Teach For America teacher blogs are on Teach For Us

This is happening in YOUR SCHOOLS, America!

amdipuh — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 04:00:46 +0100

I'm a problem-solver. I pride myself on my ability to dive into a situation and work toward a solution. I don't really get emotional when I know there's work to do. Sure, I get overwhelmed or tired. I get stressed. But I don't usually get emotional. Teach for America promised me new experiences and they've really delivered. Today, I'm mad. I'm furious. I'm sad. I'm combative. And i'm taking it out by aggressively hitting these keys as I try to spread some awareness. I've worked in Title One schools before...but this was a whole new level. All my professional development in my district so far was inspiring. Of course I'd encountered staff who seemed to accept that some students just weren't worth the time, effort, and patience that would be required to see them succeed. Others seemed content to cast judgements and conclude that some students were "unteachable" Of course, I don't agree. I get a little frustrated, but I plan to vent that in hard work and real change for my students. Of course many find that naive. Of course I was sure I'd prove them wrong. I never expected TFA to be easy. I relished the challenge. I had visions of inevitable breakthroughs i'd share with my students. And then reality happened. Today I excitedly joined 2 other TFA corps members to decorate and prepare our rooms. We found this: That's mold. On every desk. We wiped down one side of one desk (shown above). Our students are supposed to take pride in THIS? I understand that there are economic disadvantages in my district but why are we ordering new Ipads and not replacing the basics? What does a class set of laptops or a smart board in every room really mean if our kids aren't in a clean and safe environment? What are the priorities of our educational system? How is my school working to change it? Are we? Can we? Can I? This is happening here, in our communities. Why are we tolerating it? And this is only a symbol. This is only day one.

I believe I can fly

amdipuh — Sun, 03 Jun 2012 03:40:00 +0100

Induction is nearly over. I'll be waking up in a few short hours to drive from South Carolina to Georgia Tech. It's amaing that so many people from so many backgrounds have come together for a common vision. Albeit, my experience will be different as I will arrive late in an effort to spend time with my dad (his recovery is proving to be a long, slow, and bumpy process). It has recently occured to me that I am a part of a mission. I am a tool in a civil rights movement. I am bringing us one step closer to One Day. I may have been drinking the koolaid. (a reference I finally, proudly understand.) More to come on exhaustion, inconsistency, religious tolerance, southern hospitality, authenticity, and have I mentioned exhaustion? Remind me to clarify the title of this post, too. It can be and so it will be. In temporary summation: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoK63Bk7pgw

twomoredays! twomoredays! :D :D

florencefever — Mon, 28 May 2012 13:25:07 +0100

Well if you missed the title, Induction begins in two days!! That means I need to pack. And clean. And do laundry. Holy cow! Oh, did I mention I haven't started it yet and my room is an absolute mess? Yeah... woops! In other news, tropical storm Beryl is making its way through north Florida. Tomorrow, as we drive up to SC, it will be riding right along with us. Hopefully we can make it through unscathed! If driving conditions worsen up, we will take Cracker Barrel breaks :] yumm! Thats honestly about it. I am so excited! A little nervous! But ready for new adventures, new people, and the beginning of my life after college :D

The Way I See It

florencefever — Tue, 22 May 2012 16:19:21 +0100

Imagine we are all the same. Imagine we agree about politics, religion, and morality. Imagine we like the same types of music, art, food, and coffee. Imagine we all look alike. Sound boring? Differences need not divide us. Embrace Diversity.

Hiccups and Blessings

amdipuh — Fri, 18 May 2012 04:33:25 +0100

The buzzing of the vending machines is soothing my busy mind. I'm crouched by the on-call room because it's cooler than the ICU waiting room and, frankly, it's unsettling being around the surge of emotion contained in that room. Thankfully, I am actually celebrating my time here at Emory Hospital. My father finally had his lung transplant! I'm thrilled at the timing. I just graduated with honors from GC&SU and my dad was able to attend. On May 29, I'll leave for induction in South Carolina and my dad will hopefully be well enough to begin his healing at home and I won't be in a panic worried he'll get the call while I'm away. During my time at Institute in Atlanta, I anticipate his full recovery so that he can travel with me when I move into a new place in SC! I just wish I had a placement so I could have a better mental picture of the upcoming year. I was scheduled for 3 phone interviews this round and one was the same day as my father got the call. I had to reschedule, but the staff seemed very flexible and understanding. I completed the other two interviews in a quiet little nook in the hospital. I had done enough preparation before we got the call so I felt fairly confident in my focus and responses. Forward prep is not always my forte; I was lucky with the way this worked out. I am learning so much about flexibility and rolling with the punches. My undergrad education cohort experiences helped me with this so much, but it's always good to be reminded that I am not in control of the universe and should really only focus on controlling myself ;) I'll be honest, I'm a professional procrastinator. I need the urgency of "will I make this deadline?" to help my focus. I work well under pressure, perhaps too well, and it leads me to be a bit cocky with how I allot my time. I need to change this habit so that I can handle all the hiccups, hidden curriculum, and turbulence of my first year of teaching in a way that is beneficial to my students. On that note, I should log off here and get to work on all the pre-institute assignments... it's so overwhelming! There is much to be done. So many papers to gather, things to pack, documents to fill out, etc! Yikes. Here's to hoping I handle the stress with the strength that my dad is showing me as he recovers!

