4 posts tagged “mtc”

Last week the social studies crew came up with a curriculum map for MTC Summer School 2008. With so much material to cover sometimes it's hard to determine what to teach. We're trying to put a year's worth of material in a summer and some things will inevitably get left out but our task was set before us and our task we attacked. This was perhaps the biggest challenge faced when developing the curriculum map, however. A second challenge that we encountered while developing the curriculum map was what order to put different lesson or objectives in. This past year I used a chronological curriculum map for my U.S. History I course (i.e. Native American groups, arrival of European explorers, "settling" of the U.S., etc.), a regional curriculum map for my world history course (i.e. unit on North America, unit on South America, unit on the Caribbean and Canada, etc.), and a straight-up objective-by-objective curriculum map for my Mississippi Studies course (i.e. objective 1a for a few days, then 1b, then 1c, etc.). Each had their benefits and drawbacks though so determining which is best is not a very easy task.

These curriculum maps that I developed this past year were not very beneficial. Firstly, I was all-but derailed from all of my curriculum maps by February and thus came to the understanding that like my fellow Igbo man Chinua Achebe once famously wrote, "things fall apart." Secondly, the course that we are teaching this summer is the U.S. History II course that Mississippi juniors take and only Rob has ever actually taught the course during the regular school year. Thus only one of the three second-years know what the course outline actually looks like over a year's time. A third reason why my curriculum maps were not beneficial is because I wanted the curriculum maps that we used during summer school to be the result of group effort and consensus--not just the transplanting of my vision for what I did with my students in Humphreys County onto our summer school students and my fellow MTC teachers. For these reasons, I did not find my curriculum maps made during this past school very beneficial or applicable to what we're doing in Holly Springs this summer.

Hopefully from the curriculum map that we developed our first years can see what one looks like and get solid inspiration on how to model their own based on ours. That's the goal.

I bequeath whatever energy I have left. You're going to need it. Lots of its. When I was a senior in college last year Ben told me that teaching in Mississippi would be the hardest thing that I've ever done in my life. I thought he was joking. I mean, I've survived life in a Nigerian dictatorship, shootouts in my hometown, the *worst* high school in New Jersey, and the most elitist, gag-inducing few square miles in the world...what could be so rough about Mississippi?

I had no idea...and you probably don't either, kiddies. If you're anything like me you think that the public service or activism that you've done on campus is pseudo-adequate preparation for what lies before you in MTC. Not at all. All of the mentor programs and after school programs and rallies and protests in the world can't prepare you for what lies ahead.

This isn't meant to scare you at all. You CAN succeed as a teacher (see my post from my first day of school). You CAN teach your students valuable information and life lessons that they will appreciate and grow from. You CAN learn quite a bit from your students that you did not know about yourself, about themselves, where they come from, and what people are going through in the 2008 in the wealthiest nation in the world.

However, it won't be easy.

Thus, if there's a list of ten things that I wish someone had told me before entering Teacher Corps (or maybe someone in Teacher Corps did tell me this before...eh) I would have to say that that advisory list would consist of:

1) As soon as you know your preps (the courses you'll be teaching during the school year), PLAN AHEAD.

How to write a lesson plan and whatnot will be taught in EDSE 500 your first summer but myriad templates exist online. Look at them. Practice writing/revising them. Seek feedback from someone capable and competent. Practice makes perfect.

2) When planning for the year and for units/sub-units, start with your major assessments (quizzes, tests, exams).

This will help drive your instruction, objectives, and lessons so that students learn--and are tested on--what's most important.

3) When planning ahead, know that everything--EVERYTHING--is subject to change.

Nothing is set in stone in our public schools so learning what you're teaching the week before/of school is not uncommon. Neither is being hired to teach one course and being given three. Hehehe....

4) Don't be afraid to ask any question as a first-year.

I know that at times there has been a bunch of stuff at my school that I should have known but simply didn't. For instance, my first day of school I didn't know what was appropriate to wear (overdress in these situations), what time school started (come early in these situations), or where the cafeteria was (confidently play it off and ask a capable-looking student to lead the line in these situations).

5) Everyone makes mistakes. Not everyone learns from them, however.

Make sure that your summer school experience and your first-year are growing experiences. Learn from your mistakes and learn from those of others. They may abound.

