SARA AND ALAN ARE ENGAGED! I never doubted it would happen, but I'm so happy it finally has...in Crested Butte (my favorite place in the world) nonetheless. Sara has been like a sister to me since I was a youngster and soon I'll get to claim Alan as my kind of brother-in-law...very exciting. I knew Alan was a keeper from the moment I met him tailgating at an NC State Football game 6 years ago. He's grounded, personable, and loves life more than anyone I know; I couldn't think of anyone better to take care of my big sis. I just love them both so much and this wonderful news was a great start to my week...my first week as a real life teacher.
Tomorrow marks my first day as Ms. Miller, first period 7th grade preAlgebra teacher at View Park Middle School in Crenshaw. It will be good practice, because View Park is run by the same charter organization (Inner City Education Foundation) as Lou Dantzler HS, where I'll be teaching this fall. I'm getting used to the idea of teaching math; I found a great resource in Elyse, a former TFA corps member teaching middle school math in LA. We've spent, and will continue to spend a lot of time together, combing through concepts and creating sample problems that will be both comprehendable and challenging to my 7th graders. I'm beginning to see first-hand the serious obstacles that face schools in low income communities--I have no text books, no on-site copy machine, no projector, no curriculum, and many of my fellow corps members have significantly more students than they have desks. If I can make it here, I'm confident I can make it anywhere. So, send out a prayer for my first day as Ms. Miller...more stories to come.
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Good luck teaching Math, my fellow English friend! Here's a tip: 3x3=9. That's about all I know!
ReplyDeleteIf you get depressed, watch Freedom Writers! (No teacher's life is actually like that, you know, but it's good to dream).
Oh, and the Herald-Leader just had an article about this new Math curriculum they will teaching--the Singapore Method. Apparently, Singapore is kicking our butt in the Math scores, so we're using it. Perhaps something to look up via the Net? Probably not helpful since you have no funds, but it made me think of you this morning.