Hayley3586’s Neighborhood

 Join MTC if…

- you like challenges. MTC is a challenge, and it is hard; however, it is completely worth it, if you’re up for it.

- you want to change. MTC will surely change you, for better or for worse.

- you’re up for living away from big cities and the metropolitan lifestyle. MTC places you in Mississippi (seems logical, right?), so if you’re up for living in Mississippi, join MTC.

- you want to be a part of something big.  Mississippi needs teachers; Mississippi needs good teachers. As a member of MTC, you have the opportunity to be a good teacher in Mississippi.

- you want to teach. MTC claims that if you can teach in the districts it places you in, you can teach anywhere. Talk about comforting- if you can survive this, you can go anywhere else and be okay.

- you don’t want to teach. MTC is incredible work experience in a difficult environment; I’m convinced that if I can survive (and thrive!) this, that I can do well just about anywhere. Although if you don’t want to teach, you should probably at least really like people- MTC is tough if you’re anti-people.

- you wanted to do Teach for America but weren’t accepted. MTC is better: FREE MASTERS (no strings attached- it is truly free, books and all!), full teaching salary with benefits, a support system that is second to none- from the summer interns to the faculty to the second years, MTC is there for its participants- in good times and in bad, connections and resources in every possible placement site. Enough said.

- you want an adventure. No, MTC is not the wild west; however, it sure provides one crazy experience for all participants.

- you are flexible/ are okay with learning how to be flexible. You have to be as a part of MTC. Your school will probably not be organized, and because of their lack of organization (among other things), you will need to be flexible. Even when you really, really do not want to be.

- you prefer the SEC to the Ivy League. Only kidding. However, SEC football is king in Mississippi, and as a part of MTC, you will be enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Mississippi. Love your alma mater, but embrace your new school and Mississippians will start to see you as one of their own rather than an outsider.

Don't join MTC if...
- you don't like challenges. MTC is an incredible challenge. From the students you will teach to the administration you will work under and the people you will work with, everything will test you and try you. MTC is HARD.

- you have other plans. In order to enjoy the work you do with MTC, your job has to be your main focus, although it should never, ever be your only focus. If you'd rather be doing something else, do it. Your students need you to be all there, and they can tell if you're not.

- you think you can change the state of education in Mississippi. You can't, and you won't. You might have a positive impact on the lives of a handful of students, but you certainly will not change the state of education in Mississippi. The system has been messed up for far too long, and just like Kofi Annan learned with the instability in Kenya, peace will only come if those directly involved, rather than outsiders, want it to come.

- you hate the South. Mississippi is a different world, and those who know that who live there tend to be okay with that. Yes, red meat is a staple in many diets. Yes, people talk with accents that are sometimes impossible to understand. Yes, there are A LOT of really crappy drivers in Mississippi. Yes, rain can add a lot of extra time to your daily commute. Yes, the logic in Mississippi might seem illogical. to you. To them, it makes plenty of sense- accept that fact.

- you'd prefer to live  a cosmopolitan lifestyle in a big city. Mississippi doesn't have any of that. The largest "city" is the capital, Jackson, and if you include the tri-county area, the city's population doesn't even top half a million people. Culture exists in Mississippi; however, you must keep your eyes open in order to find it.

 

- you’re unorganized. I know there are plenty of people in MTC who will tell you that they are not organized. Do not believe them. As a participant in MTC, you must be able to balance teaching in  a critical needs school district with your own coursework. The courses, while not as demanding as undergraduate coursework, still require you to work on your own time. In addition to balancing teaching with studying, you also need to be able to make time for you, time away from school, MTC, and all things teacher related. You won’t survive if you don’t make time for you.

This reminds me of the "We are the Fighting Irish" ads they play during ND football games.  Danielle Hall, Notre Dame and MTC alum, is featured in this recruitment/information video about the Mississippi Teacher Corps:

            I’m not really sure how to sum up my experiences in the classroom thus far. I guess most importantly I am still here, which is an accomplishment in itself. I find teaching to be an overwhelmingly demanding job, not just professionally, but emotionally.

