the note from his mom so he could check out the book. When I say mature, they deal with heavy topics, or in some cases mildly sexual topics, which truly, our students see all the time on TV, but I still wanted parents to be aware. Yesterday, I found out that thanks to a random donor, my classroom project to get a FANTASTIC assortment of books that will appeal to low readers, high readers, boys, and girls, and their Latino backgrounds, was fully funded. I am beyond excited to get those books. Then, today during lunch, the office aide walked in with 4 huge boxes. I was momentarily confused, as I thought there was no way the Donors Choose could come that quickly. Come to find out, I had entered a contest a few weeks ago by writing a comment on a blog, and ended up winning a free classroom set of books! Turns out, these books are perfect 7th grade level, adventure, and EXACTLY what I need to hook my students. The BEST part is - they're autographed to my school and hard cover! I pulled out a few during my gamers club, and the kids went CRAZY! I really think part of it was just the novelty of a book that was nice, new, autographed, and for them. Any student who is lacking a book tmrw....I plan to entice with this one. Overall, a book craze is slowly but surely sweeping 7th grade, and I hope that the momentum has only begun! To conclude, because too much joy can be obnoxious, we had our Induction Ceremony for NJHS members tonight. It was perfect. The students were excited and professional, the candle lighting went off without a hitch, and both parents & students were all smiles. I was basically skipping out of the parking lot. Some days it's easy to get bogged down in the fatigue. But weeks like this.....they provide the fuel that keeps us moving towards the vision of empowering our students to change the world around them.

The Realities of a Border Classroom

goofymathguy2012rgv — Tue, 23 Oct 2012 16:27:51 +0100

The sluggish sun struggles to ascend as I enter my school building each morning. As I approach the padlocked doors on the south side of the school, I see students wondering around aimlessly, looking for someone to reach out to them, for someone to care why they are at school hours before required time. I head down the freshman corridor, sliding my feet on the chalky residue blown in from the outside. As I enter my classroom, I can see the pests scurry into their daily hiding spots, my classroom just as I left it the day before: distinct rows of desk, bulletin bare and lacking any concern, disoriented stacks of binders - the height of dust growing by the day. I climb behind my desk and begin getting materials ready for the classroom, pumped up and excited because I saw the sun rise, and with each new sunrise comes a brand new day, and maybe, just maybe, today will be the day. Maybe, just maybe today will be the day that I have students that are excited to learn. Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day that I have students turn in homework. Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day that my students will be able to stay awake because they got a good nights rest. Maybe, just maybe, I will get support from my administrators encouraging me for the relationships I am building with my students, not abandonment because my students are passing assessments at rates in the low thirties. Maybe, just maybe, today will be the day that I can successfully engage my students in a rigorous mathematical discussion that relates to their lives. Maybe, just maybe, today I can make a difference, today I can have an impact, today I can live up to the vision and goals that I have laid out for my time in this classroom. We will see... Last night I was speaking with my mother on the phone with the Presidential debate running cyclical in the background, hearing the same thing over and over again...blah blah blah...Nothing they said seemed real, nothing they said seemed sincere, and my mother and I come to agreement that nothing they said would impact our lives for the better. I joined Teach for America to become that person that would fulfill his promise, to satisfy his mission, to actually accomplish what it is that I set out to do. It was while watching this debate last night that I realized that I am no different than a politician. I moved to the Rio Grande Valley with bold dreams and an elaborate vision and a strategy to change the world. However, when I got here I realized just how difficult my task was going to be. I have never been a settler, I have never been one to roll over and take the blows. I have always been a fighter, but more importantly I have always been a believer. But the harsh realities that I face here every day in this small dungeon of a classroom, make me doubt not only my abilities, but the overall vision and dream of Teach for America is not only up to us in the classroom or within our organization, but it is up to the students we teach, the families we serve, the communities within which we live, and leaders that make our decisions for us. The realities of my classroom are as follows: 1. 60% of my students are DIAGNOSED LEP or SPED populations. 2. 29% of my students passed with a 45% the first assessment 3. Less than 23% of my students feel that they have what it takes to make it to college, while only 11% of my students feel that they can graduate college. 4. The average of the percentage of students that pass my standardized assessments is 30% 5. The total number of parents I have been able to contact - 14 6. The total number of parents I have tried contacting - 40 7. The number of parents that have reached out to me - 5 8. The number of observations done by administration, faculty and staff in my classroom - 0 9. Percentage of students taking AP Calculus - less than 1% I don't have statistics for all of the harsh realities of my classroom, but I can say that my job to provide an equal education to my students here at Rio Grande City High School is not going to be an easy task and is going to be difficult enough that it has already made me reconsider my ability to teach and the legitimacy of the Teach for America vision that one day all students will be provided an opportunity to receive an excellent education.