6) Make sure teaching is in your heart.

If you don't love the practice of infusing students with intellectually stimulating material and simultaneously sharpening and expanding their world view then it will be hard to get up many mornings. Especially if you're like me and you're coming off of sleeping til noon or so and lounging around all day during the twilight of your collegiate career.

7) Don't be an 8-3 teacher.

Live near your kids...preferably in the same town. It has its ups (running into your students in the supermarket, at the fast food restaurant, downtown, etc. and developing a positive rapport with them) and its downs ("Mr.Amutah, who was at YO house last night?!? I saw that car parked in front of yo' crib."). The ups far outweigh the downs, however. Come early/stay after school a little longer than normal if you can't live in the town. You'd be surprised how many kids might just want to come by and talk.

8) Do your coursework.

If you're anything like me, your Ole Miss classes can sometimes be an afterthought to the daily grind of teaching and being on your own in life for the first time. Still, remember that a major part of this MTC package is a full scholarship for a Master's Degree in Education. Get that Master's.

9) Find your release.

Teaching can be stressful (understatement of the year!) so make sure you have outlets to relieve stress. It would be best if these outlets are constructive (basket weaving) rather than destructive (meth addiction). Hey, whatever gets you through the day....

10) IT'S A CELEBRATION, B*TCHES!!!

So enjoy yourself. You're still young and adventurous so enjoy this wild ride. There's no time like the present and there's no place--NO place--like the 'Sip.

P.S.
Get a license and, preferably, vehicle. Before you get here. For REAL. 

Before school started today I had at least three students from another homeroom come and ask me to help them with another teacher's project that's due today. That teacher is infamous for beating students--something that, despite my persistent classroom management issues, lack of academic cooperation from students, and encouragement by colleagues/parents, I have still not been able to bring myself to do. Philosophically, I am opposed to it now and in the foreseeable future. It deals with monopolies of violence, state-sanctioned violence on poor folk, adult-to-child violence, etc....

Anyway, these students that came into my class today were all worked up over the project that they had to turn in for that teacher. It may be that that project is worth an immense portion of their final grade (I believe in the past I've heard students say that not turning in each major project of that teacher's will ensure your failure of his class--not to mention it will get you beat severely) but I think that that's secondary to the beating. That's that teacher's calling card. Other teachers use this sort of force to get their students to complete work and behave how the teacher wants but, again, these are things that I'm finding myself increasingly opposed to philosophically AND practically.

Thus, my students don't fear me very much ---> thus, they don't fear not doing my work ---> thus, they often don't do my work ---> thus, many students fail many assignments and my class

So this big Black History Month report that I gave my students over a month ago (January 23rd)...that's worth 500 points (a quiz grade AND a test grade combined)...that we've been going to the library every Friday to work on...did not go down like I wanted. Submissions? Fifth period: eight out of 24 students. Sixth period: nine out of 17 students. Seventh period: seven out of 25 students. I was wishfully thinking that 70% of my students would turn in these reports but I guess not. Additionally, of the fraction of students that turned in their reports about a quarter of them received zeros for plagiarism or not doing it themselves (which they'll vehemently deny). For instance, our basketball star got his girlfriend, who takes me for world history another period, to do his report. It's obvious. Disrespectfully so. If she didn't, there would have been myriad other females in the wings to do his report. He thinks I still can't figure out these things.... Another 50% of my students submitted reports which had major omissions (i.e. no bibliography or missing answers to the five questions I specifically told them to answer) or which were filled with biographic information I didn't ask for. Sigh....

During a month when Black history should be celebrated I feel particularly bad about giving a large group of Black students such poor grades. To some extent, it's not really their fault that they're in 8th, 9th, and 10th (one even in 12th) grade and don't know how to:

* Conduct original research.
* Read a passage and extract important/pertinent information.
* Write in complete sentences/with correct grammar/consistently punctuate/avoid filler language (i.e. using something like "and that's why I think ____ should be studied for Black History Month" as an end sentence to obtain the proper paragraph length--four to six sentences in my classes).
* Write for school (formally) in a different mode than how they converse with friends (informally).
* Prepare a bibliography.
* Ask for help when needed.
* Pace themselves and their work so that assignments are turned in on time.
* Double-space.
* Etc.....

