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
Never have I ever...Been to Gaston until now.
So Gaston is pretty legit. Nice scenery, southern hospitality, and a whole lotta nothing to do. However, the "KIPP Gaston College Preparatory School" is one of the most inspiring schools I have ever been in contact with. In just a few days, we have already grasped the dedication and compassion that all of the KIPP instructors embody. This is not just a regular middle and high school staff. The teachers don't just have a job, rather it seems this is their life. We chose an especially special time to visit because "Pride 2009" (they refer to their classes as by graduating year rather than actually grade to emphasize the mission to send all KIPP students to college) are just now receiving college acceptances. The teachers have as much if not more excitement for the students who will attend college next fall because they have worked with them since the 5th grade and watched them grow up. With an astounding mere HIGH SCHOOL gradtuation rate of about 40% in the area, if it were not for this school, these particular students would probably not have the oportunity to continue education post high school graduation, let alone possibly even recieve diplomas.
Pat Wu, an inspiration in himself, took us to his weekly habitat build yesterday. Although at times it seemed we were just in the way rather than helping, I am sure the volunteers, all older gentleman retirees who do this for fun on their own time seemed please to have us around. They patiently taught us how to correctly use a hammer, and thanked us immensely for our time when in actuality they are the true good patrons, out there week after week working simply to benefit the community. The most powerful part of the Habitat build was that the actual future owner of the house was on site. She seemed both grateful and elated to be there, and one could tell by the look in her eye she was defintly a deserving benefactor of the wonderful organizaiton of Habitat for Humanity.
With eleven college aged girls, and one awesome graduate student the absent of "things to do" in this town has not been a problem, rather this void has been filled with the inspiration and compassion exhibited by the community. I will never forget the KIPP mission and it has definitely heightened my respect for educators and their goal to better society as a whole.
-Becky
Pat Wu, an inspiration in himself, took us to his weekly habitat build yesterday. Although at times it seemed we were just in the way rather than helping, I am sure the volunteers, all older gentleman retirees who do this for fun on their own time seemed please to have us around. They patiently taught us how to correctly use a hammer, and thanked us immensely for our time when in actuality they are the true good patrons, out there week after week working simply to benefit the community. The most powerful part of the Habitat build was that the actual future owner of the house was on site. She seemed both grateful and elated to be there, and one could tell by the look in her eye she was defintly a deserving benefactor of the wonderful organizaiton of Habitat for Humanity.
With eleven college aged girls, and one awesome graduate student the absent of "things to do" in this town has not been a problem, rather this void has been filled with the inspiration and compassion exhibited by the community. I will never forget the KIPP mission and it has definitely heightened my respect for educators and their goal to better society as a whole.
-Becky
Saturday, January 17, 2009
...
Today we worked with Habitat for Humanity, mainly putting up walls and nailing things down. It was a fun experience and I feel almost comfortable with a hammer now... We got to hang out with some locals and have one of them slightly creepily follow us to starbucks after, but overall it was fun. We went into 'town' for lunch- some amazing potatoe soup.
So far at the school I've done a lot of grading- precalc exams which was great because I think thats what I want to mainly teach. My teacher is a second year TFA (Teach for America) teacher- most of the teachers in the highschool are TFA. She graduated from Michigan with a degree in psychology and something like organizational planning or... something. Now she teaches precalc, AP stat, and topics in contemporary mathmatics. That was kind of a trend we found with the TFA teachers we met. Most of them were history or english majors that now teach science or math. I guess it just goes to show you how many math/science teachers we really do need. The teachers are crazy cool and amazing and I understand how much more conducive to closing the achievement gap teaching at a school like Pride High is. Everyone is on the same page with dedication and goals for their students. I know teaching at a non-KIPP school would be completely different and much more difficult.
One thing I don't understand is teachers always talk about how much time they spend planning- my teacher said when she started she would spend about 12 hours planning for every hour that she taught. I don't know if thats just the type of teacher that we've met, but I feel like its not that big of a deal if your lesson isn't perfect.
In other news I'm really excited at how close our team is getting. I think maybe because its my first rural trip and theres nothing else to do besides hang out together, or that we are all girls so we ask a lot of those questions about boys and stuff. Everyone is really starting to come out of their shell and I'm really excited for when we get back to see if we all stay really close like someeee previous ASB trips I know of.
