Delta-isms

As if we weren't challenged enough in our daily endeavors to close the achievement gap, Corps Members also faced the constant challenges of what we like to call "Delta-isms." Whether its the accent or the way they use the term, we are constantly trying to decipher region-specific language.

Imagine trying to teach a lesson and your student raises her hand and says, "I gotta use it." I am already somewhat annoyed that my lesson is being interrupted especially when behavior management starts to go to you know where when students' attention turns from me to someone else.

I ask, "Use what?"

"I gotta use it."

"Use what?" I ask again, further annoyed.

"Use IT!" My student reiterates.

Further confused, I mumble something and turn back to my lesson... whoops.

Delta-ism #1: I gotta use it = Can I go to the bathroom?

Delta-ism #2: I nee a PAN-cell/ PAN-cer = I need pencil.

Delta-ism #3: Es-kurz me = Excuse me.

Delta-ism #4: Ma'am? = Could you repeat what you just said?

And as if it isn't enough to try and navigate the accent and word-usage, we also have to remember how to pronounce names that I have decided were created specifically to look like one thing while sounding like something exactly the opposite. Try teaching a lesson, managing a classroom and pronouncing these names at the same time. Here are just a few examples:

Syh'lence = Silence (seriously. no, seriously)

Am Unique = This is one of the most popular names in our school...

Chakaviante = Sha kay vee on tay

Zakwon = Zay kwon

Zimarion = Zy mare ee on

Exzarius = exactly like its spelled, but still

Ja'marqavius = Ja mark ay vee us

Urhyness = Your highness

And my personal favorite La - yia = La dash ia

Miss Claiborn

(This is a compilation of names I have heard and names I have come across. Luckily we usually don't have all of these in one class. It would be like our own personal tongue twister.)

Wrapping Up the Hardest Five Weeks of My Life

For all of you who do not know exactly what I have been doing this summer, here is a quick recap.

Induction: June 8-12, spent time getting to know our region, sessions on specific challenges we will be facing in the Delta

Institute: June 13 - July 17; five weeks of intensive teacher training, which includes four weeks of teaching summer school in local schools; regional corps come from all over to the Delta for Institute, I just got lucky because the Delta is the site for Institute

During Institute, I have been teaching entering third grade math and reading along with my Collab (collaborative) who is another Corps Member. We each teach a two hour block of either reading or writing. My collab this summer has been a wonderful Kappa (for my aunts) who is going to be working in the Charlotte region.

We are now entering the final days of Institute, and I believe everyone is ready to be done with this schedule. Its hard enough to be living in dorms again with people you had never met before, but add in an average of four hours of sleep a night and days that stretch into 15 hours of work, and you get one hot mess (as my southern friends would say). We're all tired and a little burned out and much more cognizant of the fact that the next two years are not going to be a walk in the park. Students in the fourth grade in the Delta are, on average, 2 years behind in reading. Eighth graders are, on average, 3.5 years behind in reading. Think about teaching your students how to write a math word problem when they cannot read or write let alone form full sentences. That is the reality of the achievement gap, and, after Institute, the 2010 TFA Corps has gotten a healthy dose of reality.

Institute has been rough. It is not for the faint of heart. However, TFA believes in trial by fire. The people who weren't completely committed to the cause at the start of all this have long since dropped out, and the ones that are left have the tenacity it takes to make it through two years of fire.

Yeah its hard, but, geeze, I have never felt so productive! We've built relationships that will last beyond these five weeks. We've gotten to know ourselves better than ever before. We've discovered that waking up at 4 a.m. day after day is actually possible. We've prepared hundreds of students for their next year of school! We've gone from the top of our classes at university to the depths of despair about ever becoming a real teacher to building a foundation for strong student achievement in our regions. Most importantly, we've survived.

When you step back and take a look at the big picture, its pretty cool, no?

Anyways, I am moving now into an unfortunate flex time after Institute. Since I have yet to be placed in a school, I cannot find housing, which puts a kink in everything. If worse comes to worse, I'll be living in what they call the "TFA mansion", which is where they put all the unplaced corps members while they wait to get a job. Its not ideal, but right now, it looks like that may be a very real possibility for the first part of August.

So for now, I'm finishing up and playing the waiting game.

Miss Claiborn

P.S. We tested our students in reading today, and each of them made significant gains!

