Hooray! I have a job!

After weeks of putting off sending in my acceptance letter, I finally inked my name on the dotted line—actually, I think it was solid—and became an employee of the Academy for Urban School Leadership (AUSL). I probably would have signed and sent it in sooner if not for the fact that I wanted a couple more days of feeling less like an adult with a job and more like a kid at school. I'm totally up for being a responsible adult, though, if it means I have a good job for the upcoming year.

If it weren't for my friend, LaJoi, I would not have applied to AUSL, but she hyped the program up like it was the best ever, so I did some research. AUSL is a not-for-profit that takes over Chicago public schools that have repeatedly failed to meet Annual Yearly Progress, the threshold of success introduced by the No Child Left Behind Act. If schools fail enough times, they need to undergo certain changes, some of them drastic. AUSL, under contract with CPS, takes over failing schools, overhauls the staff, and attempts to transform the school from the inside out. Schools close in June looking one way and open in September with a (mostly) new staff aimed at re-creating the school's culture to promote excellence. It seemed like a great opportunity, and I'm happy I've been accepted. It should make for a very intense educational and enriching experience for me over the next year or so.

Sure, there are aspects of AUSL that made we wonder if it was the right choice. First, you're committed to teaching at one of their schools for four years after the year of training. Four years is a long time! I have no idea what twists and turns my life will take over the next year, much less five! When it came down to it, though, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to be trained extensively for another year by experts in education. I also liked the idea of getting a job at a school where everyone is clear about and agrees with its mission.

Second, I was leery of having a limited number of options for where to work after the year of training. AUSL has only four high schools under its management right now. They plan to get a couple more each year, but that might leave my options for placement at six or seven schools. Not much choice. I figured, though, that there might be an opportunity to be placed close to where I already live in the city. Plus, it's more important to me what the school is like and if I'd be a good fit to teach there. Location is important, but all of the schools are going to be located in areas where good teachers are especially needed, and I'm first and foremost willing to go where I'd be best suited.

Third, it's going to be really difficult! That one was easier to overcome. I prayed about the decision for a long time and told myself to stop thinking about wimping out. Besides, any job is going to have its challenges. (Sure, maybe not as many as at these schools, but who doesn't like a challenge?)

I'm looking forward to starting, but there's still plenty that has to happen before then. I still have a commitment to complete to the best of my ability at Jefferson Middle School. Today was a good day, one where I connected more with the students and felt like I did a pretty nice job of teaching the material. Most of all, I think today went well because I did a better job with classroom management. I've gotten it more into my head that the students know when they're out of line, and my recognizing that with appropriate consequences is only right. It should be more surprising to not be punished than to be let off the hook. I hope a couple more days, weeks, or whatever-unit-of-time-is-necessary's will help me get better at setting expectations and following up with them.

P.S. The two dashes in the first sentence are dedicated to Rachel.

Into Week Three

Jefferson Middle School is a wonderful place with wonderful teachers. I'm having a (guess what) wonderful experience thus far. I think the combined impact of several factors is the reason for the good time thus far. These include:

A bit more sleep and a lot less driving,
Team support,
A more gradual transition,
The SMART Board.

Of these, the SMART board is probably the biggest change. My classroom at Danville HS had an ELMO, which was a blessing. Having to use transparencies would have been a nightmare. There were so many more pictures and diagrams I could show the students because I could just slip them under the camera. I could show students' work, samples of work, even a solid object if I needed to. The SMART board, however, makes the ELMO (which the classroom at JMS has also) look like, well, an overhead projector.

Using a SMART board, I can write an entire lesson as a Notebook file and go through it step by step. I can scan images straight from the book and insert them into the slides. I can place objects in the slides and infinitely clone them, which is great when working with a chip board (a visual for adding and subtracting integers). The best part of the SMART board is how students are able to interact with the technology. I call on students to come up and draw on it or move an object into place. I have never seen so many volunteers raise their hands to show their work to the class as I have during my time teaching Honors 6th grade math. Of course, the honors students are more responsive in a variety of ways, but the standard level math students get just as much pleasure out of using the SMART board.

Things had been going so well last week that I prayed for a bad day, just so that I could get the idea out of my head that Jefferson Middle School was heaven on earth. God responds in a variety of ways to prayer, but his response to my prayer was quite clear and immediate. Last week Thursday, my cooperating teacher needed to leave town, so I was responsible for teaching all six classes instead of just the three I had been teaching. First period went well, and I think 6th and 7th went all right (all three honors classes), but 2nd through 4th periods were quite messy. I really think in some ways I lost control of 2nd period. There were two students in particular who were talkative, disruptive, and disrespectful, and I gave both detentions, but that didn't resolve the issues that were ongoing for that period. It didn't help me that there were two subs in the classroom, one for my coop and one for the special education instructor who is normally there. Third period was a little better because the special education teacher was present, but the students still acted out more than they normally would have had my coop been there. Fourth period was interesting for a different reason: unbeknownst to me, almost all of the students had already learned the mathematical game I was going to teach them. One student shouted out the rule before I could even begin. Having no good back up plan, the class dissolved into manageable disorder. Students worked on other assignments or played some games. It wasn't awful, but it was quite draining. I definitely need to improve on my discipline! That's probably my greatest weakness right now.

Though I'm enjoying my time, I think high school is where I'm cut out to be. Sixth graders are very different from high schoolers. (Probably the most obvious statement I've ever posted.) They goof around more and need more babying. I have a somewhat difficult time relating to them. I think working with high school students comes a bit more naturally. We'll see how things go. Hopefully, they continue to go well... I certainly won't be praying for any more bad days!