Ezina, Ekinez Egina

After reading several of my classmates "To Join or Not to Join" posts, I began to speculate about what would make someone a good candidate for MTC, what characteristics does MTC actually look for in applicants, what would make an alternative route teacher successful in the environments of the Delta, Jackson, or Marshall County. Over the last few days, I might have come up with an answer, although based upon this answer I never should've been selected by MTC. In my non-expert opinion, I can't help but believe that MTCers have got to be flexible. In order to further mull over this revelation, I dictionary.com-ed the word "flexibility"- the exact definition of the adjective form is below.

1.	capable of being bent, usually without breaking; easily bent: a flexible ruler.

2.	susceptible of modification or adaptation; adaptable: a flexible schedule.

3.	willing or disposed to yield; pliable: a flexible personality.

Hello that definition is what we do! Welcome to MTC! Welcome to the life of a teacher in a critical needs school district! I can't help but think about the last few weeks when I look at this definition. For those of use who teach in JPS, we've spent the last week dealing with the following: no running water, no heat, a flooded school. Toilets haven't flushed since last Wednesday afternoon; water hasn't flown freely from the sinks since last Thursday morning; lunch ladies haven't washed fruits and vegetables since they prepared last Wednesday's lunch; heat has only warmed the hands and noses of the students and teachers in a select few classrooms since BEFORE the break. And yesterday began with a flooded first floor resulting in the rerouting of students (they can only walk in one direction) and the closing of an entire hallway of classrooms.

The general public may gasp, but as teachers, as MTCers, we knew what we had to do: teach. We had to be flexible; we had to bend and not break, because if we broke, our students certainly would too. Yes, the situation is/was undesirable, but no, it is/ was not unbearable. For most of the days last week, I taught in my shell, liner, scarf, running tights under my khakis with wool socks heating my cold toes just to stay warm; I adapted to my situation to get the job done by suspending the no hoods or hats rule when students entered my classroom. As a result, I taught and they learned as the Black Eyed Peas played softly in the background (my treat to them for behaving like all-stars in the midst of the craziness).

Sometimes, I can't help but think about how much easier it must be to teach in functioning schools in cities with strong infrastructure that doesn't result in the breaking of 115 square miles of pipes, but then I remember what organization I'm teaching with- I teach with MTC. I signed up for hard; I signed up for crazy; I signed up for this.

So here's to anyone who may be thinking about joining MTC, do it if you know when push comes to shove you can be flexible. I never considered myself a flexible person, and in reality, I would much rather do things my way than someone else's way, but when I became a teacher at FHS, a real legit teacher, all of that had to change for the sake of my survival (read: having the administration on my side). So when those frustrating moments happen, because they will and they will be much more frequent that you would like, remember why and what you signed up for. I signed up for my students that I now know and love (at least some of them anyway), and I signed up, because I wanted to prove to myself that when bent, I would not break.  
  

 Join MTC if…

- you like challenges. MTC is a challenge, and it is hard; however, it is completely worth it, if you’re up for it.

- you want to change. MTC will surely change you, for better or for worse.

- you’re up for living away from big cities and the metropolitan lifestyle. MTC places you in Mississippi (seems logical, right?), so if you’re up for living in Mississippi, join MTC.

- you want to be a part of something big.  Mississippi needs teachers; Mississippi needs good teachers. As a member of MTC, you have the opportunity to be a good teacher in Mississippi.

- you want to teach. MTC claims that if you can teach in the districts it places you in, you can teach anywhere. Talk about comforting- if you can survive this, you can go anywhere else and be okay.

- you don’t want to teach. MTC is incredible work experience in a difficult environment; I’m convinced that if I can survive (and thrive!) this, that I can do well just about anywhere. Although if you don’t want to teach, you should probably at least really like people- MTC is tough if you’re anti-people.

- you wanted to do Teach for America but weren’t accepted. MTC is better: FREE MASTERS (no strings attached- it is truly free, books and all!), full teaching salary with benefits, a support system that is second to none- from the summer interns to the faculty to the second years, MTC is there for its participants- in good times and in bad, connections and resources in every possible placement site. Enough said.

