Finals & InFluenza

Of course it would be just my luck to wake up on Sunday morning with body aches and a sore throat. My roommate, a registered nurse says those are symptoms of the flu:( When I woke up this morning I still felt the same way but resisted all impulses to stay in bed and call in sick. Nonetheless, as soon I came home I knocked out from about 2-8pm. Even after hours of sleeping I still felt sore, as if I let Tyson use me as his punching bag. Now my ears have also taken a turn for the worst and I feel that my lymphatic glands are swelling by the hour. My friends like to call me a hypochondriac but my diagnosis is an upcoming cold/flu, finals anxiety and a bad case of homesickness. I am praying that my ailments do not inhibit me from completing my work. This week alone I have two journals and a intro to my unit plan due on Wednesday and an 8-12 page paper due on Friday. Not to mention the fact that I am still teaching and will continue to do so until the 22nd. I am now enlisting the help of the higher power, vitamin C, hot tea, ibuprofen and lots of covers. To fresh grocer I go!!

Care to Chat?

Click Here to Web Chat with Current Students & Admissions Staff...Including Yours Truly:)

Will take place Thursday December 8th from 7:30-9.

Where the magic happens;)

A Teacher's Eye View

this is going to hurt me more than it hurts you...

I think I finally understand what my mom meant when she would say “this is going to hurt you more than it hurts me,” before disciplining me. Today in my class one of my boys came in riled up. Apparently he was upset by what another student in my class had said to him in the hallway. In the midst of trying to get the class settled and started, I heard cursing and looked up to see one my students taking of his back pack and getting ready to fight. I stepped in and told the student to get out and made the other student sit down. Of course the other students were hyped so I began yelling at others to sit down and close their mouth’s. Once the situation was squashed and the students had finished their do now I went in on them! I yelled at them for disrespecting each other and reminded them of where they were. I told them that they needed to begin acting like the young adults they were and that the instance at the beginning of class was silly and not the way things are handled in the real world. I felt the anger and disappointment in my cheeks and through my body as I chided them. After this the energy of my classroom was something different then I had ever experienced. The students seemed shocked to have seen that side of me and I was shocked that I let it out. I felt completely out of my element yelling at them and sad that I had taken it there. For the rest of the class a handful of students put their head downs and many seemed less inclined to participate as if they were mad at me. Strangely enough at the end of class my classroom mentor applauded the way I handled the situation. If I had handled it well, why did I feel so bad? 

Overcoming Age and Learning to be Mean

Today during my world history class my students were particularly chatty. After a couple attempts to try and get their attention I decided to wait for them to end their conversations as opposed to talking over them. In that moment my classroom mentor stepped in and began reprimanding the students for their behavior. She called out students individually and alluded to their failing grades. Many students snickered as individuals were publicly embarrassed and one student even verbally cosigned. My mentor heard the student co-sign and told her to get her stuff as she would be leaving class. The student tried to explain herself but my classroom was not interested in negotiating. 

After class my CM and I debriefed. She asked if I was just not comfortable calling students out or if I had not noticed their behavior. I expressed that it was probably a mixture of both and that I would attempt to be more self aware. She expressed that she thinks I need to be harder in the way I verbally discipline them and call students out individually as a means of making an example for the class. To some extent I agree with her feedback and think my students see me more of an older sister figure as opposed to the head disciplinarian, like a mother. Nonetheless, I am not sure if I fully subscribe to the philosophy of publicly making students feel disrespected as a means of gaining communal respect. I can see how this type of humiliation may lead to resentment and potentially hurt my relationships with these students. On another note, I think there is something to be said for the fact that I look like them racially and am constantly mistaken as a student. Phenotypically, it may be difficult for my students to associate as an authority. As I move forward I will keep you posted on how I navigate these lines and assert my self as a loving-respetful & respected, authority figure...

Fridays and Field trips

Today was extremely intense of 28 students in my class about 12 were in attendance. Immediately when they walked in they asked if they had to do work today, since everyone was gone and asked if we could just chill. I already knew attendance would be low since most of the ninth graders were on a field trip but I had expected around 17 at least. I informed them that the work would be light but the word "work" was all they heard. It took them a while to settle down as most were disinterested with anything I had to say. I told them we where going to do a brief activity and that we would listen to some music and perhaps watch a movie. The activity I had planned for was supposed to last the whole period but as I felt out their vibes I knew that my plans were not going to work for this friday. I intended on having a writing circle where they would do a free-write, share and then we would go over the five paragraph essay structure. But we only made it to the free write. After their "do now" I had them form a small circle, passed out the writing prompt and put some music on. Although they complained and said that it was corny initially I found that all of them wrote something and even shared what they wrote. After this I had them put the desk back in order and put on the movie gladiator. If I could describe my kids in few words today I would have to say: rowdy, resistant and reluctant. The lesson I learned for today is that there are times when you have to put your plans aside and find the compromise. Fridays and Field trips do not seem to be the best mix.  

