Her Protector

- "What is your next stop?"

- Reluctant to answer, he observes me closely and says: "96th street but my mom will not wake up (while the scent of alcohol can be detected from far away)." 

- "I'm sure she was tired. Is she ok? Did she sleep last night?"

- "Yes, she slept last night." 

We both became silent.. We looked at each other and smiled because, in my mind, he is still a young kid and I can't help but think of him as one of my students. By now, he trusts the stranger sitting next to him. 

- "Was she drinking?"

- (Long pause)... "No she wasn't."

Three stops pass by and both, her son and myself, are trying to wake her up. He may have been 7 years old and was already taking care of his drunk mother and her belongings. The stop finally arrives. We both are trying to wake her up. He grabs her things while she grabs her purse the wrong way and everything falls on the floor. With seconds before the door closes, he says: "please help us. We will miss our stop". His face shows desperation because he needs someone to wake his mom and carry the bags they have.  Finally, I put everything in her bag and help her get out. She can barely walk. She laughs while rage is running through my body because of what I see right in front of me. 

I see this child and I think of the many things he may have to deal with, but at the same time, he already knows how to lie for his mother. He already knows how to protect his mother. He may even think he is the man of the house. Who knows? All I can think of his smile because not only he is a protector, but in the end, he is also a child. 

Summer School's Impact On Students

In this country, we offer students many chances to fulfill their requirements of responsibility. One of these second chances is summer school. As a student, I did not know what it felt to be in summer school or, in other words, summer school did not exist in my vocabulary. However, as a teacher, summer school is a word I hear every day. It is an idea our students rely too much on.

My first time teaching summer school was last summer. It was an interesting opportunity for me to go through because I was able to choose my subject, and also make a last impact on students who we know can do better than what they have achieved. 

As of February, 2016, every student I taught during summer school is either afraid of me teaching it again or have thank me for being their summer school math teacher. I am not offended by this because I know my expectations are never low, nor I took it as a "free money" summer. I was interested in the students' knowledge. 

Last week, one of these students came to me, in front of my Assistant Principal and said: "I'm sorry Ms. C. but when I was in summer school, I was not afraid you. I was afraid of Ms. G. (referring to me) because she made it clear that I would not be passing my grade if I was late or did not do my homework, but instead, I learned what I did not learn during the school year...Thank you Ms. G.". Her statement made me feel powerful. I have shown to them that it is important to work hard for good outcomes and that they should not wait until summer school to keep up their grades. 

This is just one of the many statements different students have made to me about their summer school experience. With this said, I am not sure if I would do it again but it was definitely an experience to remember. 

I love this profession regardless. Period!

- Ms. A

Paying it Forward

While walking home, this stranger holds my arm and with her frantic look tries to ask me where is 7th ave in Harlem area because she didn't know it (I was shocked since this is not very common in the city). I recognized her accent and knew she didn't speak English but Chinese just wasn't sure which dialect. I asked her in mandarin if she spoke it, immediately looked at me, held her chest and smiled while asking if I was Chinese and I could help her. I told her I wasn't Chinese but I would try to help her. She just gave me the note below and had no idea what it said until my brain somehow recognized characters (simple ones) to more or less understand where she needed to go. I told her I would take her there and again, held her chest and trusted me.. She arrived where she needed to go to. Her look was similar to the one I had when I had first arrived to Yiwu, China when I had no phone and almost cried until a group of elders lent me their phone, gave me some water, and told me it was going to be ok..

I was not sure when I would return the favor, but it seems I did already. :) 

Having High Expectations in the Classroom Make a Difference

Several weeks ago, I was invited to a party in which I was able to meet a couple of NYC teachers who serve our elementary students. In the beginning I was pretty excited because in my head I was thinking we would be able to share our experiences and struggles, however, the experience was completely different and disappointing. While having our small conversations, some things were obviously, in my opinion, wrong. 

