Being a team player

Since I found out my team members for the summer today, I wanted to share a reflection on being a team player. I always thought of myself as a top performer in the category of "works well with others." I find building personal  relationships very easy and teamwork to just sort of fall suit. I'm finding that I have more struggle in a team setting than I originally thought. In an exercise where I was asked to work with three others to develop a lesson vision, the team and the vision completely fell apart. All communication just sort of.. froze. It was as if we shut each other off with just a few key words. What I am realizing is that in order to work together as a team, then you need to have the right mindset and a foundational belief in teamwork.

When working with my collaborative this summer, I am going to make a real effort to maintain a mindset of open and honest communication that maintains a high level of respect for my team members. If I have a great idea, I need to share it and I need to be clear in my communication to my team members, but I need to understand that my team members have a lot to offer, too. I am going to open my mind to the belief that my teammates have great ideas and I should take advantage of everything they have to offer. On top of this, I need to realize that my team needs me to be performing efficiently, honestly, and creatively. My introvert-leaning personality is an obstacle I will have to overcome in these settings, but I believe with the right mindset and foundational belief, I can learn to work well with a team to help my students achieve. Let's face it, I can't make it through my first lesson plans, my first time setting up a classroom, and my first evaluations of students' performance without the help and support of my peers.

For my parents and friends back home...
I made it to L.A. safe and sound! I'm all set up to have a great learning experience this summer while helping a group of students achieve tremendous growth in their algebraic skills. I'm ten minutes from a beach, DOE is feeding us well, and I've met some amazing people. It's going to be a great summer!

Past Experiences

Since I have no real teaching experience at the moment, but I really want to blog about my professional start, I'm just going to write about what experience I do have. I think the biggest thing I'm bringing to the table is my ability to visualize. When Editor of North Avenue Review I had to transform the magazine and its content to make it something readable and sustainable. In order to make that transformation a reality I had to visualize what the end product was going to look like: 20 pages, creative cover, fun and engaging images, and high-quality writing about relevant issues to students. I had to then communicate with my staff exactly what this vision looked like and how we were going to make it happen. Yea, we had some rough spots in the year. Yea, we had to work hard. But that end product absolutely lived up to mine and my staff's expectations. It took hard work, but with that end product in mind we made it happen. Yes, there is always room for improvement, but I am proud of what we accomplished.

I can not wait to apply this practice to my classroom. I am well-aware that my students could walk into my classroom far behind their peers in more affluent, higher-performing institutions. I realize that my students could be overcoming enormous challenges just to get to school in the morning. My job is to visualize what the end of the school year could look like for these scholars, communicate that vision clearly, and then invest my students in that vision. This vision is one of success for every student in significant academic performance sprinkled with practices in leadership, communication, and civic duty. I may not know exactly how to make this vision happen right now, but I will work my butt off everyday to figure out what that plan is.

Hello, Kansas City

I love this city. Granted, it's been two days, but I get a distinct impression that the city is both eclectic and genuine: two of my favorite adjectives. I found an apartment walking distance to beautiful green areas and cozy coffee shops. I'm smiling inside and out knowing I can come home from a busy school day, and sit on a balcony with a warm cup of tea.

I'm starting to meet other teachers I'll working along-side in the program. The men and women I've met are incredibly driven individuals and I can not wait to get better acquainted as colleagues and friends.

I'm slowly learning some of the history of the achievement gap in Kansas City, MO. In the 1980s the city set aside nearly two billion dollars to closing the performance gap in schools associated with minorities and low socioeconomic status (there is a pretty significant divide between East and West parts of the city, and inner-city and suburbs). In the efforts to integrate the school system, however, many of the funds were misused and mismanaged. I was sick to my stomach to hear of an audit that revealed 54% of school funds never made it to the classrooms. Some drastic changes have been made in the past year, however, thanks to the new superintendent, Dr. Covington. This school year should see a strong focus on increasing student achievement in the inner-city schools of KCMSD (Kansas City Missouri, School District). The district is bringing in 150 teachers to lead high-need classrooms to becoming high-performance classrooms. Quite a task for us, but I think we're all pretty excited to work with these kids.

The fact that I'm training alongside 13% of the 2011-2012 KCMSD teachers to develop best teaching practices that will close the achievement gap of Kansas City is both exciting and frightening. Five weeks is such a short time-frame to develop into a great teacher! I hope my students will be patient with me as I tackle some new-to-me teaching methods. I'll have to develop a serious tracking system to make sure I'm effective. I think I may have just found one of my top priorities for professional development this next year: Develop a tracking system.

Road trip to Kansas City

The Versa is fueled and well-stocked with snacks, my suitcase is bursting with cardigans and full skirts, and my head is spinning with excitement and nerves. I leave tomorrow, bright and early, to start being a grown-up and a teacher. I am traveling roughly 900 miles from my home in Georgia to join Teach For America in Kansas City, MO. As a member of the corp, I am committing to do everything I can as a teacher to help solve inequality of education in the United States, specifically Kansas City.

I am so excited to meet my students in August, but I have a lot of preparation and planning to do before then. After my Induction into the Kansas City Corp next week, I'll be spending the rest of the summer in Los Angeles, CA teaching summer school and training with the LA Institute. I will have some long days ahead of me, but I know every minute will help me become the teacher my students need.

This blog serves three purposes: 1.) It's a way for me to keep my friends and family updated on my life. 2.) I can share with the world my (mis)adventures as a first year teacher. And 3.) this blog is a practice in reflection and transparency on my teaching methods. I am looking forward to sharing my first year of teaching with you!