Art Day

I have to admit that when Teacher Appreciation Week rolled around, the ugly green-eyed monster took over me.  I kept seeing posts from my (extremely hard-working and deserving) teacher friends detailing all the wonderful presents their students and parents got for them.

Over at the RISK Learning Center, the weather was spectacular, which means attendance sunk through the floor, and I practically taught to an open house.  For Teacher Appreciation Week, my students played hooky.

So I got grumpy during Teacher Appreciation Week.  Grumpy and jealous of the flowers and gift certificates presented to public and private school teachers.

I came in the next week and sat down next to Tracy.  Tracy is also an intern, so he'll come in before class and work on math in the morning if we don't have enough tasks for him that day.  Tracy is one of the most creative, socially aware students I have ever worked with, four out of five of his test scores are the highest I've ever seen, and he hates math.  Not only that, but he has a heightened sense of oppression over your average young person.  If a math problem asks him to calculate the percentage of sale for a clothing item bought at a department sale, Tracy will argue that he doesn't need to do this problem because he'll always buy his clothes secondhand anyway, and isn't that a ridiculous amount for the retailer to charge the consumer for a piece of clothing, and why is the consumer putting their money towards that instead of something better, like local GMO-free food to support a grassroots farming group?

Tracy tugs at my heartstrings since these are all values I parrot, so I really can't just ask him to be quiet and figure out what 60% of 200 is like a good drone.

Division, fractions, and word problems have all gone very slowly, and usually include some whining and creative distracting and head banging on tables, by both student and teacher.

So when I sat down next to Tracy I was not expecting this.

"I think I figured out math..."  He moves his finger along the multiplication chart he's been creating.

Tracy would panic anytime we did Multiplication Madness.  He's been spending a lot of time studying his multiplication chart, so it doesn't catch him off guard when it comes up.  Flashcards disgust him, it feels too similar to brainwashing.  So he used his detailed artistic abilities to create the biggest handwritten multiplication chart since the invention of computers.

"There are patterns to the numbers," he says.  "The ones place for the 4s goes 4,8,2,6,0, and then it repeats.  The ones place for the 8s goes 8,6,4,2,0, and then it repeats."  He looks at me.  "Why didn't you tell me there were patterns?"

This is my favorite reaction.  The way a student assumes you held this knowledge the whole time and just wouldn't give it to them.  They never seem to get that I learn from them the best ways to teach.  It's about listening to the student to figure out their needs.  Tracy needs to create something himself, he can't do someone else's problems with an answer key.  Even if I had given him a blank multiplication chart, he would not have done as well.  He needed to actually draw his own, and as his teacher, I needed to understand that.

And that's when I let go of my Teacher Appreciation Week jealousy and started appreciating being a teacher.  I absolutely love my job.  I love watching students help one another.  Joe turns to Valerie and Sandra who are also working on reading packets.  "Are you guys reading the questions first and then doing the reading?  I just started doing that, and it really helps me focus while I'm reading."

"Oh, that's a good idea," says Sandra.  "Thanks, I'll start doing that too."  Until that interaction, I hadn't heard Sandra string together more than two words.

I've seen Tomas grow up before my eyes as he cuts the hardcore drugs out of his routine, gets a job, and comes out to the world as the beautiful person he is.  Even his peers turn to me and say, "I'm so glad Tomas is getting his life together, he was really scaring me for a while."

Pangaea, traveling would be so easy!

I've read some beautiful journal entries about hopes and dreams for the future, about the desire for bullying to end, about favorite memories.  I've also read some hilarious entries about being a transient and run ins with local sheriffs.  My favorite journal entry ever was when I questioned the students what they would change about the world if they could.  Fay writes, "I would put all the continents back together like it was Pangaea again.  That way traveling would be easy."  Yep, I can learn to humbly be inspired and appreciate being a teacher, and getting stood up when the weather is nice.

RISK Learning Center

After a month of job searching, trying to cook, learning a few yoga poses, journaling, walking around Fremont, and going out to eat grilled cheese for lunch, Polly (my mentor from SEA) helped me learn about a job opening at Peace for the Streets by Kids from the Streets (PSKS).

PSKS is a partner site of SEA, and they share similar values.  PSKS has been around Seattle for 18 years, working with homeless and at risk youth and young adults.  There are lots of different programs, community building activities, outreach, case management, the list goes on for a while.  The idea for almost every program at PSKS came from the Core, a self-governing group of active and involved PSKS members who meet once a month to discuss the fulfillment of the mission and vision of PSKS.

My program, the RISK Learning Center, is a GED program for 16-25 year olds.  RISK stands for Re-Inventing Steps to Knowledge.  It's a low barrier program, students are expected to meet a minimum 2 day a week (6 hours) attendance requirements.  The school day is planned in a student centered way, and is intentionally left flexible to meet diverse student needs.

I love all the students I've been blessed to work with already.  They are all incredible, intelligent young people who have some story of being told "no" by society in one way or another.  One of the first questions I get when people hear about my job is, what are the students like when they walk in your door?  Do they carry anger, agression, behavior problems because of the way they have been treated?  While the students definitely carry baggage, they come to RISK dedicated to learning.  I am impressed by the hard work and commitment I have seen.  So many students come to me at the end of the day and ask for homework.  One of my volunteer tutors describes homework as a chance for the student to see how much they can do without the teacher present.  The students are eager to prove their progress and accomplishments are their own.

One of my favorite times of the week is the days when Cadence shows up early so we can listen to the lastest song he's created.  He uses some free software online to mix different beats and lines.  I ask one day what the difference between electronica and techno are.  After Cadence explains, I respond, "Ok, so electronica is more melodic, and techno is all about the rhythm and tempo."  Cadence raises his eyebrows a bit, "I guess."  His reaction cracks me up.  I explain that I'm classically trained in music, but I'm intrigued by Cadence's musical creations.  This is a classic example of my relationship with these students.  I don't try to pretend I'm anyone else but who I am, but I hope I make it clear that I'm open and supportive of whoever they are or what they're interested in.

The balance of my program is perfect for someone with my teaching style.  When Olivia, the previous teacher, trained me, she set me up for success.  She left me with a structured school day full of meaningful activities.  I also get a lot of flexibility in my teaching.  One of my tutors called me a hummingbird, flying around the room and hovering with each student for as long as needed, only to be called somewhere else at a moment's notice.  She sees how helpful this can be for the students, to be able to adapt to each of their individual needs, which is important in a GED program where someone is writing essays, someone is working on fractions, and three more students are learning algebra.

I can switch up the schedule when needed or desired.  We have art on Fridays with a volunteer, and on December 21 my co-worker David told myths about the end of the world, then taught some students how to make their own planets with spray paint art.

I enjoy being open to all the different student needs, but I can also tell I'm still treading water.  I need a little more time to get my feet under me and be the most creative teacher I know I can be.  When I have more planning time (next summer?), I hope to create a few lessons that highlight the key concepts of the 5 GED tests.  One of my tutors is wearing a "Punctuation kills: Let's eat Grandma" T-shirt on Tuesday, so I'm going to use this opportunity to try structure the day with a group grammar lesson!  Let me know if any teachers reading this have some good punctuation games or activities.