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!

Freedom is in Sight

Well hello friends,

It has been quite some time since I've had the opportunity to write. Looking at the dates I can see why. For the last 10 weeks I've been lead teaching. All of the classroom responsibilities have been my job alone. It's been tough at times and full of work, but I've made it. This week I am beginning to fade out of classroom teaching.

Yesterday I began writing letters to each of my students. I want to make my last day a very special day for them. It's been fun writing these letters. I love the ability I have to prophesy into their lives and encourage them. I love telling each of them that they are smart and will do great things in the future. I really do believe it! Each one of these kids has amazing potential. And each one of them needs to know that their teacher believes in them and knows that they are capable. Because, honestly, these kids are. And I really believe that each kid is. They just need someone to affirm them. They need someone to value them. I can't wait for my very own classroom. I love having the chance to speak life into kids and hope for them when I may be the only one.

I've started applying to many jobs. I need to be hired into Detroit Public or Detroit Charter due to a loan-forgiveness scholarship that I have. I believe there is hope for me to find a job in DPS, but I probably won't hear from them until late in the summer and that makes me very anxious. I have sent my resume to several charters in the area but haven't heard back. April 19th is a job fair at MSU and many of the schools I am interested in will be there. Over spring break I will work on putting together the hard copy of my portfolio and finding myself a great outfit to wear for the fair and subsequent interviews.

I really can't believe how fast this time has flown by. I'm ready to be done though. After spring break I will be able to go around and observe different classrooms and schools. I think that will be a great time to pick up things I haven't been able to learn from my mentor teacher.

All in all, this has been a great experience to teach, plan lessons, and build relationships with my kids, teachers in the building, and the interns that I work with. Although I am far too happy to be done on April 27th, I know I will miss being at Maybury. But...when the weather is as beautiful as it is today I feel like it's a sin to make people go to work instead of being able to enjoy life outside. So...I won't miss it TOO much I suppose.

You know you're a teacher when...

You know you're a teacher when...

• You repeat any direction 5 times in 3 different ways and then repeat it 13 more times over the course of an hour
• You get to school a 1/2 hour before anyone else so you can use the copy machine before it's broke for the day
• You ignore kids when they walk up to you and wait for them to sit back down
• You respond to multiple pronunciations of your name without correcting any of them
• You hate assemblies and school concerts because they put you behind the pacing chart
• You can cover the entire history of the War of 1812 in one 45 minute lesson
• You say no to anyone who asks to get a drink or go to the bathroom
• You ask if anyone has questions and then re-ask the kid you are about to call on if it is a question or a story
• You despise extra curricular activities that pull your students out of class while you are teaching
• You wake up and randomly count the days until the soonest break (Friday, MLK day, 1/2 day, etc.)
• You thoroughly love what you do and the students you teach but no one else can make you so annoyed or frustrated in such a short period of time

FREE technology

Here are some resources for free internet-based technology resources.

• International Children's Library (free books in a variety of languages)
• Goodreads (book reviews)
• Zunal (Make your own webquest or use someone elses')
• Google Earth/Sky/Moon (Explore space Google Style)
• Kerpoof Studios (Create movies, drawings, cards, pictures, tell a story...)
• Fed. Resources for Educational Excellence (free resources and lesson plans)

Semester #2

Hello Folks,

One thing you learn as you become a teacher is that you soon have little time for any type of communication outside of school. Thus, this blog has been neglected.

However, I think I need to revive it.

My lead teach starts on Tuesday. This means that I take over the entire classroom for 10 weeks (which is an entire marking period). I've been planning this for a while. And surprisingly, I am pretty well prepared. Our MSU classes started again today. This semester we have science and social studies. I'm looking forward to planning science lessons (after all, that is what I went to school for 5 years for).

I'm getting caught up on things I need for my portfolio and resume. I have joined the national science for teachers association, the national reading association, and the Michigan reading association. I have also signed up for a webinar on technology in the classroom and an MRA conference. Basically, I needed extra things on my resume to make me stand out in literacy.

Anyways, this is just a little boring update. I'm still here. I'm still alive. And I still like teaching :)

Interactive Historian: Thanksgiving

I came across a website my friend posted on facebook. I'm definitely going to use it on Wednesday before the big T-day during our social studies time. It is an interactive website that tells both sides of the Thanksgiving Day story. It's got great teacher ideas and interactive templates for students to write about what they learned from the site.

Great resource! Check it out.
http://www.plimoth.org/media/olc/intro.html