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

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!!

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!! :)