Web Chatting

Looking forward to web chatting with prospective student tonight. It was not long ago I was in your position...so please come bearing questions:)

Food in the Classroom

Based on conversations with my students and my own experience it seems that students at student teaching site do not receive adequate nutrition during school if any at all. While it appears that the food they do consume is not healthy, some food or snacks may be better than nothing at all. During my AP Euro class students are always snacking on something. I have seen students with juice, cake, candy, chips, and cookies. At the beginning of class one student will pull something out of there book bag, others will notice and ask to share, then the person with the snack will go around and share their food. This has even happened mid-class. It is not uncommon for a student to get up during my classroom mentor's lecture and go pour their chips into another student’s palms or even walk across the room to dump their trash. I have asked the students if they eat during lunch and most have said they do not, why this is I am not particularly sure. For this class it seems that they have built community through food. Although it is slightly disruptive at times my classroom mentor allows it. Nonetheless, food plays out differently with my ninth grade world history class.

The unspoken rule seems to be that they are not allowed to eat in class unless the teacher (my other classroom mentor or myself) provides it to them. As of late I have been using candy as an incentive for my students to participate. The first day I tried it out students were very surprised and much more inclined to raise their hands. Students even raised their hands before I could ask my questions. Since then I’ve been very selective about when and for what reason’s I give candy. The students have noticed and questioned this. In addition, if a student participates they feel entitled to candy and will say “Ms. Fuller you owe me.” For one question there may be five people that raise their hands to participate and I have to make the decision of who to call on and whether or not they will receive candy. My experiment with food/snacks incentives and rewards has left me with questions about what I am communicating to my students. I wonder if my students see my decisions as equitable and what I am non-verbally telling them about power. It also seems that a student might deduct that verbal participation is privileged over other forms. Finally, I wonder if students received all the food they needed during lunchtime or throughout the day if they would be so excited for the starburst or chocolate I give to them.

I recognize that sharing food together can be a way of building community but if not shared with everyone it can also be a space of competition. In the article “Beyond Bribes and Threats: How Not to Get Control of the Classroom,” Alfie Kohn explains that the use of any bribe/incentive is negative and undermines students value for the inherent reward in education. But perhaps these students do not see/have not witnessed the positive effects of education. Perhaps they have already begun to deconstruct the misnomer that if you do well in school alone you will be successful. So engaging for an immediate yet temporary reward may seem more sensible. I will continue to observe the way in which food can be used in the classroom and use these experiences to inform how I will set-up my own my classroom. 

Birthday Reflections

A great man once said "Go girl Its your birthday!" (-Trey Songz lol) 

  I would first like to thank God for yet another year. I had a very eventful birthday that actually began last saturday and culminated today. I was initially nervous as it would be my first birthday ever without my family and first in four years without my best friends, but through this experience I have come to appreciate a new extension of my family “my East Coast Fam.” I had a collaborative party with my roomate and another close friend on Saturday, turned it up on wednesday at the Jay-Z & Kanye West concert, partook in the awesome Penn Homecoming festivities Friday and Saturday, and enjoyed a lovely soul food brunch at Warm Daddies (a philly jewel) today. And in each celebration I was surrounded by amazing people. In just five months I have developed another set of beautiful friends and for that I am thankful. 

I am also thankful to be working on my masters and endowed with the potential to do good things for the betterment of my people. It literally seems that 21 just happened and in it’s happening life moved so fast. I graduated from UCLA, moved across country and have in many ways began a totally new life. In six months my life will be shifting again and it will be time for me to make a decision about the next direction. So it is with open arms that I accept 22 and all the love and lessons it has for me!

