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!