The Funnier Things in Life

I've realized that I haven't shared any of the hilarious things that happen in my class. In between the serious times of behavior management and learning, learning, learning there have been some rather entertaining bits.

We have one student, Tiona, who is very tiny and very sweet. She barely talks in class, but when she does its usually to tell me, "I like your shoes, Miss Claiborn." In the mornings we have reading, and all the students sit on the carpet in the back of the room while I read aloud to them. When I do read aloud, I try to do the voices of every character to make it more interesting for the class. Most days it works out just fine, but this particular day it backfired big time. That day we were reading about Little Billy, who was very bored and so he wandered, against his mother's wishes, into the Forest of Sin.

Miss Claiborn: "In our story, Little Billy is very bored. While he is looking out his window into the Forest of Sin, he hears a voice (using my best scary voice), "There are no monsters in the Forest of Sin. Your mother was lying."

(I stop and look at the students. Tiona is staring at me with her big eyes, waiting to know who is talking to Little Billy in such a voice.)

"Who do you think it was talking to Little Billy?" (I pause for dramatic effect....)

"It was the Devil!"

Tiona then proceeds to hug her knees closer to her chest as her eyes get bigger and she yells out in front of the entire class, "OH MY LORD! NOT THE DEVIL!"

I then realized that as eight year olds who have grown up in the bible belt, my students may have a healthy fear of the devil instilled in them by hundreds of "Fire and Brimstone" sermons. I had probably made it worse with the voices and dramatic flair given that the Devil isn't even a minor character in the novel, he's simply the reason Little Billy goes into the forest. As we kept reading, I hoped that some other parts of the story would draw her attention away from the tiny blip about the lord of the underworld. Little Billy is chased by a Gruncher. He climbs a tree and discovers a tiny people living in the trees. He then goes on to ride on a swan and kill the Gruncher in a daring chase through the forest.

Alas, all of these events failed to take her attention from that one part of the story, evidenced by how she answered the assessment at the end of the day:

1. Name a character in the story

The devil

2. Name one event in the story.

The devil whispered in Little Billy's ear.

3. Give a summary of the story.

Little Billy listened to the devil.

4. What was our big problem in the story?

The devil

5. How was our problem resolved?

Little Billy stopped listening to the devil.

And on, and on, and on.....

Note to self: avoid books with the devil in them when you are teaching in a state where parents use the devil as collateral for making their children behave.... I wish I were joking....

Oh well. Live and learn and try to traumatize as few children as possible.

Miss Claiborn

P.S. Asked one of my students what he wanted to be when he grows up: a professional eater specializing in hot dogs.

The Second Worst Day of My Life, and The Day After the Second Worst Day of My Life

So this week started out just like I though it would. I hadn't gotten enough sleep, as usual, but I felt more prepared going into the class than I had the week before. Unfortunately preparedness was not the issue. Its not enough to have all the papers copied out and in order, and to have all your notes on the board, and to have the pages flagged in the book you are reading that day, when, in the middle of the bathroom break, I'm on the floor of the boys bathroom, holding one of my students in safety position trying to keep him from attacking one of my other students. Its not enough to be prepared.

After a grueling two hours of being flipped off, called a various schmorgesborg of expletives, and twice having to physically restrain a student from hurting himself or someone else, I was done for the day. Luckily, my CMA (Corps Member Advisor), the SD (school director), and the CS (curriculum specialist in charge of classroom management), had by then recognized that with eight days of teaching under my belt, I was not quite capable of dealing with those kind of problems on a daily basis. They quickly reorganized some of my students so that the five that were the most difficult as a group were now spread out in five separate classes. Their quick action kept me from packing up and leaving last night. I never seriously thought about walking away from it all until I was sitting on the floor, alone in a room of twenty, eight year olds, while one of my students screamed and kicked in my arms and the others stared in shock or cried at their desks. But with the support of capable people and a long nap back at the dorm, everything came back into perspective, and I realized it can only get better from here.

Just as yesterday was unique, today was unique as well. I got through my entire lesson, without one student in the chill out chair. I felt like a teacher for the first time, instead of a baby-sitter. We still have the students that can't actually read, so they get bored and act out, or the students who are three years ahead in reading, so they get bored and act out, but overall, there is a definite sense of control and calm that was missing before. I'm not a perfect classroom manager yet, but then again, I've been in a classroom for nine days, so I'm going to say it can only getter better from here.

