Day 18: Teacher Traning #AprilBlogADay Challenge

-->Prompt: What was your favorite part of your teacher training?

Tes, Jill, Me and Toni: My 3 best friends from NYU.

Last week my friend Kathleen, an 8th grade teacher here in NYC, emailed me: 

 Hey Meredith,

I'm changing up my next unit, like, a lot. Normally I mirror it with what they are learning in history but the history units are different this year....so I am spicing things up. 

I am starting a creative writing unit. We already did a few days of writing workshop and it's great! I am incorporating Postsecret as well. With all the tests done, they really need this. BUT... I want it to be differentiated  everywhere---especially with choosing what they actually create. Essentially, their final project can be any genre of writing BUT I wanted to give the option of a play. The problem, is I have little experience with theater. I was wondering if you have a relatively short play that follows a general story mountain to use as an example? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Miss you. 

Kathleen and I did our English student teaching together in the fall of 2007.  I relied heavily on her that fall as she had done ST in undergrad and was already far more seasoned than I was. Here we are, almost 10 years later still supporting one another.  I went into my materials and threw together a readers theatre version of Oedipus as well as a play writing template and rubric. 

Hi Kathleen: 

This is one of my favorites do read aloud- it is a really easy version of the play and follows the dramatic structure.

A play should have: 

inciting incident

rising action

climax

falling action 

denouement (in theatre- this is the resolution- we don't use the R word though)

To which she replied: 

You're amazing! Thank you!

 This is what my teacher training gave me: COMMUNITY.

Meredith and Kathleen! Summer 2015

In undergrad, I briefly thought about teaching.  A family member advised me to study what made me happy because I could always go back to school to become a teacher.  To be honest, I never thought it would happen: becoming a teacher.  I was so done with school after 5 years of undergrad that I was ready to just have my career.  This is what I did for a spell. But teaching called me back and in the fall of 2006 I started my MA in Educational Theatre and English at New York University. My program trained me well.  I felt confident leaving theory and moving into practice.  I, as all teachers are, was in for a rude awakening.  

The first few years were challenging and amazing.  I knew I was where I was supposed to be.  I was extremely grateful for my network of teachers I had built while in grad school.  The community and friendship it offered served as the backbone of my teaching practice.  

With Erin and her daughter.

Some teacher-friends have gone on to create amazing humans and I feel fortunate for our history and know that no matter what I could reach out and support is there.  This is one of the best parts of my teacher training.  Longevity.   

My extended teacher family from NYU continues to challenge me and remind me #whyiteach.  The articles they post on social media or the sharing of the work they are doing in the cities they work in inspires my own work.  It is not simply about networking, it's about COMMUNITY. 


So when picking a teacher traning program, ask about the community of teachers.  Ask what life has been like for them after they leave.  Ask to talk to teachers about what the program offered them.  

 

Day 29: My History of Learning: 7 Pivotal Moments #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt: Your History of Learning - What has been your greatest learning experiences?

In the first year of graduate school everyone has to take a methods class- a lot of the content is history of education and the building of a personal philosophy on teaching and learning.  One of the projects we had to do was to identify the major leaning experiences of our life to that point and present it in a creative way.  

I brainstormed a long list of learning moments- some  more cynical than others.  I remember reading the list to my husband, who was then my boyfriend of only 6 months, and he commenting on the TONE of the list.  I weeded down to a robust 12 or so.  I cut out circles of colored card stock and wrote each moment on a circle and included the age that the learning moment tool place.  I then I put them together in to the shape of a caterpillar, not unlike this one: 

I remember feeling like I had all these great experiences but I was just at the beginning, as a career changer.  I was not a butterfly yet. 

I don't know that I see myself as a butterfly yet.