Both the STUDENT and TEACHER (yikes)

It is possible to be both the student and teacher but difficult nonetheless. These roles are married within TEP Secondary ED but like any relationship there are ups and downs and constant tension. More and more I have found myself prioritizing one of the other, nine times out of ten being a teacher tends to trump being a student. While engaging in self development can only be beneficial for your students it’s easy to get lost in the sauce with the many duties of a teacher. There are times where I find myself feeling hypocritical when I forego my reading but badger my students about submitting homework. Now that I teach my respect for public school teachers has grown tremendously who knew the ridiculous amount of layers they have to maintain. There are management duties that one must carry out that include but are not limited to: attendance, grading, make-up work; Interpersonal duties: parent phone calling, classroom culture development, student relationship building; and last but not least intense intellectual work which include prioritizing, synthesizing, organizing, presenting then reflecting. Since I’ve taken over my first class the focus has been on the intellectual aspect but I intend to start engaging in more relationship building with both parents and students. But (as there is always a but!) this is difficult because there are literally only so many hours in the day, and I have come to utilize 20 of them. Teaching from the am to afternoon, then taking courses at Penn in the pm and of course preparing to do it all over again when the pm and am transition. As a student teacher one may find that their brain does not EVER turn off, nor do you ever stop planning. Even when actively involved in something one is already calculating what the next ten moves need to be.  The moral of the story is student teaching is HARD and perhaps one of the hardest, yet very fulfilling things I’ve done. Speaking of “morals” more to come on the constant moral decisions of a teacher. 

And Then Life Happens...

Sometimes when we are so encapsulated in the day to day things that we become disenchanted with the fact that what we are doing today could come to a complete halt if life were to happen to us. When I say if “life were to happen” I am talking about those excessively positive like love or the birth of a child, or excessively negative moments like sickness and death. At times we do not give ourselves space for life to happen. If your like me your day may be jam packed from 8am to 8pm, a short recovery period then right back to work from 10pm to 2am. With just a short glitch we inevitably  fall behind schedule. Well this week life happened to me…

While sitting in one of my courses I took a brief facebook break and discovered that one of my friends from home had passed away that morning. Luckily there was only 15mins of class left  yet so I sat quietly completely shaken. I found my head spinning, completely unable to process what I was feeling. Yet I had to pull it together as I still had my methods course from 4:30-7. I walked to the lab to print my assignment for the class that would be due in my next class. When I finished I entered the classroom and sat. One of my classmates from across the room observed my demeanor and asked if I was okay, I tried to snap back and quickly answered “Yea I’m just kind of out of it.” But I wasn’t okay. About 15 minutes into the class I walked to my professor with tears welling in my eyes and my assignment in hand and told her I had to leave and that I could not be here. I slipped my hoody on, so know one could see my eyes and walked back to my apartment in tears. I laid down for a couple hours hoping to suppress the pain I was feeling but when I woke up it was still there. I tried to power up for the paper I had due the next day and the lesson plans I would have to teach the next morning,  but I was only able to make it through my lesson plans. Life had thrown off whatever plans I thought I had for the night. I am going to miss my friend but I thank him for reminding me to cherish my relationships and be thankful for good health because when either of those collapse we have no choice but to set aside the other things.

Despite the many obligations we may have whether it may be student teaching, graduate school, work, research or anything else when life happens everything must be put on hold. It is imperative that we prioritize ourselves and what we are feeling in those moments so that later once we have grieved and grown, we can effectively go back and pick up where we left off.

How Coffee Became my BFF

It started out as something I would indulge in here and there. But as the Fall has begin to take it’s course coffee has become a staple part of my diet. The formal induction of coffee into my life seem to be both unfortunate and quite helpful. My favorite form of coffee is the chilled Starbucks frappucino’s that I purchase religiously from the Fresh Grocer or CVS, both a block away from my house. I have even started to brew my own with my lovely coffee maker that resides on my kitchen counter. Nonetheless, I do realize the potential health detriments of my large intake of caffeine; and thus, try to have at least one Odwalla or Naked and/or a bottle of water for every two servings of coffee I have. Even my students have taken note of my new fix and consistently state, “Ms. Fuller you always drinkin that stuff.” Coffee seems to get me through long days of student teaching, meetings and class; and then through long nights of reading, writing and lesson planning. When I need it, it is only three bucks away…. 

The Cold is Coming

As a Cali girl its difficult for me to conceptualize the cold. When my new found east coast family discusses temperatures below 50 degrees my common response is “I don’t get it.” So this week my roommate choose to join me in my quest for a winter coat, apparently not knowing what she had got herself into. Luckily we began and ended at Burlington coat factory but somehow ended up being in the coat section for almost two hours. In total I must have tried on 16 different coats and re-tried each one at least once. After assessing whether or not it was stylish my next question was “do you think this will be warm enough.” I ended up narrowing it down and walked out with one pea coat and a “puff coat.” Nevertheless, I have been warned that if I can wear it now it may not be sufficient for the peak of the winter. And to this I generally respond “wait it gets colder than this!?” In short I am pretty terrified for my first East Coast winter. I’m taking all recommendations for ways to keep warm. Hit me up!   

