Last day of school

Today is my final day as Ms. Castro at Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary School. I am excited to move to the next chapter of this TFA journey, but I am sad to say goodbye to my first class of students. I told them they would all have a special place in my heart, & they laughed at me...but it's true!

Pre-assessment versus post-assessment test grades

My collab received the results from the tests our class took, & were filled with mixed emotions. Generally everyone improved, but some students' grades actually decreased. How does that happen? The defeats definitely impacted us more than the triumphs. We all have a lot of growing to do as teachers.

Zumba time

 Yesterday, all teachers & students spent 1.5 hours doing Zumba. I don't know why we had to dance for that long, but I was pretty exhausted after 1 hour! I felt ridiculous & it was weird all around, but definitely made some good memories during it all. We actually danced to Shakira's "Waka Waka," which was great because I already knew the dance (don't judge).

Screenshot of my end of Institute Survey

 TFA has us complete surveys ALL THE TIME. & get this - they are not anonymous. They send each corp member a personal link with an individual password to track each CM. Also, we have to take the surveys at school, where facilitators we "judge" are. Personal opinion - there is no way these surveys can yield very good data, because they are completely skewed by so many factors. With facilitators roaming the rooms during survey time, I think CMs feel pressured to censure their opinions. Who knows.

 Other random happenings:

Today's bus ride to school felt like I was in a horror movie - thunder, rain, lightening, etc.

A prize we are giving away to a student today. I think it's creepy, but I hope 10 year-old boys think otherwise...

Mr. Lara with the bat.

Gulfton

I realized that I haven't really given any information about where exactly I am teaching this summer, so here is my ode to Gulfton!

I currently reside in the safe bubble that is Rice University. The houses surrounding the college are large & beautiful - this area seems fairly safe & wealthy. Six miles down the road lies an area called Gulfton, home of Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary School, where I teach summer school.

Gulfton, also known as the "Gulfton Ghetto," used to be home to successful, middle-class professionals until the 1980s, when the region hit an economic decline. From then on, the area became populated with immigrants, most particularly from Mexico & Central America. The population is 97% Hispanic. Home to various gangs & acts of crime, Gulfton contrasts starkly to the Rice University area.

It blows my mind that such differing living conditions exist not even 10 miles from each other.

I am collaborating with three other TFA Corps Members to teach a class of 8 boys (together, we are called a "collab"). Last week, my collab talked to our class about how they might encounter obstacles while trying to reach their goals. A TFA teacher asked the class, "what are some obstacles someone might face when trying to reach their goal?" This was a student's response:

"Well, people need to cross the river from Mexico to get to the United States - so the river is an obstacle."

WOW. How do you respond to that? This finally makes the discussion of immigration real to me.

Despite the obstacles my students face living in Gulfton, or dealing with immigration laws, these boys don't show any of this while learning in the classroom. The majority of these boys are in summer school to get ahead so that they can be fully prepared to go to 5th grade. They want to learn.

A FEW DAYS IN PHOTOS:

How I feel, generally every day.

Rosa, a member of my collab...so tired, she misspelled excellence. She gave our group a good laugh :)

Shout out to my grandma, who turned 89 this week!

I felt like this picture captures my long days at institute - a blur.

Thanks CMA for suggesting Baby Barnaby's for lunch, it was yum!

 The Dallas-Fort Worth staff visited us in Houston and brought the region duck hats...DUCKS FLY TOGETHER!!!

DFW region wearing their duck hats.

QUACK.