I do know that I have reflected on my journey, a lot. Here are 7 pivotal learning events:

1. JoAnne Jugum.  She was my 3rd grade teacher.  This was the year I learned to write cursive. Cursive provided me freedom to explore and escape, encouraged to write letters and stories. This is also the year that I was granted refuge from the storm of growing up.  I was painfully aware that I was not fitting in with the kids I had gone to school with for the previous 3 years.  She let me spend recess in her room, so I could read and hide.  It was safety when I needed it. 
2. Barely passing math in 8th grade.  This was the first time I felt like a true failure.  I has been told for years that I was better, smarter than the kids in the "regular" classes.  I was condemned and had to repeat math in 9th grade.  I thought I was being relegated to the class with the stupid kids, the slow kids, the kids who were less because they were exactly where they were supposed to be, working at grade level. What did this really mean? It means I hadn't been ready for 9th grade math in 8th grade.  It meant that I started 9th grade with my peers as equals.  It forced me to rethink and reformulate many of ideas I had about being a student, learning and my own experiences.  
3. Not being able to afford to go away for college after graduation from high school.  I applied to visited and got into a private college in Minnesota. I could not afford to go there and I didn't get into the state school I applied to.  I was relegated to community college, which I hated, a lot.  It's not for everyone.  That's ok.  I dropped out after 1 quarter.  I had amazing grades and because I had some college, when I reapplied to the state school I wanted to go to I applied as a transfer student and got in with my 3.9 GPA and amazing essay.
4. Starting college at 20 and a half and not 18.  No dorms.  Living off campus.  Being "non-traditional". Having had to work harder to get there...I soaked up every moment.
5. College, both undergrad and grad school.  I learned to take risks, collaborate, inquire, research, write, read and to be truly curious and creative.  My best friends in life are from college, as I am sure if true for many of us. Three universities, 7 years, countless classes and so much joy.  
6. Moving to NYC.  I am coming up on my 10 year anniversary in NYC.  I didn't move here for college.  I took a risk, mailed 13 small boxes to my new apartment and bought a plane ticket.  I achieved my professional goals from the first part of my life.  I was so poor I couldn't afford to turn my heat on that first year, nor could I afford to go home for the holidays and had my first Christmas away from my parents.  I met my husband, I went to grad school, I became a teacher.  I grew into myself.
7. Teaching and Learning in the NYC DOE. 1.1 million students.  1700 schools. 75K+ teachers.  The numbers are staggering.  Being a teacher here means many things. The odds are against us. Many come and go but many stay, teach, learn, grow.  It's more political than I would like, but I don't show up for the politics.  I show up for the kids.  I show up for Cory so he and I can sit on the couch in my classroom at lunch and laugh about silly things.  I show up so I can have an impromptu conversation with my 11th graders about what life would have been like if they stopped working for the grade on the paper because there were no grades. I show up so I can stop Joaquin, a sophomore, in the hallway and tell him that I want him to sit in on an AP class later in May so he can see what it is like and how working hard pays off.  I show up so I can celebrate Ashley, one of my advisees tomorrow because I was told by her geometry teacher that she is doing exceptionally well and potentially could have an 85-90 by the end of the year. I show up because there are little moments and big wins that teach me about the human experience.

All these moments have influenced and challenged my perception of my world. If you ask me this question in 10 more years I am sure I will give you a new list of moments that I remember, but experience changes perception.  I will keep seeking out new experience, new challenge, new learning in order to grow.

Day 5: This Must End! How WE can move education forward. #AprilBlogADay Challenge

Prompt 5 : What practice, tradition, instructional strategy or anything else "must die". What needs to stop in order for Education to move forward.
 

There are many things that I like, love even.  I like the workshop model and UbD, I like many of the methods Dr. Janet Allen and Kaylene Beers have shared with the world.  Nancie Atwell and my mentor while at NYU Maureen Barbieri laid a solid foundation of practices that have served me well. I ambushed Tom Romano (read THIS then THIS) at NCTE a few years ago and introduced myself and gushed about how much his writing and ideas have influenced and inspired.  I have learned to modify and make their work my own and I have developed my own methods that have served my students well over the years.

In talking with Chris (@the_explicator) today I was struggling with the prompt.  My mind went to broad things like the divide between public and charter schools here in NY, but as we quickly refined I came to this: the thing that has to end for EDUCATION to move forward is for educators- teachers and administrators alike to stop thinking of students as "these kids" and start thinking of them as "our kids".

When I began teaching, I worked in what some would say is the toughest neighborhood in NYC.  We had 150 kids that first year and a teaching staff of 9.  Our kids came to us from a range of backgrounds and experiences that had led them to alternative high school: teen parents, gang members, illegal immigrants, drug dealers, kids who were homeless and living in shelters with their family, kids who got lost in giant NYC schools and slipped through the cracks in the system, kids who were super smart and bored and stopped working because were lost in their school, kids who were bullied because of their sexuality or how they looked...