In some ways, I feel like a failure. I didn't like seeing my former students at lunch today because I was just getting to know their story and just starting to figure out a tiny part of their lives before all hell broke loose. One was pouting and refused to look at me because he just didn't understand why he had to leave my class. Unfortunately, I couldn't explain it to him. For some reason, our class was the perfect storm of too much energy and too much anger for one, inexperienced teacher to handle.

On a happier note, I'm going to New Orleans for the Fourth. Be jealous!

Miss Claiborn

P.S. Thank you for all of the Birthday wishes, cards, and presents!

Sunday is God's Day of Rest, Not Mine

The weekend has flown by at a speed I cannot even comprehend. Its amazing how weird it feels to wake-up at 8:00 on Saturday and think about how during the week, I've already been awake for four hours!

My suite mates, who are the sweetest people in the world, took me out for a lovely cup of coffee at our newest discovery, Crave. Sitting in its sleek, coffee-filled interior, I could almost pretend that I was back in Boise or Spokane, drinking my latte, reading a book, and relaxing. It was only when I looked out the window and saw Dodge's Fried Chicken, Fred's Fried Catfish, and Delta Cream Donuts that I remembered I was in Mississippi and that the only books I have time to read now are The Enormous Crocodile, Rumpelstiltskin, Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Song Lee and the "I Hate You" Notes.

After a relaxing, almost other-worldly stint at Crave, we headed back to campus for some much needed work time. Outside the classroom, the life of a teacher is surprisingly predictable: drink coffee to stay awake, write lesson plans, and grade assessments. It is inside the classroom that the future becomes frighteningly dependent on 20 eight-year-olds' decisions to learn or not to learn. They really should have commentators in the classrooms. Bets could be made on how many times IS (can't put his real name) gets out of his seat to sharpen his pencil. Friday, it was at ten. Monday could be twenty.

Anyways, after lesson-planning for a while, we went "downtown" (I put downtown in quotes because its really just a street in the middle of town that they call downtown) to a great bar called Backdraft. Its run by a very nice lady who has a framed matte on the wall for all of the TFA-ers to sign when they come in. We had a wonderful dinner of stuffed shrimp and salad. Salad and unbreaded meats have become delicacies to all of us. After two weeks of fried chicken, fried ham, and fried salsbury steak, you begin to wonder if the cows and pigs in Mississippi are born already breaded to speed the process of frying. Needless to say, a night away from the cafeteria was more than refreshing.

Today is full of things to do. There seems to be never-ending lesson planning, and even when the lesson planning ends, we have printing and copying and grading and reading and tracking to do after that. Minutes become precious. Luckily after two full nights of rest, tackling all these tasks seems less daunting than usual.

Thank you for continued thoughts and prayers!

I love getting emails, but I cannot promise that I'll have time to answer them.

Love,

Miss Claiborn

Ah, Friday.

My first week of teaching is officially over, and the learning curve, I have discovered, is quite steep. Every day I do something better than I did it the day before, but then I realize something else that I need to work on. I knew I wouldn't be an amazing teacher on day one, but, geeze, I underestimated it like Napoleon underestimated Russian winters.

Because my class is made up of fifteen boys and five girls, containing all the energy becomes an issue after about 9:00 in the morning. I made up a chant for character traits today to try and get out some of the energy. It went a little something like this:

Physical Trait! (Kids repeat the lines back to me)

Its what we look like!

Personality Trait!

Its what we like!

Its what we don't like!

Its what we doooooo!

It seemed to help for a bit, but there is only so much chanting I can do on three hours of sleep. Speaking of sleep, the weekend is upon us, and my suite mates and I are pretty impressed that we made it through the first official week of teaching. We're all hoping to get ahead in the next few days to try and end the seemingly never-ending game of catch-up. When we finish for the night, we're never actually finished. Finished = there is not enough energy left in my body to continue on. We steal moments on the bus and in-between meals and sessions to finish lesson plans or practice our delivery or grade assessments. Its amazing how productive we have all become in two weeks.

But life is definitely not all bad. I've met some pretty amazing people; people who could be doing anything and are here learning how to teach. One of the corps members, a retired judge, is sixty-five, and he's keeping up with the early wake-up calls and the constant work. Those are the kind of people TFA attracts, which is amazing to be a part of.