- you want an adventure. No, MTC is not the wild west; however, it sure provides one crazy experience for all participants.

- you are flexible/ are okay with learning how to be flexible. You have to be as a part of MTC. Your school will probably not be organized, and because of their lack of organization (among other things), you will need to be flexible. Even when you really, really do not want to be.

- you prefer the SEC to the Ivy League. Only kidding. However, SEC football is king in Mississippi, and as a part of MTC, you will be enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Mississippi. Love your alma mater, but embrace your new school and Mississippians will start to see you as one of their own rather than an outsider.

Don't join MTC if...
- you don't like challenges. MTC is an incredible challenge. From the students you will teach to the administration you will work under and the people you will work with, everything will test you and try you. MTC is HARD.

- you have other plans. In order to enjoy the work you do with MTC, your job has to be your main focus, although it should never, ever be your only focus. If you'd rather be doing something else, do it. Your students need you to be all there, and they can tell if you're not.

- you think you can change the state of education in Mississippi. You can't, and you won't. You might have a positive impact on the lives of a handful of students, but you certainly will not change the state of education in Mississippi. The system has been messed up for far too long, and just like Kofi Annan learned with the instability in Kenya, peace will only come if those directly involved, rather than outsiders, want it to come.

- you hate the South. Mississippi is a different world, and those who know that who live there tend to be okay with that. Yes, red meat is a staple in many diets. Yes, people talk with accents that are sometimes impossible to understand. Yes, there are A LOT of really crappy drivers in Mississippi. Yes, rain can add a lot of extra time to your daily commute. Yes, the logic in Mississippi might seem illogical. to you. To them, it makes plenty of sense- accept that fact.

- you'd prefer to live  a cosmopolitan lifestyle in a big city. Mississippi doesn't have any of that. The largest "city" is the capital, Jackson, and if you include the tri-county area, the city's population doesn't even top half a million people. Culture exists in Mississippi; however, you must keep your eyes open in order to find it.

 

- you’re unorganized. I know there are plenty of people in MTC who will tell you that they are not organized. Do not believe them. As a participant in MTC, you must be able to balance teaching in  a critical needs school district with your own coursework. The courses, while not as demanding as undergraduate coursework, still require you to work on your own time. In addition to balancing teaching with studying, you also need to be able to make time for you, time away from school, MTC, and all things teacher related. You won’t survive if you don’t make time for you.

In short, I found Payne's book to be interesting; however, she failed to provide me with really any new knowledge. I've heard most of what she said before, and now that I'm up to my eyeballs in poverty stricken students, Payne's book proved to be a nice refresher.

Things that stuck out:
-generational poverty: this sums up most of my students. They are the products of generations of poverty, something that is now not only accepted but the societal norm for students from the FHS area. I find generational poverty to be the most disheartening type of poverty, as only those who want to escape it will. Most of my students will pass this cycle of poverty on to future generations; most will probably be on welfare for most of their lives, as they can get federal government checks for doing absolutely nothing. Many of my kids know that they can live off the federal government if they are poor- something that is tantalizing to my laziest students.
-behaviors of poor kids: I see this crap (yup, I believe it's crap) in my classroom on a daily basis, as I would assume the rest of my MTC classmates do as well. I did appreciate the fact that she offered suggestions on how to address the classroom behavior issues that arise from poverty.

Teaching in July was significantly easier than teaching in June. My initial jitters were gone, and I felt more confident with my subject area and in the classroom, something that I thought was noticeable in this video. I still made plenty of mistakes but that was expected. The downside, however, to my new found confidence with Social Studies is that I will be teaching English I & II during the year. Unqualified doesn't even begin to cover how not prepared I am to teach either of those subjects.

Overall Impression of the Lesson:
I liked the lesson,and honestly, before I taught it, I thought it was simple enough to be a "no fail" lesson. I taught Brown v. Board, the "true" story behind the ruling. The reading was simple, and the questions that I spaced throughout the reading required the students to meet the objective- draw conclusions about the case. Our kids, however, were off, and they had been all day. I watched Mr. J teach an excellent lesson before mine, only to have it implode before our very eyes. My "no fail" lesson proved to be much like the Titanic, as it sank. For whatever reason, reading the correct answer off the worksheets in front of them proved to be an impossible task- great. Regardless, should I find myself teaching any form of Social Studies in the fall, I will for sure use this lesson again.