What's interesting to note is that I don't think I have all of these skills mastered either. Certainly, certain profs from Ole Miss and Harvard will say that I don't.

I'm just flabbergasted and, like many first-years, feeling like cutting my losses and just leaving. Humphreys County, the Delta, Mississippi, the program...I dunno...just leaving. Too much work and stress and effort for too little visible progress. What I'm doing here is trying to force a square peg into a round hole (or however that saying goes). It's not happening. I'm trying to force a sort of appreciation for education and intellectual stimulation on a community that could care less. Students, parents, admins, colleagues alike...many could care less. Today I missed maybe my 15th or so day of the school year with another relatively lame excuse. It was just another one of those days when I could not bring myself to face the realities of the academic and social environment that I work in. I was also very tired from the night before and still nursing a cold. I slept in. I only got up to check other job opportunities in Mississippi. ASAP.

Prior to coming to MTC (and even while I've been here) family and friends of mine outside of Mississippi have warned me about the public servant martyrdom syndrome that they feel might have infected me at some point during college. I now wonder if they're right or not as I try to keep pushing feeling like I'm probably doing more damage to myself than good to students. It goes without saying that this is NOT what I wanted.

    After six months in Mississippi I can definitely acknowledge that some changes have occurred to the young, self-assured, radical once known as "Chip." I don't think that change is always a bad thing. Change can be good. Just ask Obama. I don't think that I've been as well-prepared or expectant of certain changes as I could have been but whatever. It's life. I'm fresh (am I still?) out of college. I'm 22. Changes happen. Per Ben's request, I'm going to blog about the positive and the negative changes that have happened since early June 2007 when I embarked on this journey.

    There have definitely been some positive changes brought on by this experience. I think that I am more self-sufficient than ever. Not just because I'm living in a house on my own (thanks for early August, Karl) and have a license (thanks for just about all of Fall, Greg) but I know how to be self-sufficient in other ways as well. Teacher Corps, for all it's done for me, has fallen short on a number of occasions to fulfill my expectations of it (I'm sure I haven't been the ideal MTCer in certain ways also). Placement became a big issue for me in mid/late July when everything in Jackson fell through and I was told to find my own job. I found my strength. I found Humphreys County High and Junior High. I found the self-imposed "heart of the Delta." I found a priority school in a struggling, critical-needs district where 315-person towns experience youth violence in the form of broad day shootouts. This is just where I wanted to be (seriously)! I did this on my own. Another positive change that has happened is that I am more confident in my leadership ability now. I look back on the post from my first day and I laugh, to some degree. The road has been hard but it's one I'm now familiar with. It gets easier to trod daily. A final positive change I'd like to highlight is my much-increased ability to exercise patience. Knowing that this is one of the most invaluable attributes to possess as an educator in a place like this, I have had the opportunity to daily get closer to the perfection of this craft. Just today I reminded my 6th period world history class of my older sister's name--Ndidiamaka--which means "patience is a virtue." I know how such virtue. Who'd have thunk it?

    At the same time, negative changes cannot be glazed over as well. I think that I'm a less healthy after being introduced to the wonders of Double Quick, Abner's, and KFC. I've been trying to counteract this recently and have bought a range of foods that are greener, leaner, and less processed. Working 10 to 14 hours a day doesn't help with this though. I still haven't gotten on a set schedule for food. Yesterday, I had one meal. A big meal, but still. Just one. Another negative change concerns my approach in the classroom. I think that some of my innovative idealism about having a circular desk arrangement so that students all face each other and attention isn't necessarily focused at the front of the classroom--on the "omniscient" teacher--were scrapped. I've encountered the reality that many of my students respond better (academically...in terms of actually comprehending the material) to banal book work than to novel games and activities, though they complain about the former. The result: greater reliance on textbooks. A final negative change that has occurred is that I feel like the nebulous "system" is not always to blame, in all actuality. The politically conservative viewpoint that individuals must pull themselves up by their bootstraps, stop making cultural/socialization-related excuses, and just do what they're supposed to has gained much credence with me. I don't think my students' biggest foes are the White farmers that own the overwhelming majority of Delta soil and businesses that keep my students and their families in their comparatively destitute socioeconomic and political situations. I think that much blame--as complicated as these situations often are--must be placed on the shoulders of parents and students.