Inauguration Day

My school made arrangements for the entire school to watch the inauguration of President B. Obama in the gymnasium. While Obama's speech was well received by the students. I immediately saw a digression or deviation in regards to progress, once the speech ended with the benediction by Dr. Joseph Lowery.

My school is composed of all Hispanic and Black students. After the election many black students begin to celebrate at the expense of the Hispanic students. Asking questions like "What have Hispanics done?" followed by "we have a Black President, and yall are wack" ..... I was deeply disturbed by these comments! The interesting part is that several Black adults in the school behaved the same way ... celebrating in isolation as opposed to celebrating a major breakthrough on behalf of all minority groups.

In conclusion, I think the election of Barack Obama coupled with the sentiments of many demand that we review the definitions of racism and inequality in their most basic forms.

Home Visits

January 24, 2009 -- I navigated my way through the Bronx to conduct several visitations to student's homes. Each home I visited was located in a Public Housing Complex. I am a firm believer that teachers MUST holistically understand their student's backgrounds to be the most effective. My experience during these home visitations further substantiated my claim.

A few Notable Observations:

1) The crime that students are surrounded by in HUD Public Housing Complexes
2) The dilapidation and filthiness of the buildings that many students reside in (ex. Standing urination in elevators, trash spread through halls, etc.)
3) I went to one home which was filled with children, and one little boy ran up to me and insisted I pick him up (DAD DA ... DAD DA). "I ain't your daddy"
4) Several parents were shocked that I (and the other two colleagues who accompanied me) cared enough to make a visitation.

Stay Tuned ....


Side Bar: I'm positive that I will not live in NYC longer than two years ... perhaps this will be the last year ... this weather (and something about the overall ambiance) is killing me and my brain is crying out for intellectual stimulation

Also budget cuts have in question the job of every teacher without tenure :(

Weekly Update

Ice Skating

January 14, 2009 – Four teachers, my assistant principal, and myself accompanied a group of students from our school’s Inquiry Team (students are chosen from the bottom third to receive extra intervention with the hope that these strategies will increase the level of performance of the kids, and become infused into every classroom) to Rockefeller Center to ice-skate after school. It was a wonderful experience. As soon as we exited the subway station, several students begin to comment on the demographics…. Several noting they were the only black and Hispanics in site. This is critical to note, as many people believe every part of NYC to be a great melting pot.

Once we were on the ice, the students and adults had a blast. (To Lambda Chi brothers reading this – I am proud to report I did not fall once!) It was extremely comical to watch the students, as they started out scared to leave the wall slowly navigate to the ice. In addition, it was funny that when I did almost bite the ice, I grabbed a student to prevent myself from falling – the student held me up – then requested extra credit on the final.

Final Exam

In NYC, high schools end the semester February 2, 2009. Thus, our school just started administering our final exams. (We start early as each teacher must administer a final and the students must take the State Regent’s Examinations) In fact, I administered my final examination yesterday to my classes. (I have a stack of test and papers to grade – anyone want to help me?) As you might imagine, my exam was said to be too hard --- but I am preparing them for college – so they had better get use to it (Standards shifted when they got Mr. Cooper)

Asia Society

I went to the Asia Society last night with a friend. We had a lot of fun! I definitely recommend everyone visit the one in his or her locales. http://www.asiasociety.org/

Week of January 5th

Last week went by extremely fast. It was our first week back from winter break and our last full week of instruction prior to final exams and regents. The best part of the week instructionally was my lecture on poverty --- the kids were very engaged as they debated whether people “choose” to be poor.

While most students agreed that people chose to be poor – it became clear their concept of poverty was distorted … they equated poverty to homeless people begging on the streets. I hope that by the end of the unit they are able to see both individual and structural causes of both homelessness and poverty.

In addressing the temperance movement in another class, we also discussed the decriminalization of marijuana. The students were very opposed to the idea.

Two of my students also shared life stories that included molestation in foster homes and parental alcohol abuse. – The way these things were handled further reinforced my charge to move to a macro level within education and social entrepreneurship VERY soon.

The goal is to write to you all at least weekly.

Talk to You Soon!

Happy New Year

Happy New Year Everyone

Life in NYC/ Southern Withdrawals

I am indeed enjoying my time exploring urban education. However, without reservation, I miss North Carolina. I enjoy the reality that I can do something anytime I want .... I can wake up at 3 am and go find something to eat .... the city indeed never sleeps .......... but I miss SWEET TEA, DRIVING, MY FRIENDS, and store personnel who get in trouble for not being cordial (It kills me when they don't say have a nice day :))

Happy NEW YEAR!!!!