             I didn’t want to go to work this morning. My alarm went off at 5:45 a.m. , snooze, 6:00 a.m , snooze and then I just laid there for 30 minutes debating whether or not to show up for work.  My cheerleading squad of 11 decided to unanimously quit the team yesterday, as if to punish me for trying to instill some sense of discipline in them. It hurt; it was a slap in the face. In the shower, I made a compromise with myself, I would go to work 20 minutes late, but cancel cheerleading.

            I was talking to my good (TFA) friend, and we were trying to identify the type of relationship we have with our students. It’s an awkwardly fluid dynamic in my classroom. I wouldn’t go as far as to say I love them (some of them I do), but despite how they mistreat me and sabotage their own education, I still care. I’ve come to see right through their anger, frustration, and insecurities.  I’ve learned to detach myself from their misbehavior. That’s probably why the whole cheerleading incident was so upsetting, because for the first time in a long time, I had allowed my students to manipulate my emotions.

            My students know more about my life day to day than my very own mother who gave me life itself.  They know when I’m in a bad mood, in a good mood, when I get a new pair of shoes, when I straighten my hair, when I don’t straighten my hair and so on. Moreover, they’re keen to point it out. Likewise, I know when their frustrated, motivated, going through a breakup, recovering from the flu, etc. I keep my observations to myself however.

            In terms of this course, I think Dr. Monroe is a very encouraging and positive instructor, and I did enjoy the discussions in her class. I appreciate her humility and her willingness to negotiate our unique teaching experiences with her expertise.  

Even in my second year, 'successful' is not an adjective that I would use to describe my teaching practice. 'Effective' is the more contextually appropriate word, but neither can this be absolutely claimed. Teaching continues to be trying, strengthening, humbling, often rewarding, but 'successful' is something that it is not.   For this reason, I look for the measurable gains in my individual students reading and writing ability in order to glimpse even the smallest semblance of success.  

In the interest of privacy, I'll call my student Mariah.  I received Mariah as a 15 year old 7th grade student who been absent for over a month of school the previous year during which time she was reported as a 'missing child'  for having allegedly ran off with an older man.  While, I am always of the belief that it is best to dismiss a student's past behavior history and receive them with new hope and new expectations it is more often than not that the student isn't far removed from their past which moreover informs the present, the student standing right there in front of you today.  When Mariah would verbally and  physically ( attempt to grab my hair) without any reservation or thought as to what might be the consequences, I realized that she had been shoved face to face with the crudeness of life and in comparsion, I was of no consequence whatsoever.

Although I consistently documented her behavior, administered her consequences, contacted her mother, and followed every other established protocol for following this behavior- I will not pretend to be at all responsible for her eventual turn-around.  Rarely, does a student wake up one day, have an epiphany, and commit to changing their ways. This , however, is exactly how it seemed to happen to Mariah.  It was the week of her birthday that I remember this sudden change in disposition, work habits, social interaction, ect.  Perhaps, the sobering anticipation of her turning 16 inspired this change, but whatever it was, the moment that I noticed even her most subtle effort to comply and respect, I acknowledged it, thank her, and indirectly prompted her to reflect on the difference between her current and former behavior.  The day of Mariah's birthday, I handed her a birthday/ thank you card that specifically acknowledged what I had noticed, what I had always believed she was capable of, and my conviction of how she would continue to succeed in the future.  Mariah received this not with the timid embarrassment of most students who are  acknowledged for doing the 'right thing', but with glowing pride.   From that day forward, she continued to be a model student and channel her aggression, defensiveness, and hurt into the stimulus for emotion-filled, poignant free-writing. It gets even better...

Mariah loves to write, and she loves being complimented on her writing even more. This was not mere flattery, however, as I reserved my praise for those pieces that were truly exemplary.  There was one poem, in particular, that was truly captivating and I truly believed that if entered in a contest or literary magazine, would be published. Jade was ecstatic at even the possibility of entering the contest and agreed to continue working with me to get it ready for publishing.  The next few afternoons that we spent together, exchanging both verbal and written words, serve as one of the highlights of this past year, and moreover my lifetime.  This in and of itself would have been a success, but it gets better... I mailed in her poem that Friday and three weeks later we were informed that Mariah received an honorble mention and a spot in the next issue!  It didn't matter that she didn't 'win,'  receive any monetary award, or even place.  The mere mention of her name and presentation of her poem in a magazine was enought to leave Mariah with an unabated glow that painted her face for the next three weeks.  This in and of itself was infinitely rewarding so that when Mariah's guardian-(aunt) came to personally thank me- it was no longer conceivable as to how I should be thanked, becuase truly, this was my privilege for which I have the utmost gratitude.

