Sorry for the delay, institute has been crazy

Hello all! Sorry for the delay in my post. Life at institute has been crazy. Waking up at 5am and going until past 11pm at night has been wearing down on my free time to do things such as post updates for all you lovelies. Well, I am half way there! Institute is almost over and I cannot wait. I am so over this. The posts I have read about criticisms of TFA have become more clear to me. I just want to be in Baton Rouge. I want to be in my school for fall. I WILL BE WORKING AS THE RESOURCE ROOM TEACHER AT CELERITY CHARTER IN EAST BATON ROUGE PARISH!!!!!!!!!! I got my dream placement. Well let me backtrack and tell y'all a little bit about what is going on thus far.

I am working at Sanders Elementary in Hollandale, Mississippi in an entering first grade classroom. I love love love my kids. The first week was very difficult because four people were thrown into a classroom and forced to figure out how to work together with differing levels of experience. The first week was stressful and CRAZY. We have worked it out though. The second week of teaching is going pretty darn amazing. I will add more when I am less tired (seriously am so sleep deprived now). Just wanted to post a quick update! <3

From Boston to Baton Rouge

Yesterday I arrived in Baton Rouge. It was a hectic morning that involved helping Andie repack her bag so it was under the weight limit, waiting in the longest security line, and running to our gate. What is traveling without a little bit of chaos, right? I have so many mixed emotions flowing through me. This is a start to a new and exciting adventure in my life. Whenever I feel sad about leaving my life in Boston behind I just remember all of the children that I will be working with and hopefully helping.

I would like to work with my students and get them involved in the community. The dictionary defines service learning as ‘the incorporation of community service within an educational system.’ Making service a part of the course requirements is a very knowledgeable thing include in academia. I believe that not only will helping in the community broaden the horizons of many students but it will also have an impact. Community-based learning is an opportunity for students to learn in a new way. It is an opportunity to actually decide what the student cares about the most. Douglas Adams once said "To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.”  Service is the accomplishment of work to benefit others. To do service for others is a selfless act and not only benefits others but is beneficial to the person that did the service. To help someone else by taking time and dedication and doing it honestly without expecting anything in return is what service means to me. I would like to teach this to my classroom and get them excited about being a global citizen.

I would also like to work on time management and organizational skills. These are very important no matter what career path is chosen. I want to make learning fun. Ron Clark is one of my role models and co-founded a charter school in Atlanta, Georgia. From the website it states, “Our approaches are very out-of-the-box and innovative, and we enjoy sharing our methods for instilling a passion for learning and helping all children achieve great levels of success.” I want to think out-of-the-box and be innovative when working with my classroom. I want to make children excited to learn by incorporating hands on activities that get students up and out of their seats.

I am so excited for my first day of training and even more excited for when I have a classroom of my own. I have been brainstorming various activities to do the first day in order to set the correct tone for the entire school year. I think I have a few brilliant ideas. Well, I have a few days to enjoy Louisiana before induction start. Then next Sunday it is off to Mississippi for five weeks of 16-hour days. I can do it! I am in love with Baton Rouge.

The ten day countdown begins

I am leaving for induction and institute in TEN days. Institute will consist of 16 hour days on Mon - Fri. Weekends will be full of catching up on sleep, planning lessons, grading assignments, and most importantly, talking to my friends and family to give them updates. I just finished a 14 section training class today and received the certification. I am going to share with you some of the questions from the work I have been doing. The next TEN days will be crazy.

-   What brought you to this work?  I first entered college in Army ROTC and was a cadet for a little under 2 years before being medically discharged. I first attended university as a health science major with a pre-physician assistant track. In 2012 I enrolled in a human services minor and then dropped my pre-PA track about six months later. I started volunteering and working with persons who have disabilities and loved the work I was doing. In the beginning of 2014 I started volunteering in an elementary classroom for children who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. I fell in love and about a week after I had started, a Teach For America (TFA) representative emailed me due to my vast involvement on and off campus; the timing couldn't have been better. After talking with the recruiter I immediately applied to TFA.

-   What fires you up about working with students each and every day? Children are our future and teachers change lives; teachers change the world. Students have unending possibilities and I am so excited to help them discover their love and their passion. The thought of being there the moment a student gets that bright look in their eye and claims ‘I did it!’ is exactly what gets me excited about working with students each and every day.