Register to Web Chat with Current GSE students and Staff! This Tuesday Night!

http://bit.ly/pfNOqY

my teaching debut

This week I began lead teaching. As I reflect on my experience, over the three days that I lead, one word comes to mind….WOW. Who knew that teaching was so multilayered. When I presented my curriculum to my classroom mentor she knew immediately that it would not fit into one day as she had instructed me to come up with a lesson for a single class. What was supposed to be a case story on Sumer, a society in ancient Mesopotamia turned into a three day lesson. For my lesson I would have my students becomes experts on an aspect of Sumerian society then present their knowledge to the rest of the class. This lesson was their first time working in groups and sitting in groups so initially they were very resistant. Although I had pre-assigned their groups they complained about who they were working with, where they were working and what they working on. Nonetheless, with the guidance and recommendations of my classroom mentor and penn mentor the next two days progressed quite nicely. In thinking about my first days leading teaching the following thoughts come to mind.

·      Be intentional

·      Be reflective each day and make changes for the next day

·      Be sensitive to student needs but still have high expectations

·      Scaffolding is important, make sure your students have a solid foundation

At the end of my week lead teaching I received a pleasant surprise. Apparently one of my students nominated me for teacher of the monthJ Since I am not a full time teacher my name was not on the nomination list dispersed to the students only my classroom mentor’s…but my student choose to add a slash mark and wrote  “Ms. Fuller” then circled it as a nomination. The academy leader brought the nomination slip to me as he thought I should have it and boy was he right. My rough tiring week was illuminated. When I went home I posted it on my wall to serve as a reminder that even when it seems that no one’s listening, learning or cares someone notices your efforts. 

Never A Dull Moment...

Although I spent the last four years of my life in Los Angeles, an undeniable entertainment capital I find myself going out much more now that I’m in Philly. The concentration of people, places and things makes it easy to find something to do any night of the week. Not only do I have access to the social outlets through Penn the city of Philadelphia always has something, so much so that I find myself passing things up. The past to weeks in Philly have been restaurant week, so myself and my roommates and honorary roommates(people who always seem to be at our place and comfortably go in our fridge) made reservations at Chima. Chima is a wonderful Brazilian steak house near center city. During restaurant week four-five star restaurants like chima offer meals with multiple courses for 35 dollars. The way Chima  works is that you have unlimited access to a salad, soup, and sides bar and have continuous top cuts of meat brought to you. As long as you have your table card flipped to the color that tells them to offer the cut they are distributing, servers are continually coming up to you asking you if you would like to try their meat. It’s probably not the best place to take my vegetarian or vegan friends; but with unlimited access to filet mingnon, steak sirloin, ribs, chicken wrapped in bacon, and even swordfish it is definitely a carnivore’s delight. Aside from restaurant week, I found myself at a Wine and Cheese event sponsored by BGAPSA, at the rave theater in University City, and Brunch at City Tap house this morning. So when it came down to my Sunday night plans I decided to give away my tickets to a basketball game hosted by Carmelo Anthony with other NBA participants like Lebron James. Each week seems to be a new social adventure . . .more to come on my social philly findings  

University City High School aka U-City aka UNI aka my new Home:)

(A Mural Painted on the Entry of My School...Gotta Love Philly Art)

Falling out of Summer

As summer slowly fades away it has come to my direct attention that the year ahead shall be one of academic rigor and long days mixed with excitement and what teachers Ed likes to call inquiry.  Some points of excitement for this semester include my elective, student teaching and we can’t forget the holidays. But let me slow down for a sec and reflect on the summer. For those who may not know Teachers Ed., actually begins during the summer unlike most Master’s program in GSE.  I took two courses and participated in a youth organization based at University City High School (also the place I will be doing my student teaching!) The summer was a breeze, not literally of course (old swamp coolers in humid west philly don’t mix!). For the most part, classes were enjoyable and I loved the students I worked with.  Our cohort became close through heated in class discussions and plenty happy hours.  But now it has come time to switch gears. During the fall I will be taking five classes and student teaching for at least three periods every day.  I am already learning about the behind the scenes work of teachers.  It seems the as though reading and planning will become the words for this semester.  More to come on my first couple weeks… Goodbye summer time hello fall.  

 (Colleagues and I...Social Studies teachers are the best #TeamSocialStudz)

(Youth I worked with during the summer through the Leaders of Change Program..Did I mention they're AWESOME...lets go Team E!)