First of all, this person shared that she had issues helping all the 2nd graders in the classroom with tying  their shoelaces. My response to that was that if this is something she needed to do with many, maybe it was a good idea to teach them how to tie their shoes by modeling it for them. Her response was close to "how can you teach many kids how to tie their shoes?, I have 29 kids to do this for and they are not able to do it by themselves". The problem with her response was not the part of teaching them how to do so, but the fact that she already thought "THEY ARE NOT ABLE". This mentality made very angry and my response was a bit brusque because in the future years, her students will come to me and they will already be low with some skills. I simply said: "I teach kids with learning disabilities as well as those who are emotionally disturbed, they are mixed with kids who are higher and the teaching varies from student to student and we also have 29 students as average, but I do NOT do things for them, they NEED to learn it by themselves." She stayed quiet and we just switched conversations. 

Although, some of us, are learning the way to keep these high expectations with kids who are, unfortunately,  thought to not be able to succeed, it truly pays off! During parent-teacher conference, parents were giving me feedback on how their children I teach actually go home and do their work because they know I will not be happy the next day if the work is not completed. The parents see changes in their children and these are good changes! These changes involve having ownership of responsibility and knowing that they are expected to achieve higher. One of these parents was a parent of one of my IEP students (lingo for a child that receives special ed services). This parent was able to share how she is, now, trying to set high expectations with her daughter at home. Hearing both  child and mother share how they feel and think about expectations is a great feeling!It was such a good moment because although they may see me upset when things are not done, they know I am not expecting mediocre work, but the work that should be given by any 6th grader!

Moral of this blog: Students know when you have high expectations, keep them high at all times! They know when you care and when you do not. 

Halloween with my 6th graders

This is my first time teaching 6th graders and so far I am enjoying them.  Along with these munchkins, I am also enjoying the different fun things they highlight and celebrate like "spooky halloween". 

Halloween is such a fun "holiday" in the U.S for kids. Especially for my adorable 6th graders. This year, I took it to a different level with my adorable advisees and we ALL dressed up for Halloween! This time they were able to see the fun side of me since I am the "strict teacher" and I was able to enjoy their imagination and really just have FUN together! I love the perks of being a teacher. Two perks from that day were the following:

• We had FUN!
• They won the costume competition! Woohoo!!

The Power of Understanding Math Concepts in Middle school

I am more than happy to share this with you all! This year, I am teaching 6th and 7th grade math!!! I love teaching something concrete such as MATH!!! LOVE it! With this in mind, I have to say I love it when students feel proud of their work and understand the skill when it is given to them in steps or  in detail.  The two students I am showing work from are two kids who DISLIKE math! They are always insecure and tend to have a hard time working independently, however, during this class, they were the ones that wanted to explain their work and even labeled how they worked throughout their independent work! During their sharing time, they came up to the front and explain what this data means!! I ALMOST cried because they made me so proud! They feel comfortable with my explanation, but most important, they feel comfortable with math! Now, its time for them to feel this comfortable throughout the year! I have to keep on fighting the hate against math!. 

The pictures below shows their way of setting up the problem given to them. Love the organization from each one of these individuals! I truly had a #proud # teacher moment! 

House music and Teaching

Throughout the years, music has influenced how I represent myself and what calms me down when I need to vent and relax. I have to say this year has been extremely interesting (ups and downs) and my favorite music has been there to help me through these ups and downs! I have been able to remember the reasons I love Tropical House Music and some trance, but in this country, we know it more as EDM. 

I am proud to say this year some of my students and myself will start a "House Music/ music" club with some of my 6th grade students! I am thrilled to say one of them knows how to DJ and does a great job at it, another one plays the piano and drums! We will be collaborating and practicing some songs together. 

The picture below shows what we listen too and what I listen to in my daily basis. I love sharing this with my little ones.

The Power of Traveling

This quote defines me completely. I am sure it also defines many people who have traveled to different parts of the world and have met amazing people. This summer was one of the many summer I have enjoyed traveling, but this time it was to my country of origin, Ecuador. I have never felt more empowered to go back and meet with the people I grew up, not only my family, but my middle school friends.

As always, I like to keep in touch with everyone and I have to say, THANK YOU Facebook for allowing me to communicate with them again!

This trip did not just allow me to communicate with them, it also allowed me fall in love with the beauty and nature of the country itself. As young adults, we were able to share things we remembered from middle school, talked about the ones that got married, the ones that also left the country and those who are still around! The best part of this trip was that we created NEW memories and these memories have strengthen our friendship! Thank you Verito, Indi and Pal for making it amazing and unforgettable.