Although I am not completely new to the teaching profession, I often feel similar to first-year teachers since I am in my first year at KIPP Delta in Helena, Arkansas. In certain ways (easy and plentiful access to resources, myriad intelligent and hard-working colleagues, high expectations on student behavior and academic output) KIPP is very different from the school I taught at the past two years in Belzoni, Mississippi. In other respects (socioeconomic and racial demographics, general lack of student motivation, administrative acquiescence to parents) it is quite similar to my previous school. In reflecting on this first semester, three major realizations that I have encountered come to mind. I will reflect on each briefly:

1) KIPP students are no different from other students.

The students that I work with in Helena are very similar to my students from Belzoni. If often feel like Helena belongs on the other side of the Mississippi River somewhere deep in Quitman or maybe Leflore County. It would closely resemble other large Delta towns like Greenwood, Clarksdale, and Indianola. Prior to moving to Helena I thought that the students at KIPP were better off socioeconomically than average Delta kids or that they had more committed parents than normal. I found that my students have no silver spoon in their mouth and few doting soccer moms in their house. Students misbehave just as much at KIPP as they do at other public schools. What has actually been even more surprising is the heightened level to which a number of students misbehave as they seem to attempt to either get expelled or get their parents to take them out of KIPP due to our high behavioral and academic expectations.

2) KIPP entails a major commitment on the part of teachers.

The commitment that KIPP teachers make to their students begins early. In looking at my Gmail Inbox, I count over 50 emails sent between myself and KIPP administrators and fellow teachers between the first week of June when I accepted their offer of employment and the last week of July when we began our professional development/orientation. This is in addition to (at least) weekly phone call check-ins while at home in New Jersey that my school director (principal, essentially) and I had regarding my assignments. Yup, assignments. With due dates, criteria and all. On my first day of professional development I had a beautiful new cell phone waiting for me at work. This phone is with all the time and the number goes out all over to colleagues, parents, students, and anyone else who would like to contact KIPP Delta's 7th grade math teacher and debate team coach.

My work day usually begins at 5:30 and I'm usually at school sometime between 6 and 6:30 a.m. I'm rarely the first (or second or third) teacher there. Prep periods are scant and I'm one of the lucky few teachers with a morning AND afternoon one. Multiple teachers have NO PREP PERIOD. I'm also fortunate in that I only teach one core subject. Other teachers teach two (i.e. math and science or English and social studies) and some teach two strands of a core subject in the same classroom (i.e. algebra to 20 kids on the right side of a classroom and geometry to 10 kids on the left side...simultaneously). Although the regular school day ends at 4 p.m. (recently shortened from 5 p.m.) most teachers are expected to do an hour of an extracurricular activity and/or an hour of tutoring in their subject area each evening. Thus, my work day usually ends at 5 p.m. due to daily math tutoring and on Tuesdays and Thursdays it ends at 6 p.m. due to my coaching the debate team. I'm usually home about an hour after my work day ends...although I live only a few minutes' drive from my school. Saturday school occurs bi-weekly throughout most of the school year and a three-week long summer school is mandated as well.   

3) KIPP is the most innovative educational environment I have ever been a part of.

If you are psycho about teaching (and yes, essentially all MTCers fit into this category...at least all of those who last a year) then you will fit right in at KIPP. Far too often I felt that I was working much harder than my colleagues at my previous school. I would literally be laughed at for grading papers (even EXAMS). I was often the first teacher there and the last to leave. Students complained that my class was harder than their others. And on and on and on.... At KIPP, more or less all teaches are crazy, hard-working beasts. Almost everyone on the faculty is 20-something or barely in their 30's and from all corners of the nation. Together we are part of an amazing educational experiment that allows us to choose our own books and curricular material, teach using innovative instructional strategies, change the schedule on a daily basis as necessary (need an extra half hour for math? Just send a text to the phone of the ELA teacher), and sometimes even kidnap kids to get them to achieve at the very highest levels possible (ask me for stories). Where else could you have a school director mandate that teachers jump on a table in the cafeteria in front of the entire student body and sing and dance on cue or enter a classroom where intense pre-algebra instruction is occurring and mandate that every student smile at him while telling the teacher to hold up the arms of students who refuse to smile so they can be tickled into submission (both have happened to me this semester)? Anything but ordinary. Simply extraordinary.The movement is moving.   