I'll be back in 2009!

My Updated View on Education

When I initially went into the classroom, I understood the importance of looking at students holistically to understand them. With this understanding, my educational philosophy could be summarized as all children can learn when given the proper educational supports. Furthermore, this philosophy extended to infer that with these educational supports properly implemented the drop-out rate would decrease and the educational achievement gap would begin to close.

Based on my experiences in the classroom, I believe that leaders around the world must realize that the pressure has indeed increased upon most teachers to deliver competitive services to students. However, leaders must recognize that in order to achieve far-reaching results, pressure must be applied proportionately to all parties who have bearing on the success of our children, i.e. principals, assistant principals, counselors, social workers, teachers, assistant teachers, parents, foster parents, etc. We must change the context in which we view education, if we hold out hope that the achievement gap will ever close.

In short, my view on education has become that all children can learn and excel when provided the appropriate supports in all settings by adults who are held accountable. I will end this post by stating that my experiences in the classroom begs an in dept critical investigation into the foster care system to see how they can best supports wards of the state and others they have contact with both during and after their secondary educations.

Stay Tuned ..................

Graduate School MS.Ed

One of the requirements of the New York City Teaching Fellows, NYCTF, is that you complete your Master's degree at a school of their choosing. I am working on my MS.Ed, Concentration: students with disabilities, at City College of the City University of New York. The degree is 31 hours, and is projected to take two years. However, I intend to finish it in 1.5.

It is strenuous to teach a full day and then rush to classes. However, it has not proven too much. In fact, it has simply allowed me to truly realize how much I enjoy being a student.

This semester, I will conduct the literature review and design my thesis... and as I work -- I will be sure to keep you guys posted .... those who know me already know I will struggle picking one simple topic --- but the experience is sure to be grand for us all!

Stay Tuned .....

The Teachers/Administration

I have made many observations in regards to my administrators and the overall teaching faculty. I believe that most people on both sides are working hard to serve our children. However, I feel that some lack the cultural sensitivity required to work with students from desperate backgrounds. With that said, I have had a blasts getting to know my colleagues over the course of the semester -- we do perform like no other school in NYC.

I have met a few colleagues that will become life-long friends ... for sure ... They challenge me when I need to be challenged (professionally and personally) and support me when I need to be supported .......... However, work would not be work if you did not have that pocket of folks that you have no idea why they do what they do :) :)

Stay Tuned ... I'm cranking the post out quickly ... hopefully without too many errors!

The Students

My students are truly amazing. I am truly privileged to have the pleasure to instruct them. They range in classification from learning disabled to health impaired. However, they give me a reason to come back everyday. And I'm delighted to know that many have expressed to me that I give them courage to return each day.

And this gives me great joy -- knowing both sides of the coin. Knowing that education is the key to success; but also knowing the abysmal situations that my students face on a daily basis both within the school (gangs, peer pressure, labels, etc.) and within their non-academic lives.

I would say the part that provokes the most pain is knowing that many students have given up on life and that any potential intervention is met with resistance. And -- in many cases, I ask who can blame the child for their outlook considering the circumstances. In fact, one of my students -- who I no longer have -- told me in one of our real conversations that he would be graduating from the streets and not the classroom.Yet, I hold out hope that some of those students who are on the brink of giving up will see me as an example to keep preserving. For example, one of my students after receiving a 100% on a test thanked me and let me know how he was grateful he hung in there and did not give up.


Some funny incidents that I remember (I'm getting old -- so bare with me)

• The heat came on for the first time -- and I had never heard the kickback sound -- and jumped like hell and they all fell out laughing
• One of my para's wanted to play a game before we left for break-- if you know my school, you know which para -- she asked for a volunteer, got one then proceeded to tell them they must be blindfolded -- she then told them to "take off something you don't go to bed with" -- then the removal begin -- so the person and I started to get nervous and I stopped the game -- but the para ended by saying the only thing that should have been removed was the blindfold (You had to be there -- I died laughing)
• During the first week of school ... a kid threw a piece of paper ... missed the trash can ... and I reacted without processing saying "if you are going to throw shit in my room -- at least make it" -- I thought I would be fired.
  
• I will try to type them as they happen from now own so I don't forget