Thought of the Day
At one of today's instructional sessions, my school team (comprised of 7th and 8th grade English and Social Studies teachers at M.S. 331 in the Bronx) walked into a giant lecture hall with a rather grandiose atmosphere. At the front of the hall was a large screen with the following words glued in large font: "So strong is the link between literacy and being a useful member of society that some states use grade-level reading statistics as a factor in projecting prison construction."
One of the things that Teach For America has been emphasizing repeatedly throughout the session this week is that the Achievement Gap is a literacy gap. In other words at the root of the inequity in educational levels across the nation is an inability to read and write. As one could imagine illiteracy not only affects the traditional core areas of reading comprehension and fluency, but also hinders the ability to conceptualize and understand topics ranging from science to social studies. The literacy gap begins in primary school and only magnifies in adolescence.
When I first received my summer assignment to be an 8th grade English teacher in the Bronx, I wasn't terribly excited. It wasn't that I was upset or disappointed, I just sort of felt that it would be good training but not something I would pursue in the Fall. While I have always done well in English, I felt that Math or Social Studies would best suit my interests and strengths. Nonetheless, I have realized from sessions like the one described above that every teacher is a literacy teacher. The most important thing I can do as a middle school teacher is to help my students better their reading and writing skills. This realization seems not only to have empowered me to approach my post as an English teacher with more energy but also to view my role as a teacher with a greater sense of urgency. The education time clock is slowly winding down and if my students don't learn how to read at grade level soon, they may never catch up. I will definitely keep this in mind as I make my way to M.S. 331 tomorrow for the first time.
Daily Round Up
At one of today's instructional sessions, my school team (comprised of 7th and 8th grade English and Social Studies teachers at M.S. 331 in the Bronx) walked into a giant lecture hall with a rather grandiose atmosphere. At the front of the hall was a large screen with the following words glued in large font: "So strong is the link between literacy and being a useful member of society that some states use grade-level reading statistics as a factor in projecting prison construction."
One of the things that Teach For America has been emphasizing repeatedly throughout the session this week is that the Achievement Gap is a literacy gap. In other words at the root of the inequity in educational levels across the nation is an inability to read and write. As one could imagine illiteracy not only affects the traditional core areas of reading comprehension and fluency, but also hinders the ability to conceptualize and understand topics ranging from science to social studies. The literacy gap begins in primary school and only magnifies in adolescence.
When I first received my summer assignment to be an 8th grade English teacher in the Bronx, I wasn't terribly excited. It wasn't that I was upset or disappointed, I just sort of felt that it would be good training but not something I would pursue in the Fall. While I have always done well in English, I felt that Math or Social Studies would best suit my interests and strengths. Nonetheless, I have realized from sessions like the one described above that every teacher is a literacy teacher. The most important thing I can do as a middle school teacher is to help my students better their reading and writing skills. This realization seems not only to have empowered me to approach my post as an English teacher with more energy but also to view my role as a teacher with a greater sense of urgency. The education time clock is slowly winding down and if my students don't learn how to read at grade level soon, they may never catch up. I will definitely keep this in mind as I make my way to M.S. 331 tomorrow for the first time.
Daily Round Up
- 5:30am wake-ups: These early morning are starting to hurt. The most interesting thing is how hungry you get - by 10:30am you've devoured that sandwich, bag of chips and apple and are thinking about your neighbors granola bar. New strategy: supplement my TFA lunch with some key additions.
- The Purple Monstrosity: I've heard others are lovingly calling the Corps Member Manual "Harold," but I don't have much love for this 830 page beast so far. Here's to hoping.
- Telestrations: Best game ever. Period. Big shout out to all the awesome corps members on my floor who joined me in some evening fun with the game. Though I'm terrible at art, it was tons of fun. Check the game out here.
- Fire Alarm #3: I called it at dinner and sure enough it happened.
- Lessons from Lesson Planning: Just finished my first one ever. Found it to be a fun but time-consuming process. Looking forward to finding some ways to be more efficient.
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