Chimaobi Amutah
EDSE  647
Book Review

Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has The Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind?
by Michael Eric Dyson

    Each year in cities and towns large and small throughout the United States races for municipal office seem to boil down to two dominant, pervasive, and recurrent political issues: public safety and public education. Crime and education are so important to citizens because they concern not only the voters themselves but, most often, their invaluably precious children. Whether one looks at statistics outlining arrest and incarceration rates or dropout and literacy rates, the racial group doing the worst across the board is Blacks. Myriad theories have been put forth as to why this is the case and a plethora of articles and books have been published based on formal, scientific research as well as informal observation and reflection. In the book Is Bill Cosby Right?: Or Has The Black Middle Class Lost Its Mind? by venerable Georgetown University professor of sociology and cultural commentator Michael Eric Dyson, Dyson reflects on Bill Cosby’s take on why the community that he is a part of seems to fare so poorly in this society.
    The book’s antecedents lie in a highly controversial speech that Bill Cosby delivered in May 2004 after receiving an award at a commemoration event paying homage to the historic Brown v. Board Supreme Court decision of 1954. In his speech, Cosby decried the state of Black youth today who speak improper English, fervently pursue careers as athletes and rappers, and lack the basic self-discipline and motivation to make anything of themselves, their families, and their communities. Cosby’s comments sparked a firestorm of responses, most critically from other Blacks who felt as though Cosby’s age, wealth, and fame have left him out of touch with the current youth of the Black community and thus disqualifies him from making such generalized and hyper-critical statements. Michael Eric Dyson was one such critic who has made a point of combatting Cosby’s harsh rhetoric.
    In his book, Dyson, in true social scientist form, makes the case that extrinsic issues are more to blame for the myriad issues facing urban Black youth of today than a lack of quality parenting as Cosby professes. Dyson points to still-present and documented institutional racism that accounts for police arresting and charging Blacks at rates much higher than other racial groups as well as prosecutors seeking trial and incarceration more often than plea bargaining and judges issuing lengthier prison stays for Blacks. Dyson places Cosby in the same tradition as other elitist Blacks throughout U.S. history who were heavily critical of Blacks who they felt embarrassed the race, particularly in front of Whites--the “Afristocrats” as Dyson cleverly deems them. He makes these points all the more personal with regards to Bill Cosby by pointing to Cosby’s own struggles as a parent such as fathering a daughter out of wedlock and having another daughter publicly struggle with overcoming a drug addiction.
    This book is highly pertinent to the work that we as educators do, particularly at my current school. The KIPP network of charter schools in general and KIPP Delta in particular prides itself on working in rough inner-city and rural communities with majority-Black and Latino students from low-income backgrounds. One of the hallmarks of KIPP is discipline and the lengths to which we go to have our students speak, sit, walk, and even read with proper etiquette is amazing. Visitors to our school from local farming groups to the Governor of Arkansas remark at how amazingly well-behaved, courteous, and well-spoken our students are. This behavior seems to fly in the face of their preconceived notion that our students would be the type of students that Bill Cosby lambasted so passionately back in 2004. Our poor, Black students are expected to be loud, speak improperly, get into fights, and not have high standardized test scores. Far too often, students internalize these expectations and they morph into self-fulfilling prophecies. Thus, Dyson is correct in saying that low-quality parenting is not the predominant factor contributing to the state of Black youth today. Sadly, a lack of exposure to their own possibilities and a dearth of self-esteem are more deserve a greater share of the blame.

While I do enjoy typing/facebooking on my free macbook as well as a scholarship to Ole Miss, undoubtedly the best part of Mississippi Teacher Corps is its participants. It is always refreshing to hear from my fellow corps members, and Pete Nelson’s class speech embodies the bittersweet experiences of teaching, studying and living with corps members in Mississippi. I can’t even imagine what this experience would be like if it weren’t for the MTC and TFAers with whom I vent, share stories, complain, swap favors, and drink margaritas.