In the beginning...

florencefever — Mon, 14 May 2012 02:44:03 +0100

It's difficult thinking where to begin, but it all really started around Thanksgiving last semester. I had heard of Teach For America my sophomore year, after one of my friends was accepted into the '10 Charlotte, NC Corps. My senior year I became a Campus Campaign Coordinator, encouraging other around campus to apply and promoting TFAs mission. So when Thanksgiving arrived, I had thought I knew what I wanted in life - graduate with both my music (BA) and math (BS) majors and go into a govt. program. Unfortunately, funds for me were low as I used them all to take the excessive amounts of credits required for a double degree, so I dropped my math major and bumped my graduation up to the '12 Spring Semester. I quickly entered myself into the TFA application pool, realizing it was exactly where I needed to go. Thinking back, I am so happy with this decision. I am truly ecstatic about what is to happen in these next two years! Basically, I applied to TFA toward the end of January and was sent straight to the final interview in early February. The interview was insane to say the least. I began my morning straight-curling my hair, drove with my mom up to Gainesville to avoid the terror experience they call "parking", and changed to my sexy business attire in McDonalds. Arriving at the interview site, I met my fellow TFA candidates and we immediately launched into the 5 minute lesson plans. The interviewers called out for a volunteer, so I raised my hand and went first. My lesson plan was executed flawlessly… well, not really. It began with me dropping all my materials, which I continued dropping throughout the lesson. Overall though, I completed the lesson, did a cheer with the group, and collected my exit cards all within the five minute time! :] Then I watched as nine others gave their lessons. Overall, mine seemed to be success! Next began the group portion. It was terrible. My group could not stay focused. Apparently my outfit, hair, and handwriting were more exciting than the task at hand. One of our interviewers watched us, and said to “pretend like we were in a fishbowl.” Well, at one point he sneezed, so I politely said, “bless you.” Instead of a “thanks”, he turn to me and goes, “fishbowl. remember?!” So I of course mutter under my breath, “woops. well unbless you then…” Luckily, we made it through completing all the requirements without any more random remarks. Finally, it was time for lunch and the individual interviews. We were given a role play; I prepared my convincing strategy and went into the room confident. Again, I had the sneezy male interviewer. He asked the usual interview questions, but had such awkward feedback answers that I was extremely nervous walking out of the room. My favorite part of the interview: Him: So, do you have any questions about TFA? Me: Um, actu… Him: Well I mean I dont see how you would. Youre a campaign coordinator for us now so you should know just about everything. Me: Haha yeah… Him: Well it was great meeting you! **shakes hand** End interview. So, to my surprise, I was accepted into Teach For America as a secondary math teacher in South Carolina. :] SOOOOOO excited :] :] :] :] :] I took my Praxis exams on April 28th and will find my scores out by the end of the month! Also, I interviewed with my first school, Williams Middle School in Florence. It went amazingly well and I am officially placed as the 7th and 8th grade IB Math teacher for Pre-Algebra and Geometry!!!!! :] I wanted this offer more than anything :] Everyone at the school seems so laid back and excited about their jobs! In other news, I have returned home until the start of Induction/Institute. Finishing up prework and last minute details this week. Also, I am in desperate need of a haircut that will hopefully return my hair to normal… oh yeah, I straightened it and it never went back to curly. YIKES! But now the new hair growing in is curly… so its a big BIG issue.

It's All Going So Fast!!!

Live With Passion — Thu, 05 Apr 2012 20:08:57 +0100

It's hard to believe that it has been 6 months since I received notification of acceptance into the 2012 Corps. I have absolutely no idea where time has gone. In the past 6 months I have taken and passed my South Carolina Praxis exams, researched the various areas of SC where TFA will be, given numerous talks to possible TFA recruits, and participated in a couple of phone interviews for positions. It's hard to believe that in a little more than a month I will begin my journey in South Carolina. In the meantime I am focusing on graduation and spending as much time as possible with my friends and family. More to come later!

I teach.

amdipuh — Thu, 02 Feb 2012 15:08:37 +0100

I teach! I'm strongly considering using the note card confession trend as an introduction during the first week or so. Click the link for a video my colleagues created. I cant figure out how to embed the video here.

I have a habit of getting ahead of myself...

amdipuh — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:26:05 +0100

Is this thing on? I've been reading a bunch of TFA statistics, other blogs on teachforus, and their experiences during their first two years but I'm pretty curious about life after your first two years. Ideally, I want to be a teacher for a substantial portion of my life. How do I best accomplish this? What else am I trying to accomplish? Can I stay in TFA indefinitely? Can I request other locations? Could I work with admissions in TFA? Should I do any of those things? How does life work after two years in the corps? Feedback much appreciated.

I'm going to be a Teacher!

Live With Passion — Fri, 16 Dec 2011 02:14:56 +0100

So I haven’t let myself actually post on here until all my finals and papers were done for the semester. And now they are, so now I can post! I am incredibly excited to being my journey as a TFA Corps member. It is my passion to work with children and having this opportunity is seriously a dream come true. (Yes, I know that is very cliché, but if you know me personally you know that it is completely true.) And while on the subjects of dreams, I’ll explain the title of this post. See, I am a sleep talker and sometimes a sleepwalker. I don’t know why I do this, but it gives my friends some pretty funny stories to tell over and over again. In my sleep I have convinced my roommate everything from there being a dinosaur in the room to marshmallows are going extinct. Sometimes, I just talk about things that actually happened the day before; which brings me to this title. The night that I found out I was accepted in the 2012 Corps I sat up in my sleep and said to my roommate, “I’m going to be a teacher.” I then layback down and remained quite for the rest of the night. I am going to be a teacher. I am going to make a difference. I am a TFA Corps Member. (That last part is my favorite.)