Howdy y'all
So we've been here in NC for a while now! I've had a really great time so far. I have so much to share..
I'll start by telling you a little bit about our friendly neighbors!! A couple of nights ago, a friendly lady came over to the house to introduce herself. Turned out, she was our neighbor! Neighbor lady was suuuuper friendly. (v. southern & cute) She kept on asking us to come & visit & hang out with her son....so we did. After a good amount of persuasion, myself & a few others went over to visit the fam. We all played Mad Gab (its a really fun game, I highly reccommend it to anyone who hasn't played before!) while Neighbor Lady offered us Screwdrivers & Fuzzy Navels. Being the good AWBers that we all are, we declined her kind offers of alcoholic drinks. It was really cool to hang out with some locals.
I'm sure someone has already posted about our Saturday Habitat for Humanity trip, but I will add my own opinion. Although it was freezinggg outside, I had a really fun time at the Habitat house. I mean, we really didn't help much...we each hammered in a few nails. It was a really neat experience, though. I got to talk to the full-time Habitat workers, along with the woman who will be recieving the house. The workers & the woman were all really wonderful people. The construction workers work on the house every Wednesday & Sunday. They have been working on the house for about a month & they've made so much progress! By the end of Saturday, the entire frame & roof were up! I was very impressed. I made friends with one of the workers. He was missing a few teeth, but he was really nice! He surprised us by following us to Starbucks after we were done building for the day.
So at the school this past week, Sophie & I have been working with the high school math teacher, Ms. Chen. She's a 2nd year Teach for America teacher & she's awesome! She's teaching 3 classes: Precalc, AP Stat & Topics in Mathematics. Since this the first year for the Topics class, Ms. Chen & another teacher have been writing the entire cirriculum. Sophie & I have been giving her a hand for the past week by helping with grading, filing & some lesson planning. We even got the opportunity to tutor some kids who were falling behind in their math courses. I have found that the kids are smart, just some of them need a little extra attention.
Last night was really fun! A few of the teachers & students came over to our house for hotdogs & hamburgers. I ate dinner with a student named Lomar. He's so cool! Just last week, he found out that he got into Wake Forest. (one of his top choices!) Lomar is really reallyyy smart & transferred into the KIPP high school only 2 years ago. He was at another local school, but transferred into KIPP so that he could better his chances of getting into a college of his choice. Lomar isn't just smart. He said that he loves to sew & is involved a student committee.
I'd really love to come back for the Pride High graduation on June 6th. Its super exciting because its the school's FIRST graduating class! The graduation will definitely be a huge deal in this town. I can't even imagine how proud everyone will (and should) be!
K I'm sick of typing.
YAYYYY GASTONNNNN
Clare
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Fun
Tomorrow is the last day of the trip. I've had a lot of fun and I kind of don't want to leave but I am also happy to go back to home. This trip has been an eye opening experience for me. Living here has been a very different experience then living back at home.
Spending time at the Kipp school was a lot of fun. I've learned that not all schools teach the same way. I feel that the Kipp school has given their students a fun environment to learn in. I've discovered that being a teacher requires a lot of time and commitment. I also give teachers a lot of credit for doing what they do everyday.
Today I spent the day filing, helping out in a Chem class, and observed the other girl's classes. Props to Stacey, I learned a lot in her hip hop class. Rachael's class was also fun to sit in on, I also got to participate.
-Alexis
Spending time at the Kipp school was a lot of fun. I've learned that not all schools teach the same way. I feel that the Kipp school has given their students a fun environment to learn in. I've discovered that being a teacher requires a lot of time and commitment. I also give teachers a lot of credit for doing what they do everyday.
Today I spent the day filing, helping out in a Chem class, and observed the other girl's classes. Props to Stacey, I learned a lot in her hip hop class. Rachael's class was also fun to sit in on, I also got to participate.
-Alexis
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
New day
We have a new president!
I went for a nice walk around the neighborhood about 9 this morning, taking pictures of the snowy beauty. I recognized a name on one of the mail-boxes I passed as the name of one of the students whose paper I graded last week. One of those "connection" moments, hand motion and all. I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this yet, but they have this hand motion that the teachers use at KIPP, where you connect your fore-fingers, one on top of the other then switch places. It means that you are making a connection, seeing something new about a situation or thought, etc.
It was nice seeing some snow, even if it was highly unexpected. Havent seen much snow in Maryland this winter, was really starting to miss it.
Looking forward to being back at the school tomorrow, though it was nice being able to watch the inauguration and Obama's speech in a comfy couch today. So long for now...
- Kat
I went for a nice walk around the neighborhood about 9 this morning, taking pictures of the snowy beauty. I recognized a name on one of the mail-boxes I passed as the name of one of the students whose paper I graded last week. One of those "connection" moments, hand motion and all. I'm not sure if anyone else mentioned this yet, but they have this hand motion that the teachers use at KIPP, where you connect your fore-fingers, one on top of the other then switch places. It means that you are making a connection, seeing something new about a situation or thought, etc.
It was nice seeing some snow, even if it was highly unexpected. Havent seen much snow in Maryland this winter, was really starting to miss it.