Just wanted to write down some stream of conciousness thoughts. Time to eat some amazing stirfry.
Sophie Tullier
So far at the school I've done a lot of grading- precalc exams which was great because I think thats what I want to mainly teach. My teacher is a second year TFA (Teach for America) teacher- most of the teachers in the highschool are TFA. She graduated from Michigan with a degree in psychology and something like organizational planning or... something. Now she teaches precalc, AP stat, and topics in contemporary mathmatics. That was kind of a trend we found with the TFA teachers we met. Most of them were history or english majors that now teach science or math. I guess it just goes to show you how many math/science teachers we really do need. The teachers are crazy cool and amazing and I understand how much more conducive to closing the achievement gap teaching at a school like Pride High is. Everyone is on the same page with dedication and goals for their students. I know teaching at a non-KIPP school would be completely different and much more difficult.
One thing I don't understand is teachers always talk about how much time they spend planning- my teacher said when she started she would spend about 12 hours planning for every hour that she taught. I don't know if thats just the type of teacher that we've met, but I feel like its not that big of a deal if your lesson isn't perfect.
In other news I'm really excited at how close our team is getting. I think maybe because its my first rural trip and theres nothing else to do besides hang out together, or that we are all girls so we ask a lot of those questions about boys and stuff. Everyone is really starting to come out of their shell and I'm really excited for when we get back to see if we all stay really close like someeee previous ASB trips I know of.
Just wanted to write down some stream of conciousness thoughts. Time to eat some amazing stirfry.
Sophie Tullier
Friday, January 16, 2009
Second Day at KIPP
Today was an interesting day at KIPP. I first observed homeroom for a group of 8th graders and then helped the teacher create the answer key to the algebra benchmark. To create the key I had to take their exam and I learned what the 8th grade students are learning and would learn by the end of the year. I realized that I forgot some of my algebra skills but at least I remembered most of it. Then I went to the high school and helped grade tests with other AWB members. I then ate lunch with a group of 8th graders and one student was really interested in what college is like. I then later helped my teacher supervise the kids for a bit as they rotated around the different classrooms for fun activities as a reward for taking two benchmarks in the past two days. I got to know some of the students as I interacted with them as they played boardgames. All of us from AWB were busy today helping teachers and interacting with the students from each Pride. The students at KIPP are very welcoming and would come up and introduce themselves. Later half of us went to a staff meeting at the middle school while the other half went to the senior meeting in the high school for teachers. I was at the high school meeting and it was interesting to be part of the meeting since the teachers worked together and asked us for input since they were discussing how to teach the seniors how to be ready for classes in college.
Back at the house, I walked around a bit and saw how pretty Lake Gaston is although it is pretty cold here. Later we had a taco dinner as a group and then we had some group bonding. I look forward to tomorrow when we help other students from the school work with Habitat for Humanity.
-Heather Lee
Back at the house, I walked around a bit and saw how pretty Lake Gaston is although it is pretty cold here. Later we had a taco dinner as a group and then we had some group bonding. I look forward to tomorrow when we help other students from the school work with Habitat for Humanity.
-Heather Lee
Thursday, January 15, 2009
true life: i'm a kipp groupie
I can't remember the last time that I woke up when it was still dark out. Within the first few minutes of my morning, I had more respect for teachers than ever. While some people can roll into work and lock themselves in their offices, teachers aren't allowed that personal alone time in the morning, they are immediately surrounded by wide awake children who are in need of their attention. There were a few moments throughout the morning when my eyes began to roll to the back of my head but I successfully overcame the temptation to fall asleep at my desk.
More importantly, I think the previous bloggers have overlooked the lovely Lakehouse Leisure that we are staying at. It comfortably sleeps ten but there are multiple couches and carpeted areas that could welcome more people. We are staying right on Lake Gaston and unfortunately no one brought their bathing suits! Our house has a dock, a wrap around porch, and a swing. It's comparable to a romantic love story with twelve Maryland students and minus the handsome male. If anyone reading this blog is planning an American honeymoon, then Lake Gaston is soon to be the next hot spot featured in People magazine.