Yesterday, I got extremely angry. Not at a student, not at myself, but at some unknown entity that is our school system. Why was I angry? Because one of my students who is going into the third grade is reading at a pre-1st grade level. She struggles to write letters, let alone full, correctly spelled words. She's supposed to be learning how to predict what will happen next in a story, but she cannot write a full sentence. I am angry at an institution that has, so far, failed this child. But then again, that is why we are here, n'est-ce pas?

Anyway, enough ranting. It really feels good to be surrounded by talented people all working towards the same goal.

Love,

Miss Claiborn

Also, I love emails its just that I may not be able to respond due to time constraints. However, I still read and enjoy them!

First Two Days of Teaching

To all teachers who have ever been and ever will be: I commend thee.

I have officially been teaching for two days now, and I cannot believe how much work goes into a two hour lesson plan! I'm not even teaching a full day, and I'm exhausted by the end of it! So two enthusiastic thumbs up to all of you.

To say its been difficult is probably an under-statement. I'm teaching reading to third graders for the next two weeks. The first day, the students showed up twenty minutes late to the classroom due to bus issues. Trying to teach them all the procedures, rules, and regulations and have time for our read aloud and shared reading was virtually impossible. Luckily, the kids were scared enough about the new situation and new teacher to stay fairly quiet.

The second day, two third grade boys (not my students, thank goodness, but third graders nonetheless) started punching each other in the hallway during the bathroom break. One was taken away with a bloody nose, and both were sent home for good. The brand new teachers in the hall, including myself, were left in the hallway, flabbergasted (one of our vocab words) at what had just occurred. This was the first time that I realized my students were facing some challenges I never had to face as a child.

The second realization occurred when I graded their introductory spelling tests. One student is at a fifth grade level, which is fantastic. However, the vast majority struggle with spelling "float" (its the 'o''a' combo that is confusing for some). The achievement gap is a literacy gap, and now I have proof.

These past two days have not been easy. My Corps Member Advisor (CMA) has been extremely supportive and is always available, but even with that help, it is difficult to be positive on less than four hours of sleep every night. My suite mates and I give each other thirty seconds to vent when we get home every day, but after that, no one can say anything negative. It helps us focus on what we really need to be doing, which is closing the achievement gap, not complaining about having another three lessons due by eight tomorrow morning or how one of our co-teachers forgot to go over line-up procedures. Every night is filled with planning and assessments and trackers and a unusual delirium derived from a seemingly unhealthy mix of zero sleep, highly caffeinated drinks, a frightening amount of fried chicken and momma's meatloaf from the dining hall, and an even scarier drive to succeed.

Exhibit A: Today, one of my suite mates was simultaneously crying because she was afraid her students had not learned what she had taught them and laughing because she knew that it was ridiculous to be crying all the while planning the next day's lesson.

I'm telling you Zero Sleep + Caffeine + Fried Everything + Scary Drive to Succeed = Delirium.

So that is a general overview of my first two days. Thanks for the prayers. I could always use more.

P.S.

One of my students, one who always wants to be at the head of the line so that she can stand next to the teacher, came up to me after class while I was sending students to the bus. She put her hand in mine, smiled and said, "Have a good day, Miss Claiborn."

The First Week At Institute

I'm sorry I haven't posted lately, but once you read my daily schedule below, you might be able to forgive me.

So the first week I was here was Induction, which is basically a week of getting to know the area that we will be living in for the next two years. Looking back on that week, I should have realized that having to wake up at 6:00 am to be at an info session by 7:30 was really a vacation compared to this last week.

Monday marked the beginning of Institute. Five other corps from the surrounding areas, Houston, South Louisiana, Charlotte, and I cannot remember the other ones..., have joined the Delta Corps at Delta State University for the next five weeks. Institute is where we are trained in everything from classroom management to lesson plans to how to ensure our students become life-long learners. This week, which we have fondly named Teacher Boot Camp, has been focused on preparing us for Monday. Why Monday, you ask? Because Monday is the beginning of the next two years. It is the day when we are given our own classroom with real live students who are depending on us to prepare them for the next grade level. I will be working with incoming third graders, teaching reading and literacy the first two weeks and math the second two weeks. TFA takes the whole sink or swim analogy extremely seriously.