-   What about your identity informs the way you approach this work?

o   What was your experience with public education growing up? I grew up in upstate NY where I attended three different public schools in three different towns/cities. My school is in the top 10% of all US high schools, as stated from their website, “The silver ranking of #1,521 places Greenwich in the top 10% of all US high schools.  They were ranked #120 in New York State and  #63 among public schools in NYS.”

o   What experiences have you had with institutionalized oppression? When I first entered university and started making friends many conversations were about what activities each individual did in high school. I learned that though I felt my school had a fair amount of activities and resources, many of my peers were given a lot more opportunities through their schools. When reflecting on my schooling I can remember teachers being on strike and not having a teacher for weeks at a time. I remember sub-par classrooms and minimal materials.

o   Have there been specific events or instances in your life that have shaped what you are personally convicted or passionate about? I am medically trained and went to university intending to work in the medical field. My studies led me to shift my passion to education, specifically in relation to equal access to all. Education has such a large affect on a person’s health status. I remember in one class we were looking at research studies that showed persons who were given early childhood education, pre-k, were only slightly more likely to be employed, have finished secondary education, etc.; the most phenomenal finding was those persons were significantly healthier than those who did not receive pre-k education.

- How can you use your personal convictions or passions to inform and inspire your work with students every day? I have been told that my passion in the success of others is contagious and students will learn passion to succeed. I will hold my students to high standards and will be specific about both short-term and long-term goals. Not only would I have my own expectations but I would also talk with the class as a whole to give them encouragement to make their own expectations for themselves. I plan to continually reassess classroom progress as both my students and I grow, and will work with them to help everyone achieve our goals.   Clear communication is also an important aspect of teaching and learning, and there is a necessity of communicating classroom expectations not just to the students, but also to the parents. When parents are kept informed of the goals and expectations of the classroom they are better able to offer support and encouragement to their children. I will know I am successful as a teacher when I see growth in my students. I was President of NU Mix, an organization on my campus that engages the community in a conversation around multiculturalism, self-concept, and identity and because of this, one of my main goals as a teacher is to promote an all-inclusive learning environment that caters to every student’s need. Another goal of mine as a teacher is to show students that learning doesn’t just happen in the four walls of the classroom. The community, the country, and the entire universe as a whole are large classrooms; learning opportunities are around every corner. Having high energy and a positive attitude, as a teacher will reflect on my students and help to ensure an active and engaged class. 

Pardon me, let me introduce myself

My name is Amber Hall and I am 21 years old. I grew up in upstate NY in a very small farm town where everyone knew everyone. I graduated high school in 2010 and spent my first semester as an undergraduate student in London, England. I moved to Boston in 2011 to attend Northeastern University. I first entered college in Army ROTC and was a cadet for a little under 2 years before being medically discharged. I first attended university as a health science major with a pre-physician assistant track. In 2012 I enrolled in a human services minor and then dropped my pre-PA track about six months later. I started volunteering and working with persons who have disabilities and loved the work I was doing. In the beginning of 2014 I started volunteering in an elementary classroom for children who have a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder. I fell in love and about a week after I had started, a Teach For America (TFA) representative emailed me due to my vast involvement on and off campus; the timing couldn't have been better. After talking with the recruiter I immediately applied to TFA. I also was in the process of applying to graduate program for social work, public health, and human services. I was overjoyed to find out I made it through the first round of the application and was asked to complete a phone interview. I then was advanced to an all-day in person interview. After two and a half long weeks of waiting I was chosen out of over 50,000 applicants; TFA has under a 10% acceptance rate. March 13th, 2014 marked a new beginning. I was assigned to teach either elementary special education or middle school science in Southern Louisiana near Baton Rouge; I accepted the offer immediately. The past two months have been a roller-coaster ride of trying to prepare to move 1600 miles away from where I have learned to call home. I leave for induction and institute, an intense five week training teacher "boot camp", on May 31st. I will be in Baton Rouge for a week before I travel five hours to institute, which is being held at Delta State University in Cleveland, MS. Institute finishes on July 12th; I then have six days to fly back to NY get my car, drive to Boston, pack a pod to ship to my new home in Louisiana, drive back to NY, and then say farewell to my parents and start my drive to Louisiana on July 18th. I will be in Louisiana for at least two years. I decided to start this blog to tell my story since I will be 1600 miles from home, from my family, from my friends, and from familiar territory. Let the adventure begin.