Regarding KIPP, today was informative and a preview of what is ahead for the gang. I am working with a young teacher who is in her third year of teaching with Teach For American but it is her first year at KIPP. She teaches sixth grade and they are currently on the topic of the Civil War. The school has many values that they uphold and teach throughout the years. They always work as a team, or pride because their mascot is the lion. Everything at the school is earned as Pat Wu, a Maryland alum and current KIPP teacher explained to us. Students are highly encouraged to always participate, support each other, and share their knowledge with the rest of their class. While these values may not be new, the teaching methods and the school is set up unlike most public schools and from what I have seen, KIPP is extremely successful. To end on a good note, several of the students were just accepted early decision to UNC Chapel Hill and when the current senior class graduates they will more than double the number of people with a high school degree in Gaston!
Now, I'm off to enjoy Gaston nightlife by plopping myself on the couch with my book.
colleen
More importantly, I think the previous bloggers have overlooked the lovely Lakehouse Leisure that we are staying at. It comfortably sleeps ten but there are multiple couches and carpeted areas that could welcome more people. We are staying right on Lake Gaston and unfortunately no one brought their bathing suits! Our house has a dock, a wrap around porch, and a swing. It's comparable to a romantic love story with twelve Maryland students and minus the handsome male. If anyone reading this blog is planning an American honeymoon, then Lake Gaston is soon to be the next hot spot featured in People magazine.
Regarding KIPP, today was informative and a preview of what is ahead for the gang. I am working with a young teacher who is in her third year of teaching with Teach For American but it is her first year at KIPP. She teaches sixth grade and they are currently on the topic of the Civil War. The school has many values that they uphold and teach throughout the years. They always work as a team, or pride because their mascot is the lion. Everything at the school is earned as Pat Wu, a Maryland alum and current KIPP teacher explained to us. Students are highly encouraged to always participate, support each other, and share their knowledge with the rest of their class. While these values may not be new, the teaching methods and the school is set up unlike most public schools and from what I have seen, KIPP is extremely successful. To end on a good note, several of the students were just accepted early decision to UNC Chapel Hill and when the current senior class graduates they will more than double the number of people with a high school degree in Gaston!
Now, I'm off to enjoy Gaston nightlife by plopping myself on the couch with my book.
colleen
First Full Day in Gaston
Hey!!
We were so excited to start our first full day in the classes. I nervously anticipated what the first day would be like. Would the students like me? Would I work with the students directly, or would I just observe? We woke up early in the morning and arrived at the school around 7:30. I spent the first 30 minutes with the students during their breakfast. For the rest of the day, I worked with Pat Wu's 6th grade writing class. I helped to grade papers and quizzes. I also worked with a Colby intern, whose awesome, she's my new best friend- Hi Liz lol. I loved the first day. Pat does an amazing job with his students. I have never met a group of students so eager to learn and answer questions; they were literally jumping out of their seats to answer the questions. I never knew writing could be so fun. At the end of the day, we ate dinner with teachers from Teach for America. Their passion for this job was evident by the way they spoke of their students. It was very insightful to hear from them.
Tomorrow is a shorter day, but I am also excited to see what tomorrow holds!
--Stacy Jeremiah
We were so excited to start our first full day in the classes. I nervously anticipated what the first day would be like. Would the students like me? Would I work with the students directly, or would I just observe? We woke up early in the morning and arrived at the school around 7:30. I spent the first 30 minutes with the students during their breakfast. For the rest of the day, I worked with Pat Wu's 6th grade writing class. I helped to grade papers and quizzes. I also worked with a Colby intern, whose awesome, she's my new best friend- Hi Liz lol. I loved the first day. Pat does an amazing job with his students. I have never met a group of students so eager to learn and answer questions; they were literally jumping out of their seats to answer the questions. I never knew writing could be so fun. At the end of the day, we ate dinner with teachers from Teach for America. Their passion for this job was evident by the way they spoke of their students. It was very insightful to hear from them.
Tomorrow is a shorter day, but I am also excited to see what tomorrow holds!
--Stacy Jeremiah
While we were in class...
Hey guys!
We're in class right now researching economics lesson plans for the teachers we (Me and Clare) are working with.
