T is for Teaching

The following is an excerpt from my summer 2008 blog, “Teaching Breakthroughs: Summer 2008 in Houston,” which chronicled my time as a middle school math teacher in Houston, Texas.  I was employed by the Breakthrough Collaborative, a national non-profit with 34 locations in the United States and Hong Kong.  More than 3,000 middle and high school students participate annually in tuition- free six-week summer sessions and school year supplementary courses.  College and high school students serve as teachers and mentors for these students, creating lesson plans, designing elective courses, and leading after-school sports and arts activities.  I published this post on July 2, 2008.

“The most exciting breakthroughs of the 21st century will not occur because of technology, but because of an expanding concept of what it means to be human.” John Naisbitt

Go Tribe,

Bailey

On June 20, we took our second Friday Night Outing to the Funplex in Sugarland to bowl. The teachers scattered over the 15 lanes we booked, and the kids joined us- and generally beat us.

The fourth week of class, which we just finished, was spirit week. Every day had a different theme, and students and teachers competed to dress the most ridiculously through Tacky Day, Decades Day, Crazy Hair and Sock Day, and Steve Urkel (Nerd) Day.

On Friday, June 27, the families came dressed in their colors to play games in the Breakthrough Olympics. Some even made t-shirts, dressed as their assigned superheroes, and opted to wear face paint or other accessories. In general, the students take their cues from us, so when we get very excited and forgo our good style, they will, too. Captain Breakthrough and Doctor Distracto, our program superhero and villain, made an appearance at our Morning Meeting.

In the morning, the students competed at inside stations: solving brain teasers, doing wheelbarrow races, playing 4 square, connecting pipe to get a marble through, and working silently to get their whole team through a secret path in “gridlock.” After lunch, we went outside to the St. John’s lacrosse practice field to do a series of relays in the Ultimate Challenge. After all was said and done, my family (#1!) won second place.

I was so proud of them for their incredible spirit and, more importantly, for their good sportsmanship. We taught them to clap for every team, to shake hands whether they won or lost, and to continue playing at a station whether the other team had finished or refused to continue playing. At one point, they ended up doing a relay against themselves, because the other team was so frustrated that they decided to quit playing altogether- so my 7th graders dominated this 9th grade team with their perseverance alone. They supported one another and cheered loudly for family members who represented us in challenges against other families.

The high school dance was Saturday night, and even though few kids chose to attend, it was beautifully decorated and well-themed. The students who came won prizes in a raffle, including an Ipod Shuffle! They were talking about their party favors and prizes all of Monday.

As the weeks wind down, several things occur. First, the faculty is falling into the friendships that will last longer than the next two and a half weeks. When we’re not together for 15 hour work days, we’re eating dinner together, calling each other, and traveling together. This weekend, four fellow teachers and I are driving to New Orleans to sightsee and celebrate July 4th. In addition, we’re building important and influential relationships with our students. Many of us have adopted kids as our own– or been adopted by them, and there is a sense of ownership and camaraderie. Even as we encounter discipline problems, it is much easier to reach out and motivate them because we have already instilled in them that we care about them.

This summer calls my future into question. Having fallen into this opportunity to teach, and having arrived terrified of the classroom, I am so encouraged by how successful this endeavor has been. My mentor teacher and the program directors have offered incredible support and have attempted to convince me into returning next summer, taking a department head position, and pursuing education as a career. All of this is in contradiction of a desire to become a Foreign Service Officer or lawyer, to travel often, and to live abroad. I spend much of my time contemplating the potential of education to change a community- and my part in that.

I had the pleasure of hosting a friend from William and Mary, who is driving cross-country to graduate school in California, and he graciously accepted an invitation to teach in my class on real world application of math. The kids loved it, and I am so excited to continually give them application activities in the classroom, because their 30+ person classes during the school year do not afford them those opportunities. They have competed in Math Olympics, made ice cream, and created giant stem-and-leaf plots. Hopefully this enrichment will benefit them during the school year.

This is a 4-day school week, because of July 4. Next week, the students have final tests and project presentations before Celebration on Saturday, when they showcase work and talents. My poetry slam class is presenting original work and reciting “Invictus” by Sir William Ernest Henley. After that, the faculty has one more week of evaluations and then I’m headed home.