MS walk along with an amazing woman

Since college, I have been involved in community service. This is something I also do while being in the classroom. This year's involvement was on Multiple Sclerosis, commonly known as MS. This year, I signed up for a good, more personal cause! I found out one of my amazing friends and coworkers has MS and this drove me to sign up and Walk for MS. This time, it felt very very personal.

I decided I did not want to go out the day before because I wanted to have enough energy to walk it with my dearest friend, who shall remain anonymous. While at the walk, we both are cold and in need of coffee. We have decided to walk the 1 mile walk because I needed to go to the airport and pick my younger sister who is visiting for a month and she did not want to be tired from the walk.

While we are finishing the walk, her words to me were: "Thank you so much! I am blessed to have met you and learned from you". These words touched me deeply because this is how I have felt about her since I started working at this new school and the support she has given me cannot compare to these words. I was teary!

The next day, she sends a text saying: "I had another relapse but thank you for doing the walk with me". I thought to myself, WHAT A STRONG WOMAN!

Luckily, I AM surrounded by strong women!

Saturday brunch with some of my students

The things we do for some fun! Saturday was a perfect example of the weird things we do for our loved ones! Since my sister is still visiting me from Ecuador, I decided to take some of my students on a Saturday Thai lunch special in the UWS. This was their first time in this area and their very first time eating Thai food! In the beginning, this event was created to help my sister connect with other kids her age that would still speak her language or that she would understand a bit, but it turned into something very special for me and for their bonding time.

The kids were very respectful and loved loved loved the food! Since I was very comfortable with them, I decided to take them to Central Park and let them have some kid fun! 

Within this time, I saw two things happening. First, my sister was not feeling shy or left out because because she was surrounded by others her age. Second, the kids learned about other cultures and were also inspired to try to seek the lifestyle they saw in the UWS! 

With this in mind, I had the coolest Saturday with my students and sister!! :)

What does ICT mean for a Special Educator? Positives and Negatives

This is my fourth year teaching in in NYC, second year teaching in the Bronx and the more I learn about my profession, the more I fall in love with it, but it also becomes more challenging! 

This is also my second year teaching in an ICT (Integrated Co-teaching) environment but this time, all my classes have an ICT setting.  Although this is my second year teaching in such setting, I have put together some personal positives and negatives about being a Special education teacher working along with a general education teacher. 

Positives:
- Co-planning can be great when both personalities respect and show each other a level of professionalism. 
- If material is given to the special educator before the actual lesson, then it is easier to modify it. 
- Students have double the help when it understanding the content becomes a problem.
- There are multiple ways of gathering data in which the responsibility is shared.
- Students and teachers feel comfortable and enjoy the class.
- Projects can be directed differently depending on the students' needs and preferences.

Although all of these points seem logical, sometimes it does not work that way leading to the following negative points:

- When teachers don't communicate, students can see it and may take advantage of it.
- Lessons are not planned carefully.
- Mediation between the two parties is needed.
- Everyone becomes miserable. 
- Students show negative behaviors. 
- Personalities may clash and it will not create a good professional environment. 

The reason I am only labeling these four negative points of ICT is because these are the points I can see causes direct effect on our students and our teaching methods. 

ICT is supposed to help the students and it works wonderfully when the two teachers have great ways of working together and treating each other equally.  My experience so far has been both positive and negative. 


Note: I will write another blog in the middle of the year to see if something has changed or not. Thank you for reading. 

Discussing Baltimore during advisory time

During my advisory period, my students and I had so much to talk about Baltimore and police brutality in general. First of all, I was FURIOUS because of what is happening to country to the point where I brought it up to my students. They were able to relate and shared stories about THEIR own experiences with racial profiling. Before I continue this blog, let me tell you that within this advisory, ALL my students are either African American or Dominican Americans (dark skinned). These kids are only 12 to 13 years old and they have gotten stopped by the police because of "suspicious activities".

We talked more about the Baltimore case and many shares their anger and also their thoughts about the situation. First of all, one students said it was about police being racist, while other said it was about taking advantage of their power. Students were very mature about the situation and shared things like: "if we want justice, we need to do it differently... they are missing the point, violence just creates more violence". I was touched by these words and their understanding of such problems within our society.

I am happy we have created such environment in which all of us feel comfortable and able to share our thoughts. Although the blog started by comparing two events that involve police brutality, their understanding of the situation and their thoughts made me proud since they are aware of this problem that affects people of color living in economically challenged areas.