Its only 2:30 and we are already EXHAUSTED. We've fixed a number of paperjams, copied a precalc exam (twice), and graded and recorded a statistics exam.
The hallways here are beautiful; its almost as if (and probably is the case) that the students themselves painted them.
We're having a fun time staying with Pat Wu and exploring the guest house we kicked one of his housemates out of apparently. We had fun exploring his book and movie collection, along with other things.
The teacher that we are mainly working with is a Teach for America teacher. She is teaching mostly precalc classes I think, but she majored in psyc at Michigan.
Those are just some thoughts that I wanted to write down before we go back to the house with slowslow dial up internet, but I still apologize for not getting very deep into our experience. Back to lesson plan searching!
Sophie Tullier
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Arrival
We're Safe!
...Atleast for now; we are safe and sound. After driving back from our KIPP school orientation through the beautifully starlit backwoods of Gatson, we're a little spooked about alternative break turning into a the premise for a horror film.
So far..
-Our lake house is amazing
-The KIPP school orientation and tour went well (thanks to an awesome tour guide; 7th grader Renee and Mr. Pat Wu)
-Saw the talented kids in KIPP's Drum band perform
-Are starving; currently waiting for group members to return from Food Lion
All in all, everyone is energized and ready to experience our first day at KIPP.
-Jacqueline Canales
...Atleast for now; we are safe and sound. After driving back from our KIPP school orientation through the beautifully starlit backwoods of Gatson, we're a little spooked about alternative break turning into a the premise for a horror film.
So far..
-Our lake house is amazing
-The KIPP school orientation and tour went well (thanks to an awesome tour guide; 7th grader Renee and Mr. Pat Wu)
-Saw the talented kids in KIPP's Drum band perform
-Are starving; currently waiting for group members to return from Food Lion
All in all, everyone is energized and ready to experience our first day at KIPP.
-Jacqueline Canales
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
leaving in the morning
We'll be leaving for our trip in the morning and I'm pretty excited. I'm Jane, the staff advisor. I'm a first year Master's student/teaching assistant in music education and I love my experience at UMD so far, so I expect that I will love this trip as well. I will be working with the band teacher at the KIPP school. I am looking forward to it because although I am a music teacher, I have only taught chorus and general music, so this will be an educational experience for me to be with a band teacher! I am really looking forward to getting to know the other participants on the trip and to see how the KIPP school runs. Here's to a successful trip!
Jane Sitarz
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Two weeks and counting...
Welcome to the UMD,CP AWB Gaston 2009 blog! That was a long title. We should be updating this every day we are on the trip and at least a few more times before we leave and after we come back. Check in to see what we're doing. If you recieved a link to this blog because of a contribution you made to one of the participants, we are truely grateful for your support. You can use this blog to see how your gift is affecting the college students and the middle school/high school students that we work with. If your using this blog to get a feel of what the trip will be like in the future for those planning to apply to the AB program, I hope its helpful. I can tell this trip is going to be a blast!
We have two more weeks of vacation left- to the day. 14 days from now we'll be in a car heading down to North Carolina to start our trip. Planning the trip has been great- a rough ride for administrative stuff since the winter AB program was new but our contact at the school was amazing with e-mail and made the whole planning process very easy and smooth for us.
For me, I've selected working with one of the high school math teachers which I am really excited about since that is what I plan on DOING with the rest of my life, and it will be a great experience to finally get to be in that environment. Although it is a statistics class so I need to brush up a little bit, its been a few years.
Enjoy our blog and our experience. We're going to have a lot of fun.
-Sophie
We have two more weeks of vacation left- to the day. 14 days from now we'll be in a car heading down to North Carolina to start our trip. Planning the trip has been great- a rough ride for administrative stuff since the winter AB program was new but our contact at the school was amazing with e-mail and made the whole planning process very easy and smooth for us.
For me, I've selected working with one of the high school math teachers which I am really excited about since that is what I plan on DOING with the rest of my life, and it will be a great experience to finally get to be in that environment. Although it is a statistics class so I need to brush up a little bit, its been a few years.
Enjoy our blog and our experience. We're going to have a lot of fun.
-Sophie
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)