Funnies

After being immersed with 800+ Teach For America corps members, facilitators, etc for 5+ weeks, I've noticed certain "buzzwords" used during sessions & conversations that never fail to make an appearance.

Fundamentally. Transformational. Push back. Action plan. Vision. Resonate. Reflect. Truly. Really. Transparent.

Here is a video that knocks some of the TFA lingo. It's important to note that not EVERYONE speaks like this, of course! This video is a bit of an exaggeration, but I got some good laughs from it.

For some more laughs, check out this Tumblr blog called "#whatshouldTFAcallme." The blog description is pretty accurate: A blog to keep TFA corps members from losing their minds along with all their free time.

End of the Beginning

Today was the end of Institute, a place where I grew as a student, teacher & leader. A place where I met so many wonderful people & teachers. A place where my heart will forever reside, because this is where I truly learned what Teach For America was really all about - and became part of the cause.

Today was the end of the beginning.

THURSDAY:

My empty classroom. Bye, summer school.

My collab. Thank you Paco, Rosa & Melissa for being such wonderful friends & teachers!

 After the last day of school on Thursday, my roommate Cindy & I celebrated at the pub on-campus. Cheers!

Representing DFW with our duck hats.

Teach For America then had closing ceremonies, filled with inspirational speeches, from 7:30 - 9 p.m. It was the last time all of the Houston, San Antonio, DFW, Rio Grande Valley & Eastern North Carolina 2012 Corps Members were united in the same room.

Program for the night.

 The ceremony also had some really cool acts - specifically a drumline from YES Prep North Central & a shuffling act by Kreativity has Spoken. Check out these videos:

FRIDAY:

My CMA, Leland, had an emergency stash of chocolate pandas for our cohort. The rule was that if you were about to have/were having a mental breakdown, you could open the box & eat a few pandas. Luckily, the box was left sealed until the final day. We celebrated by eating the pandas together :)

Holy pandas.

Cheers to no breakdowns!

My cohort. My family. Y'all are amazing.

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.

Summer Jam

Institute ends THIS Friday. YES.

My excitement to finally have a "summer" is mixed with some sadness - I will have to say goodbye to my students, to my friends from other regions (Houston, Rio Grande Valley, San Antonio, Eastern North Carolina), & the faculty when I depart from Houston.

These past few weeks have been absolutely exhausting. I am at week 5, & feel completely drained; I can't remember the last time I've been this tired! As a result, I've chosen sleeping over blogging :P

Last week ended on a high note - my collab group got to take 3 of our students to Rice University to show them what college was all about (the program was called Summer Jam). I have so many wonderful pictures of my students, but since they are minors I am not allowed to post them online :/ so here is what I have instead!

Mr. Goins (middle) and Mr. Lara with a student.

Horned Frogs!

Some more horned frog hands

 

Before the afternoon Summer Jam celebration started, students & staff started dancing to "The Wobble."

An awful picture of our guest speaker, Vince Young, at Summer Jam.

Last nights events - TFA Prom - I had to skip to finish homework...

A Teacher's Life

"Ms. Castro, can I go to the bathroom?"

"No Luis, we only have 3 minutes of class left."

"But it's number 2!" (holding up 2 fingers).

Blank stare..."GO."

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.

Exhaustion

I now know why Teach For America Institute is called teacher boot camp.

5:30 a.m. - wake up
7:15 a.m. - arrive at Sylvan Rodriguez Elementary
7:30 a.m. - 5:30 p.m. - Teach, lesson plan & attend workshops
5:30 p.m. - 11 or later...LESSON PLAN

I am exhausted. It's almost 9 p.m., & I am getting ready for bed. My average of 4-5 hours of sleep each night is rough.

On the bus ride home, some random chick fell asleep on me...#TFAproblems

The good news: I made it through my first week of teaching! I taught reading for the past week, & my class is a group of 8 wonderfully smart & generally well-behaved boys. I lucked out, because I've heard a lot of horror stories from other TFA corp members about their classes - students cussing, throwing stuff, etc.

Next week I teach math - improper fractions, mixed numbers, multiplication & division. I love math, so I'm really excited. Here's to hoping I learn how to be an even better teacher next week!

Sam Houston statue in Houston!

Day 1 of teaching: message from my Corp Member Adviser (CMA). Note the time...

Horned Frogs teaching for America - GO FROGS!

Coffee is my only friend nowadays.

First day of teaching notes from CMA

Johnathan's writing assignment today. He's quite the character :)