Looking forward to being back at the school tomorrow, though it was nice being able to watch the inauguration and Obama's speech in a comfy couch today. So long for now...
- Kat
Snow day!
We got a message last night that school would be canceled today due to upcoming snow. There was about 1/2 inch to 2 inches when I woke up in the morning. It hardly seemed worth canceling for (especially the day before), but...things are different down here. News of the snow day was met with mixed emotions - some were disappointed that we wouldn't be at the school and that we might be stuck at the house all day - others couldn't control their inner child that instantly gets excited upon hearing those two glorious words.
Some of us have been working hard planning lessons to teach during the high school intersession. After midterms, the high schoolers have a week of different and unique courses such as Improv., Hip Hop and Political Discourse, and Quilting to give them a break from normal classes and to give the teachers a chance to catch up on grading. People from the community come in to teach classes to the students.
Today ended up being a relaxing day. We were all excited and felt fortunate to be able to watch the Inauguration on TV. We caught up on other reality TV-watching, reading, grocery shopping, and Taboo-playing. Some students from the school were supposed to come over for dinner, but because of another snow warning, they postponed until tomorrow night.
Three more days left at the school...it seems like they have a lot for us to do now - lots of interesting jobs with the kids like doing mock college interviews, going to a local elementary school and the community college with the high school students, teaching intersession courses, etc. After this long weekend, I think we're all ready to get back into the school!
Some of us have been working hard planning lessons to teach during the high school intersession. After midterms, the high schoolers have a week of different and unique courses such as Improv., Hip Hop and Political Discourse, and Quilting to give them a break from normal classes and to give the teachers a chance to catch up on grading. People from the community come in to teach classes to the students.
Today ended up being a relaxing day. We were all excited and felt fortunate to be able to watch the Inauguration on TV. We caught up on other reality TV-watching, reading, grocery shopping, and Taboo-playing. Some students from the school were supposed to come over for dinner, but because of another snow warning, they postponed until tomorrow night.
Three more days left at the school...it seems like they have a lot for us to do now - lots of interesting jobs with the kids like doing mock college interviews, going to a local elementary school and the community college with the high school students, teaching intersession courses, etc. After this long weekend, I think we're all ready to get back into the school!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Reflections of a (possibly?) future teacher...
Sometimes I feel like our only connection to the real world is marathons of Wife Swap.
Some aspects of this trip make me question my desire to teach. Not that I wasn't questioning it before- but after seeing a school like this it really makes you wonder how many students you can influence if you don't work at a school where everyone there is really striving for the same thing. We sat in on their meetings and the teachers were really more focused on how to coordinate their efforts so everyone sent the same message to the students. I'm forgetting if I have mentioned all of this before, so I apologize if I have. It's just very eye opening and a lot to reflect on as someone who actually does want to go into this field. And how do you have a family life if you are at school for 12 hours a day? Its almost as tiring as being a law student, except eventually law school ends- eventually for those students there is an end to their days of lack of sleep, minimal social lives, and constant drain on their bodies.
The teacher that we talk to the most down here, the UMD alum Pat Wu, commented that while all of the students are for sure smart and bright and definately college bound, the close ties that the faculty of KIPP Pride High has is definately a factor in the college admissions process for these students. I don't want this to come off sounding pessimistic or against the school or anything, but I will be very interested in seeing college graduation rates and the number of students that drop out. It is their first graduating class so of course they have a large number of 'kinks' to work out in the preperation of the students for college.
Many of them are not used to lecture style classes at all. They come into a classroom and they immediately get down to business doing a warm up and praticing what they learned previously. Lecture is extremely de-emphasized and individual work or practice is generally the order of the day. While adjusting to learning with the lecture style format itself may not be difficult, I have seen with my own students that I tutor back at UMD, that unless you have had time in high school to practice taking notes and picking up on your teachers voice and noticing whats important and therefore needs to be written down, you may have a hard time to pick out the important bits. All too often I have had students either write down every word or no words at all that come out of the professors mouth. Its hard to suceed when you don't know what you need to know. I have faith however that these students are smart enough to know where to look for help to overcome the hurdles that they will undoubtedly face when they enter college.
Just to mention the small town life again- it is slightly sad when the most exciting thing during the day is when you finally get reception in the car. We can now have either christian rock or country playing in the car instead of silence or static. How wonderful.
-Sophie
Some aspects of this trip make me question my desire to teach. Not that I wasn't questioning it before- but after seeing a school like this it really makes you wonder how many students you can influence if you don't work at a school where everyone there is really striving for the same thing. We sat in on their meetings and the teachers were really more focused on how to coordinate their efforts so everyone sent the same message to the students. I'm forgetting if I have mentioned all of this before, so I apologize if I have. It's just very eye opening and a lot to reflect on as someone who actually does want to go into this field. And how do you have a family life if you are at school for 12 hours a day? Its almost as tiring as being a law student, except eventually law school ends- eventually for those students there is an end to their days of lack of sleep, minimal social lives, and constant drain on their bodies.
