Let the Countdown Begin!!!

I am ten weeks away from having my first year of teaching in the bag. Woooo!

This year has been quite a challenge. No one can really prepare you for being a teacher. It is a hands-on job that you can only learn in the field.

I was ready to be a teacher. I was ready to teach in Detroit. I was even ready to teach in a messy district. I really was and it is almost entirely because I had amazing leadership in my life growing up. I was practically raised by teachers. My youth pastors taught me how to lead, love, not make excuses, endure, and stare hard things right in the face. I was taught not to compromise, to do everything with integrity and to evaluate and reevaluate. Spiritually, I was raised by two of Detroit's finest mentors-- themselves being grads of DPS, residents of Detroit and lovers of Jesus. Honestly, if it wasn't for the influence of the Meriweathers in my life I don't think I would have been ready for this job.

In saying that, even though I was ready for it, it has been a tough year.

I have learned many valuable lessons.
1- I hate writing lesson plans!  They are never done. They just hang over your head every second of every day. I mean, once I have them done for one week, I still have to think about the next week and the week after that and the week after that...  It is a stress that doesn't end.
2- I show my emotions on my face. And some days that means I show kids how much they are annoying me. This is definitely my first priority during summer. I've got to develop a classroom management plan that fits me and is proactive in every way.
3- I have a lot left to learn. There are so many areas for me to grow in as a teacher. Better assessments, better use of time, better classroom management, better lessons, better communication with parents.... The list goes on. Usually I am very hard on myself. I have been able to have grace for myself this first year, but you better believe I'm using this summer to make many necessary changes. My kids deserve the best teacher I can be.
4- I'm comfortable in front of a crowd. I love to be goofy with my kids. I love to talk in weird accents and do fun dances. I love to surprise my students so that they listen. I like kids.
5- I really do believe that no child is too far gone. Every student can learn. Every student deserves to learn. Every student is loved and treasured by God, even if they get under my skin. This year I have realized that the grace God has shown me in my sin has helped me to show grace to my students in theirs. And every student NEEDS to know that I love them. They need it so much. They need to know that I am on their side cheering for them. It changes everything!

I've got a long way to go, but I am happy with this year. It hasn't been terrible. It's not a horror story I will have to tell in the future. It has been good. Maybe even great. I've gotten the chance to interact with 150 kids as students. I've gotten the opportunity to love 150 students. And though I haven't done this without fault, I have done it.

And I still have ten weeks left!  Oh, that God would let me ooze with love and grace each of these last 50 days!

One of the most important things I've learned from the Meriweathers is finishing strong. Warriors don't fizzle out near the end of the battle. They know the end is near and so they go hard til the end. (If only more people understood this concept.) I'm not going to slowly fade away during this last stretch. I've been taught better than that.

So let the countdown begin! I've got ten more weeks to do right by my kids and prove they are worth fighting for!

(Thank God for Pinterest!)

Out of the Ashes

Did you know that in 1805 Detroit burnt to the ground? Well, it did. There's a plaque on the red bridge at Belle Isle where I first saw the city seal of Detroit. This is what it says:

Speramus meliora; resurget cineribus

It's the motto of the city that Father Gabriel Richard gave it after his school was burned down. In English it is translated

"We hope for better things; it will arise from the ashes."

Come on!!! If that's not prophetic, I don't know what is.

My heart was stirred on that red bridge at Belle Isle. I never knew Detroit had literally rose out of the ashes before. And if the Lord has allowed us to do it before, perhaps He will allow us to do it again.

I've been in professional development sessions since Monday. I want to share some things I've learned about Detroit Public Schools and the people who carry it on their backs. And I must tell you, I've been close to crying on many occasions in the past couple days because I am not alone in daring to believe that Detroit is not done.

On Monday my principal shared some words concerning the culture of the school I am working in. There is no tolerance for complacency or a lack of excellence in educating kids. This was the first time I heard a principal LEAD their staff in demanding excellence and nothing less.

On Tuesday I sat and listened as Alycia Meriweather (a life long mentor of mine AND the director of math and science for DPS) challenged teachers to raise their standards and expectations. She shared that she would not be in DPS if she didn't firmly believe that we can turn it all around. She called for integrity in all that we do and said that nothing less would be acceptable.