In his speech, Pete Nelson discusses the forever-lingering questions “ is this all worth it?” Is leaving for work at 6:30 am, living 2000 miles away from home in the woods, and growing grey hairs for the sake of education all worth it? I don’t think I’m prepared to answer that question at this point. However, I will say that after going home for the first time, I have realized that this experience if anything is interesting. Ironically after waiting four long months to get a break from my students, it turns out that I spent most of that break thinking and talking about them.  I’ve become consumed with endless stories, jokes, and memories of my students that sound more like a Hollywood satire than a reality. It is not until you go home and talk to the people who know you best, that you realize how bizarre and surreal your life has become.

In addition to the story time with friends and family, over the break I decided to attend a History of Social Theory course with my friend who is still at U of T. I lasted about 15 minutes before I had to call it quits.  They were debating Durkheim’s sociology of religion and querying whether society was god, and I was debating whether or not to give my students extra credit. It is crazy to think that only 6 months ago I was a student, but my life has completely changed now.  As an equity studies major I spent four years in university mostly talking about making a difference. Yet now, as Pete points out, I am actually doing something, not just talking about it.  Is all my hard work actually making a difference? I think so.

I was like a lot of my students in high school. I never really wanted to work to my full potential and take advantage of all the resources available to me. I enjoyed my Spanish class, but I enjoyed cheerleading and hanging out with my friends even more. One of my Spanish teachers in particular always tried to push me, and expressed disappointment when I didn’t fully respond to her efforts. I had a growing interest in Cuba at the time, and as a Cuban exile, she made a conscious effort to share her experiences with me. It was not until I studied abroad in Cuba four years after taking her class, that I realized what an influence her teaching and stories had had on my trip and life.

My teacher fled Cuba when she was only 9 years old, and never returned thereafter. The Cuban government seized her family’s property over 50 years ago, and has been redistributing it ever since.  While I was in Havana, I went to her family’s former home to talk to the current homeowners and look around (they were Cuban, so of course they just let me right in). When I returned home, I shared the new family’s stories and gifts with my teacher.  It was in these emotional and powerful moments that I spent with my Spanish teacher, that I came to truly recognize and respect the central role that she and probably many other teachers have played in shaping my worldviews, opinions and life experiences.

As teachers we never know what sort of impact were having on our students’ lives. Unfortunately our success is not measurable or visible. If all I do is challenge one student to think in a new way, or inspire another student to make a change for the better, then yes, this will have all been worth it. 

 

In her speech about schools of education, Secretary of Education Anne Duncan discusses many of the challenges and rewards of teaching in today’s diverse and globalized society. Her speech primarily investigates the questionable role that schools of education play in preparing new teachers for these challenges.  Many of her remarks are reflected in my own personal experience as a teacher here in the Delta. 

Duncan argues that it takes a university to prepare a teacher.  However, as with many historical scholars who Duncan quotes, I too admittedly question whether good teachers are made or born. In my short teaching career, I have failed multiple times to effectively reach my students, and I wonder if this is the result of poor training or inexperience. On one hand, I agree with the three out of five ed school alum who feel as though “ they did not get the hands-on practical teacher training about managing the classroom that they needed, especially for high-needs students.”  There is no question that summer school training did not even closely mirror the strains and pains of managing a classroom of 25+ every period, every day, for a year.  I hate bitch and moan, but I received 0% training on how to teach Spanish prior to entering the classroom. Our program focuses so much on the disciplinary aspect of classroom management, that basic things like student attendance, monitoring student progress and actual quality teaching were overlooked.

On the other hand, I feel as though teaching may just be something that is learned through experience. Although I continue to struggle, I noticeably improve everyday as a teacher.  I am slowly beginning to understand my students, the faculty and the community in which I teach. It’s essentially been a process of trial and error. I’ve learned to always listen to advice, but not always take it.  What works in one classroom may not work in another. Also, teaching is unlike most other academic disciplines in that it is a performance based skill. One’s ability to think critically, knowledge of the subject content, organizational skills and so on does not indicate how successful they will be as a teacher. Some of my best-written lesson plans turned out to be a catastrophe, whereas some of my on the spot ideas have proven most effective.

Duncan makes a strong argument for reforming schools of education in her speech. However, I am still uncertain of the role the schools of ed. even play in preparing quality teachers. What I do know however, as both a teacher and student, is that education bears its fruit long after the seed has been planted.