Things I Did Well:
I thought my set was great- I had our trustworthy student sit outside the open door. She wasn't allowed to do the Do Now or participate in the beginning of the lesson. I got the other student started with the lesson, and only after I had given some instruction did I invite the other student back into the classroom. Segregation in a nutshell- is "separate but equal" really fair? Nope. Did they get that part of the lesson? Yup. The only thing really lacking (in my opinion- others may tell you otherwise) was that I forgot to review the lesson before mine- the lesson on Cold War politics. I managed to connect it later on in the lesson which I thought worked- as long as you ignore the formal eval sheet.

My time management was good as well. Our kids took longer on the main activity than I expected, which meant that the last activity was assigned for homework. I gave time warnings and encouraged our sleepy student to pick up the pace a little bit.

My movement around the room was a little less crazy this time around, and although I still fidget with whatever pen may be in my hand, I think I'm finally getting the hang of touching all four walls, something that has proven a lot easier to do as long as I don't lecture.

Room for Improvement:
I showed my frustration when my kids couldn't correctly answer questions that were correctly answered on the worksheets in front of them. I was frustrated for sure- the answers were right in front of them. All they had to do was look down and read the answer back to me. Simple enough? apparently not. I'm not quite sure how to work on this or fix it, but I have been warned that this will lead to classroom management issues in the fall so maybe after that happens I'll have a solution. Supposedly a change in questioning techniques will make them understand; however, I thought (and still believe) that my questions were ask simple as I could have made them. Leading questions? check. Stating the answer and then asking the question? check. My question is what else am I supposed to do? I give up. I would love any tips, suggestions, etc. from anyone who may have had issues with this before.

I need to adjust my objectives to match student skill level (read- ALL DOK 1). And honestly, had I known that our students did not know anything related to basic US government knowledge (three branches of government, functions, purposes, etc) before I taught this lesson, I probably would've scratched it and taught a lesson on the basics instead. The knowledge gaps in US History could be measured in lightyears. How much can we as teachers expect them to retain of more "advanced" content, if they don't even know the basics? Not very much. And honestly, I'm anxiously looking forward to the days when my lessons will no longer be graded- that in itself has proven to be the greatest stress of the summer.   

Alright, I hated this assignment- having to watch myself teach, especially a lesson that wasn't my best. But I guess that's the real point of this thing- to improve.

The Lesson:
Mississippi Studies, Mississippi Artist Project- poetry

Things I Did Well:
The board looked the way it was supposed to look. I was dressed appropriately. I spoke loud enough. I opened and closed the lesson like I was taught. I talked to the objective... I think. I knew the material. I managed my time. I moved around the room, although I circled the room and often walked in very odd patterns across the room. I was able to improvise and do so successfully. Overall, the lesson was effective, but it definitely could have been better.

Things I Need to Work On:
Whenever my mouth moves, my hands move. And my hands tend to move at whatever pace my mouth is moving which at sometimes can be very fast. I talk crazy fast, but at least I was loud enough this time around. I look like I'm directing traffic. I rushed my notes, because my lesson was over ambitious- I tried to accomplish too much in the 50 minute period. I didn't assess a pretty big portion of my lesson, which therefore, renders that material useless and a waste of my time. I didn't collect the work that I said I would collect for a daily grade. I modeled but that definitely needed to be better. Rather than building to a higher level of questions, I tried to start at that level which wasn't effective. I lost/confused my student when I did that. I need to make my questions more specific and more clear. I also need to make sure that all of my directions are stupidly simple and crystal clear.