Luckily, I have a fantastic CMA (Corps Member Advisor) who has taught in the Delta for the past three years and whose job is to make sure that the ten Corps Members he is responsible for have everything they need to succeed and ensure their students succeed in the upcoming weeks. Its been fantastic to see the caliber of people that Teach For America hires. Every single person I have met or worked with in the past two weeks has been driven, ambitious, organized (albeit sometimes flirting with obsessive/compulsive tendencies...), and completely committed to closing the achievement gap. It is nothing less than inspiring.

Just to give you a taste of what this last week has looked like, here is an excerpt from Wednesday:

4:00 Am - Wake up, take shower, get ready for the day

5:00 - Breakfast

5:23 - Load bus to take us to school site

5:30-6:30 - Bus ride

6:30 - Campus meeting (all CM's and CMA's)

7:00-7:20- Lesson Plans

7:25-9:15 - Reading Comprehension Overview

9:20-10:15 - "How To" Daily Vision Setting

10:20-10:30 - ISAT Tracker Case Study

10:35 - 12:20 - Management 1: Developing a mindset, voice and a plan for strong management

12:20-12:50 - Lunch

12:55-2:20 - Planning M-T-W Lesson Plans

2:25-4:00 - Management 2: Teaching Students your high expectations for behavior

4:00-4:30 - Campus Meeting

4:30-5:30 - Bus ride back to DSU

5:30-6:30 - Dinner

6:30-9:30 - DRA Testing Session

10:00 pm - Bedtime

It is amazing what you can get done when you wake up at 4:00 am.

Have a lovely weekend. Send me an update email if you want, but I can't promise that I'll respond too quickly, I just like to know what is happening in your lives: eclaiborn10@my.whitworth.edu

Love,

Miss Claiborn

P.S. The Delta State University mascot is the Fighting Okra...

The Many Firsts of MS

The first time I saw a mosquito truck. Its a truck that drives around in the evening shooting a seemingly unhealthy-to-humans amount of bug spray into the air.

The first time I ordered a soda/pop/coke but didn't have to pay for it .

The first time I have been forced to cover myself in bug spray any time I want to venture into the great outdoors.

The first time I have been stopped in the street by locals, asked if I'm in TFA, and then thanked for being a part of their community.

The first time a man tried to allay my fears of alligators by telling me that they only eat big fish and little children...

The first time a local had to explain to me the proper way to kill a mosquito with your hands.

The first time I said "ya'll" and meant it.

The first time I have been mistaken for a Duke fan because of the colors I was wearing that day. Its just football people.

The first time I have been invited to a catfish cookout.

The first time its been too hot at night to use a blanket, sheets, or pajamas.

The first time I willingly shopped in Wal-Mart.

The first time I smelled a magnolia or saw one for that matter. Did you know they are trees?

I still haven't seen my first firefly, but they're supposed to come out in July and August, so I'll let you know.

Mississippi and Induction

Hello Friends and Family!

I have now embarked on a new adventure. This adventure, much like my last one in France, involves a different culture, a seemingly different language, and an upsettingly different shopping experience. Unlike in France where the wine flowed freely and the designer stores were chock full of the overpriced outfits of my dreams, Mississippi flows with brownish tap water and an unusual propensity to adore Wal-Mart.

We are now at induction, which is sort of an introduction to the Mississippi Delta for the 280 Corps Members (CM's) that will be serving in this area. We are staying at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS, and the town has laid out the red carpet for the incoming Teach for America CM's. A 10% discount at the Pickled Okra is just one of the perks that the famous TFA CM's enjoy in lovely Cleveland. Its been a hectic three days of traveling and training and ten thousand introductions. By Sunday, there will be another 300 CM's from various other TFA districts, and we will all begin what has been described as five weeks of the toughest training we have ever gone through.

Overall, I am impressed by what I have seen of Mississippi. When I remember to say my "Thank you, Ma'am and Sir's", the people are extremely kind. There is a certain sense of welcome that the residents have already extended to us. It is wonderful to know that they are aware of why we are all here (to teach their children) and that they are so happy to have us.

I have yet to get placed in a specific school district, but tomorrow I have interviews with some of the schools in which TFA works. I will hopefully have a placement within the next few weeks, but it might take all of July to be hired. I would love some prayer for my interviews and my placement.

I miss you all.

Love, Elise