Any thoughts?


- Ms. G

A Subway experience and a “teacher” attitude

While leaving the chiropractor’s office, and getting into the A train. I decided to sit right next to these amazing little African American kids (ages of 8, 9, 11 and 12) who were being loud and, some people can say “annoying”. While sitting there, I decided to listen to my favorite DJ, Kygo, on Spotify. Minutes later, I look up to see the following:

- Everyone is quiet looking down
-One of the kids is holding his neck (crying so loud)
- The other kids are next to him telling him to “Shut the fuck up”

While all of this is happening, none of the adults did anything to solve the problem. All they did was stare at them and make faces of annoyance. This was a moment for me to remember that NYC is a huge city with lots of people, yet we have forgotten to be giving and caring; in other words, this society tends to be very selfish at times. They just forgot that these kids needed some guidance and no one dared to help. 

This was a moment that I took 2 seconds to think about what I should do since I am sitting right next to them. When I looked at the kids, they just stared at me and I started by asking the following:
Me: What happened?
Kid 1: I smacked in against the seat (these seats are so hard and uncomfortable).
Me: Why would you do that?
Kid 1: Because he was annoying.
Me: Well, I was hit by you guys 3 times but I did not smack anyone. Did I?
Kid 1 and 2: No you did not.
While the child is still crying, I am trying to stop him from being loud and call the attention, which after 5 minutes I did that. We made a connection and it felt amazing! Everyone else was looking at me as if I had 3 heads and 5 arms.
What made this trip an amazing experience was the following:
I asked them if their math tests were easy or hard and all of these kids said it was easy. My second question whether if they had good grades. 2 out of the 4 students said they had really good grades and that math was easy for them. I immediately continued the conversation by asking them about the drumming while in the subway. They told me they were just having fun. I told them I was horrible at drumming because I am not coordinated. They told me to follow them and do exactly what they were doing, which, I did and they were cheering after this. After that, I asked them what else are they good at and they started rapping to “milk and cereal” which was a song they created on their own! I was shocked because we all had fun and the crying child forgot about crying and started rapping with us! The interactions we had amongst ourselves had other people listening and looking at us with smiles in their faces. My teacher persona came out and I told them I was getting off at the 125 stop and that I needed them to not be too loud and be respectful with each other. They did their math and told me exactly how many blocks away from me they live. One even said: “I’ll save your seat and no one would take your spot”. We had a truly, solid, human interaction in which the teacher learned about them and they learned about me. Would I ever see them again? I do not know, but they changed my perspective and my judgement.

Children are children, it is up to us to show them gratitude and teach them the greatness of the world; however, we are also humans and we are constantly learning. I definitely learned about their different type of intelligence different individuals possess and I learned that I do not want to be selfish and I want to act when someone is in need. It is a story I wanted to share with y’all. 

#nycsubwayexperiences

BSSWA in the Hunts Point Express

This is an amazing picture that was taken of us with my amazing co-teacher Genevieve at #BSSWA. These kids were trying to defend some problems they had in the community and explain why these problems affect and matter!
#proudteacher

I fell in love with teaching AGAIN!

These past two weeks have been exhausting for both the students and the teachers. Teacher have been asked to proctor without sitting down (violation of labor laws) and also have asked us to walk pass each student although they feel uncomfortable. However, these two weeks have allowed me to think on why I decided to teach after all.

For those of you who do not know me, I was accepted as a New York Teaching Fellow back in 2012. I was not sure what I was doing, but I knew I wanted to work with new immigrants and their children. Teaching allowed me to do that and advocate/ teach them how to advocate for their beliefs, however, I was accepted as a special educator which also allows me to teach the same beliefs.
The DOE in NYC has made me doubt my profession many times because as many educators say “we are fighting against a monster”.  These past two months, I have been depressed and seriously thinking whether if this is my profession or not and I have decided that I AM  teacher!

These past two weeks, my students were able to open up to me and share things I did not know! They respect me and make me feel wanted and loved! Hugs, sweet words, and more hugs have reminded me why I love teaching. When I am teaching, I feel fulfilled professionally and often I forget this! I just have to remind myself to FALL IN LOVE WITH TEACHING EVERY DAY!:)

#neveradullmoment