Today I sat in a room full of staff as all DPS tuned in to a live web stream of the Salute to Teachers. Mr. Roy Roberts stood in front of a full audience and explained that Detroit will once again be the leader in urban education in America. Then I listened as my assistant principal spoke on why he continues to work for DPS. He sees the struggle and he feels the pressure of the nation looking on. And while he could choose to live in a more comfortable neighborhood and work for a more affluent district and not have to put up with safety issues, management concerns, pay cuts, etc... he CHOOSES to stay in the city. Why? Because he is willing to be a forerunner in the building up of something great. He has no passion to fit into something that has already been built. He is consumed with Detroit because Detroit needs builders, no matter what the cost, and he's a man willing to pay up.

As I've been listening to all of this my heart keeps stirring within me and one phrase keeps resounding in my head: I will rise out of these ashes. Rise.

A couple months back I was singing and praying and this chorus came to me:
A city on it's knees/ Heart after me/ This is how you rise

People have a lot of bad things to say about Detroit and especially about education in Detroit. My response for years has been that Detroit has a lot of praying churches and God's heart has always been for restoration, redemption, and justice. Every single day that I've been in PD I have not failed to hear my God's name mentioned. When asked if they could choose one person living or dead to be on their personal board of directors, half a dozen of the staff in my building chose their pastors or Jesus himself. While sitting in a PD for new science teachers, the session leader shared that true religion is to take care of the widows and orphans, the fatherless and oppressed. Well that's just plain scripture. And today as Roy Roberts spoke he said that 2 things were crucial to the ending of slavery: the church and education, and that the church of Detroit would not be left out of partnering with the schools to change this city around.

I know for sure that I am not the only Detroiter singing on the inside RISE UP.
A city on it's knees ~ prayer warriors, seeking the Lord's heart
Heart after me ~ willing to pay the price to look like Jesus himself
This is how you rise ~ out of the ashes, here we come

So what I'm trying to say is that while I'm very sober about the job ahead of me, I am so encouraged because the Lord has put his people here on purpose. It is so clear and evident to me when I look around and listen to what the leadership is saying. I dare to believe that the Lord is not done and that Detroit will rise again.

I'm a (REAL) Teacher!!!

Hi friends!

God has really shown me favor these last couple of months. Every job that I applied for wanted to hire me. Lucky for me, the one I prayed for popped up straight away and I didn't have to do much more searching.

I am at Amelia Earhart Elementary and Middle school. It's in the same neighborhood as Maybury (where I did my student teaching). Actually, it's across the park from Maybury. If you remember, Maybury was a preK-3 building. I'm excited to see many of my 3rd graders at Earhart this fall.

Originally I was told that I was being hired to teach 4th and 5th grade science. But, as it turns out in DPS, changes happen all of the time. I found out today from my vice principal that I am going to be teaching 5th grad science AND math. WHICH I AM (actually) SUPER EXCITED FOR! I've taught math before, a LOT before. It's nice to have some sort of comfort zone as a new teacher. To be absolutely honest, the idea of teaching just science has been a little daunting. I have had barely any experience with it. But, then again, I never even liked Social Studies (and didn't know anything pertaining to it) when I began teaching it at the start of last fall. The crazy thing was my students LOVED when I taught SS and even got upset when I had to phase out and give the teaching back over to my mentor. So-if I can teach a subject I never paid attention to well, then I should be able to teach science (which I majored in) well. Right?

There will be four 5th grade homerooms. The plan right now is that I take two of them for 3 hours each day and my partner in crime, Mr. Garcia, takes the other two for 3 hours each day. I can spend the 3 hours however I want, as long as we are doing math or science. I'm excited to integrate the two. I'm also excited to have such a large chunk of time to work with the students on a daily basis.

My classroom, however, is another story. It's empty. EMPTY. It is a beautiful classroom with plenty of cabinets and drawers and storage space to be filled. It's just not been done yet. I do have a set of 5th grade science books. I'm sure I'll get a set of math books. But as far as supplies, I don't know what will come my way. I just finished applying for a project fund at donorschoose.org. If it gets accepted, I'll be sure to let everyone know how they can be a part of supporting my classroom :)

I'm looking forward to this year and love where I'm at so far. I'll keep updates coming your way. Until then, goodnight!