I wanted to work in alternative schools because I believed, and still do, that all children deserve great teaching and educators who will work hard for them.  It had seemed to me that programs that push inexperienced and undertrained teachers into the highest need schools were doing students a disservice (I'll qualify- there are some amazing teachers that come out of TFA and NYC TF, but it takes time and many drop out..and there are crap teachers that come out of fancy programs like NYU, Teacher's College at Columbia and Bank Street that are also crap teachers.)  There were colleagues over the 5 years I was at that school who would talk about our populations as "these kids" with distain and sometimes resentment.  "These kids can't be taught." "These kids can't learn, that is why they are here."  "These kids are a waste of my time."  I heard it all, from adults who for many kids were a first line of defense and they had no interest in defending, teaching, caring for our students. Over time I became very vocal when I heard "these kids" uttered in staff meetings.  "Not these, OUR kids."  I am sure some of my coworkers didn't like it but I didn't care.

It was hard to leave alternative schools to go to a more mainstream "traditional" school.  9-12th grades (though I came in year two- only a freshman and sophomore class).  We are a limited-unscreened (no test required to get in) school even though we are specialized- all students who come can learn to code and many will be able to earn a CTE certification upon graduation in addition to a diploma. They don't have to take a test to get in and we don't look at test scores.  Our students who live in public housing learn along side affluent kids from families on the Upper East Side.  They all have equal access to education and training that has historically been limited to the brightest (and the best test takers!).  Occasionally I hear those dreaded words "these kids" and "those kids" and I have the same reaction even though the context may be different.  At this school I try to model the language that I think is the best way for teachers to talk about students rather than being bossy. :-) Always: our kids.

In order for education to move forward we must stop thinking of children as a product, number or percentage. School should not be thought of as a business (and be privatized). They are all our children and it is our responsibility as educators to be authentic and real with them, to support them through ups and downs and to be their greatest advocates once they step inside our school.  These are OUR kids and should be thought of as such.

Post 4: Moments of Humanity #AprilBlogADay Challenge

April Blog A Day Challenge

Prompt 4: A Moment of Humanity in the Classroom - think about a moment in your teaching experience where there was a "connection" between you and a student or group of students that resonated beyond content.

There have been many moments of connection over the years: hard talks, personal challenges, pregnancy, death, successes, college acceptance, reconnection with students as adults years later.  "Ms. T you are the reason I decided to become a teacher."  Yep, being a teacher is an emotional roller coaster. I think for me though, the moments that have been the most powerful and cultivated the greatest connection have been when I have taken students to see performing arts events.

When I moved to NYC 10 years ago, I had hit the motherload of theatre joy.  I landed my dream job as a theatrical milliner, making hats for Broadway shows.  I also got to work at The Metropolitan Opera. When I changed careers, I was able to find a graduate program where I could be licensed in two subjects- English and Theatre Arts.  I was so excited to be able to take kids to see performing arts performances in New York City.  What better place to be a drama teacher, right?

My favorite connections have been at these performances.  Some favorites have included: RSC's Julius Caesar and Dance Works at BAM, The Giver at NYU, King Lear at The Park Ave. Armory and most recently new works at The Vineyard Theatre, Billy and Ray and Brooklyinte.  For many of my students it is the first time they are going to the theatre.  The experience of going into a theatre, getting a program, the buzz before the lights go down.  

Then there is the experience of watching teens watch theatre.  My kids don't sleep, they engage and are engrossed.  I know this happens because I have prepared them for this moment. They laugh, they are curious they watch intently.   

I took 60 9th graders to see Billy and Ray this fall, the story of Billy Wilder and Raymond Chandler writing the film Double Indemnity.  They were captivated for 2 hours and then sat through a 30 minute talkback with the cast including  Vincent Kartheiser of Mad Men fame. They asked great questions and the natural curiosity was inspiring. 

One kid found me after the show, "I could hear you laughing Miss. You have a really distinct laugh you know."In that moment I was reminded of how valuable sharing this experience with my students is.  Letting them see how much I love performing arts.  Being authentically me, even with my "distinct laugh".

With my cousin at An American In Paris on Broadway last night.