The teacher that we talk to the most down here, the UMD alum Pat Wu, commented that while all of the students are for sure smart and bright and definately college bound, the close ties that the faculty of KIPP Pride High has is definately a factor in the college admissions process for these students. I don't want this to come off sounding pessimistic or against the school or anything, but I will be very interested in seeing college graduation rates and the number of students that drop out. It is their first graduating class so of course they have a large number of 'kinks' to work out in the preperation of the students for college.
Many of them are not used to lecture style classes at all. They come into a classroom and they immediately get down to business doing a warm up and praticing what they learned previously. Lecture is extremely de-emphasized and individual work or practice is generally the order of the day. While adjusting to learning with the lecture style format itself may not be difficult, I have seen with my own students that I tutor back at UMD, that unless you have had time in high school to practice taking notes and picking up on your teachers voice and noticing whats important and therefore needs to be written down, you may have a hard time to pick out the important bits. All too often I have had students either write down every word or no words at all that come out of the professors mouth. Its hard to suceed when you don't know what you need to know. I have faith however that these students are smart enough to know where to look for help to overcome the hurdles that they will undoubtedly face when they enter college.
Just to mention the small town life again- it is slightly sad when the most exciting thing during the day is when you finally get reception in the car. We can now have either christian rock or country playing in the car instead of silence or static. How wonderful.
-Sophie
"Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve."
Today, in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, we went to KIPP to help do service around the school. We did all sorts of little projects, including painting an office (a tight spaced office with no ventilation, I might add), picking up trash, mulching the outside of the school, and throwing out old computer parts, tires, etc.
After lunch we joined a group of KIPP students who were there preparing for their own Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans. We did an activity where we sat in groups of four or five with our hands tied to one another and had to work together to make our own lunch. Let's just say some had a little more difficulty than others. After each group finished making the lunches, we earned the right to get untied by saying an important lesson we learned from the activity. The overall message that they took away from it, that by working together and strategizing they can get things accomplished, will definitely carry over to their trip to New Orleans.
Following the activity, the students joined us in our service projects. It was a great opportunity to talk to some of the kids and work with them outside of the classroom. They are all seem very excited about going on their trip to New Orleans to help another community in need. I have learned that not only are the teachers at KIPP are very dedicated but also the students. One of the students was telling me about her friend who lives an hour and a half away and has to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to get to school. It just made me realize how much effort and dedication these students put into their education and really want to better their lives and the lives of others.
After the service project we all came back together and the students reflected on their day and what memorable lessons they learned. They had to answer questions, one of which included a reaction to a quote said by Martin Luther King Jr., "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
The students had amazing responses that demonstrated how important service is to them and showed that they all have the qualities spoken by Martin Luther King Jr.
Here's to Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States tomorrow and to my first blog post ever!
-Alli
After lunch we joined a group of KIPP students who were there preparing for their own Alternative Spring Break trip to New Orleans. We did an activity where we sat in groups of four or five with our hands tied to one another and had to work together to make our own lunch. Let's just say some had a little more difficulty than others. After each group finished making the lunches, we earned the right to get untied by saying an important lesson we learned from the activity. The overall message that they took away from it, that by working together and strategizing they can get things accomplished, will definitely carry over to their trip to New Orleans.
Following the activity, the students joined us in our service projects. It was a great opportunity to talk to some of the kids and work with them outside of the classroom. They are all seem very excited about going on their trip to New Orleans to help another community in need. I have learned that not only are the teachers at KIPP are very dedicated but also the students. One of the students was telling me about her friend who lives an hour and a half away and has to wake up at 4:30 in the morning to get to school. It just made me realize how much effort and dedication these students put into their education and really want to better their lives and the lives of others.
After the service project we all came back together and the students reflected on their day and what memorable lessons they learned. They had to answer questions, one of which included a reaction to a quote said by Martin Luther King Jr., "Everybody can be great... because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love."
The students had amazing responses that demonstrated how important service is to them and showed that they all have the qualities spoken by Martin Luther King Jr.
Here's to Barack Obama becoming the 44th president of the United States tomorrow and to my first blog post ever!
-Alli
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Chips and Salsa
So we're coming into the meat of the trip and the morning started with a bang when Jackie almost set the kitchen on fire. Today was a really relaxed day where a couple girls went to a Baptist Church in the morning. After that we took a trip to the local Flea Market and brought their whole day's worth of business. It was basically a giant garage sale where I bought a 4th generation beanie baby for 1 dollar (dude they will be worth like 200 dollars when im old and need botox). We hung out the whole day watching girly movies convienently showing on ABC Family and just talking. Later we headed to Roanoake Rapids for dinner in a sweet mexican joint and got free dessert becasue we collectively flirted with the male waiter... good teamwork girls! Then we went to the local bowling alley and played a couple rounds. It was team "Chips and Salsa" vs. "Pride of Wu" and let me say my team Chips and Salsa TOOK IT HOME! To round out a fantastic evening we happened upon a Sonic establishment which I have never been in eyesight of in my entire life. It was the feeling one got when they were 3 years old and saw santa for the first time at the mall. Let me tell you a peanut butter fudge milkshake has never tasted so good in my entire life.
Lots of love and bear hugs,
Rachel
Lots of love and bear hugs,
Rachel
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