I tend to ask a lot of questions throughout my lessons which I know is not the best thing. I'm going to blame three years of tutoring athletes for that one. I learned early on with that job that only by asking a question can I ensure that the student a) has actually heard what I've said and b) actually understands the concepts being taught, reviewed, etc. So this week I tried to ask questions on different levels. With one student, this was pretty easy. I asked her simpler questions first (i.e. what was the Black Code?) and built up to more in depth questions (why was the Black Code important- why or why not? why is this important to our study of Mississippi?). Because I only have one student, that particular technique was the only one that I could really work into my lesson. I really like the idea of cold calling students. In the fall (ideally), I would like to have popsicle sticks or note cards or something of the like with all the names of students in a particular period together and call on students that way. As far as summer school goes, I'm trying to limit the number of questions I ask my student, because I've been told by several others that I tend to ask a few too many. 

I found Reluctant Disciplinarian to be hilariously entertaining at the author's expense. When trying to pinpoint the origin of his disastrous first year as a classroom disciplinarian, Rubinstein reflects on a story from his childhood. Each time his father punished their family dog for misbehavior, Rubinstein comforted the animal. While he believed he was helping the dog, the reality of the situation proved to be much different. Instead of enforcing the rules set by his father, Rubinstein undermined his father. He wasn't consistent. He showed the dog that the rules didn't really apply to him. The dog had the power, rather than his father.

Fortunately, I do not have the same history of being a "softy" as Rubinstein did. My mother is one of the toughest women I have ever met. She and my father set explicit rules and expectations for our household and expected my brother and I to follow them. They treated any misstep seriously, while praising us for each right step. I distinctly remember training our family pet, a rambunctious black lab golden retriever mix named Buck, and my parents expected everyone, including me and my ten year old brother, to enforce the rules. Because we were consistent and firm, Buck learned the rules pretty quickly. Now eight years later, Buck remains pretty well behaved, although his combination of breeds means that he still chews and digs as much as most puppies.

From Rubinstein's book, disciplining a classroom doesn't seem to be much different than training a dog. As a teacher, I must be consistent. I must enforce my classroom rules equally among all my students, not just the problem children. I must also make my rules clear. Students are more likely to do what is asked of them when the expectations are made explicitly clear. In short, Rubinstein's book was a quick, easy read. Maybe I am being overly confident, but I do not expect to have a first year like his. I know my first year will be difficult, especially after only having one student in summer school, but I can't help but believe that MTC will equip us with the necessary knowledge and tools to effectively manage our classrooms.  

After reading Delta Autumn, I'm glad that MTC continues to print copies for First Years to read year after year. As a first year teacher and a lifelong student, I am slowly learning that there is more to teaching that I don't know than I actually do know. That being said, I really believe that most of the information highlighted in this book will be of some use to me next year. And I'm sure it is one piece of literature that will never be too far from my reach.

While I will probably find the information concerning the first day of school more helpful in August, I found the section on teaching students with ADD/ADHD and learning disabilities interesting. Our one student in MS Studies is the ideal student- she’s motivated, she’s smart, she does her work without much (if any) prompting and she most certainly does not appear to have ADD/ADHD or any learning disabilities. However, as I begin to write my own lesson plans, I can’t help but wonder how I would teach a classroom containing several ADD/ADHD students. Throughout my years tutoring athletes coupled with my own personal experiences as someone with ADD, I know how difficult simple classroom tasks can be. As a student, I preferred lessons with multiple activities, as I tended to get distracted by the bigger, lengthier projects. Also, my eyes tended to glaze over during any movie clip longer than a minute or two. Fortunately, I had teachers who knew what they were doing and I didn’t get left behind. I want to make sure that I do the same for my students with those kinds of issues- every kid is capable of learning, some in different ways than others.

After watching some of my Second Years in addition to reading the book, I have come up with several ideas that I plan to use in my classroom next year. Longer movie clips are acceptable as long as there is a sheet of questions that engage the student in active learning. Longer projects and readings are perfect as long as there are detailed instructions to guide even the most distracted students. Independent work time is the perfect opportunity to give students with learning disabilities the one on one attention they may need.

Overall, I liked the book. I’m glad that I have my first two lessons under my belt. So far, I’ve enjoyed teaching and I’m excited to see what tomorrow’s lesson on Choctaw Indians actually becomes.