another student x story :)

Student X: Did you know that Tutu means grandma in Hawaiian? My mom told me that.
Me: Oooh yeah!! I forgot about that, but I read that in one of Barack Obama's books. Wait...I wonder how you say grandpa. Do you know?
Student X: I don't know - oh wait, I got it - it would be funny if it's wonwon.
Me: How do you know that?
Student X: Haha, do you get it?
Me: Uh...
(not getting it at all)
Student X: If Grandma is Twotwo, Grandpa is Oneone...


hahahahahahha...this kid cracks me up!!

This week we totally lucked out. Not one, but TWO days off! Due to fallen trees & the power outages, school was canceled on Wednesday and Thursday. Today, there were tons of absences in every class because a lot of families still don't have power or thought that school was closed again - two of our feeder elementary schools were closed again.

Coming up - quarterly math assessments, WINTER BREAK!!!!!!, a meeting in the CLE, and Carla's visit in January!!

Blackout in Kaneohe

Yesterday, I was completely and totally spent. When I got home from work around 8:30ish, I went into my bedroom and passed out. I woke up around 1:30 AM to complete darkness. I figured it was just because it was the middle of the night, but then when I went to find my computer, I realized that the power was out - everywhere. Raging winds were slamming up against the sides of our house, and I couldn't get back to sleep. Finally, sometime around 4:30 AM, I fell back asleep. Since I live about 30 miles from where I teach, when I woke up again, I figured there was no chance my school was closed. I got ready clumsily (still in the dark) and just as I was about to step out the door, the EA who works with me (and a living godsend for all the amazing work she does in my class!) called me to tell me that school was...
CANCELED!!!!!!!!!!
Needless to say, I was very happy. We got our power back around 4:30 PM, but before that, I read TWO BOOKS. There was no Internet, my laptop battery died pretty quickly, cell reception was spotty, and the traffic lights were out, so I thought it best to stay put. So I read.

Later, when one of my roommates, Candice, came home, we went to take pictures of this giant tree that was overturned during the storms. It's on Hui-Iwa street, the street that leads to our road, Hui-Kelu.

Intense.


And the news said to expect more heavy storming tonight...eeek...

I have to record this for posterity

"How bad do you have to go the bathroom?"
"Ehh..."
"I know! I'll say 20."
"20? That's like pooping and peeing at the same time!"

"You know what you have to do? This will relax you. Go to Walmart. And then get a LOT of cases of Budweiser."

"Student T, I don't know where you came from..."
"He came from his mom!"

feliz dia de accion de gracias

happy thanksgiving!! a bunch of people have commented on my dearth of posts over the past couple of weeks...life is definitely pretty crazy with IEPs, meetings, paperwork, university stuff, TFA stuff, and of course, school! not much is new, though...I am going to my friend Maggie's house and her mom, who is in from Texas, is making us Thanksgiving dinner. I'm also webconferencing in to the Moretti family Thanksgiving celebration :) and right now we've got the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV...it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!!

John you will think this is funny...

It's slightly awkward teaching Spanish when I don't know the language very well. It's even more awkward that some of my students are fluent Spanish speakers. Actually, it's awesome in most cases - they are really great and help the students. But today, it ended up causing a minor commotion.

I was reading aloud our pen pal letters from Prof. Josue Sanchez de San Pedro, Costa Rica and his class. Some of his students were being little tricksters. They wrote about their life in the Tipton Hotel. I thought this was a little strange, but didn't make much of it. I read one letter from a little boy named Zack who had a brother named Cody and a friend named Maddie. As I read it out loud, my students started laughing hysterically.

It turns out, those little pranksters were impersonating the characters of the Disney Channel show "The Suite Life of Zack and Cody." Not only did I have two letters from "Zack", I also had another one from "Cody"...ayiyiyi. But it was even funnier because one of the letters said the Tipton Hotel was in London, and another said it was in NYC. My oh-so-observant students wrote in their replies, "Nice try- we know the Tipton Hotel is in BOSTON. In English, we call that being a poser."

Oh yeah - the minor commotion wasn't about that. The minor commotion was when I didn't understand a part of a letter (they came mostly in English, since Prof. Sanchez's students are learning English, but there was also some Spanish) and asked a native Spanish speaker to translate. He started to read it out loud, and all the Spanish - speakers started to gag. Basically, the sentence said "I like to eat boogers and vomit" in Spanish...and I had NO IDEA! I guess I need to figure out how to screen the Spanish more carefully.

ay de mi...

Today in math class, I just started cracking up. I could not stop laughing. This is a typical sequence of events:

Me (explaining that I had to go to a training tomorrow): I'm not going to be here tomorrow.
Student X: Was it something we said?
[Student Y jumps out of seat, runs into the wall, flies into the air and crashes down onto the floor.]
Student Z: That's our Student Y!

Sundayyyyyy

I just got a math CD from 1998 to load on my computer (yaaaaaaaaaay!!! it has been giving me troubles) and now I can generate assessments very easily :) I might stay here a long time tonight, hahaha. Tonight = unit planning, long-term planning on the calendar, assessment-making, and finally fixing up the Under the Sea Assessment stuff.

Updates on Life:
U of Hawaii stuff - big project due this week, 2nd observation by my professor (eek)
School stuff - ALLL of my students moved to the island of Kauai!! This means they mastered their individual goals for the first Quarter. I'm so proud of them :) IEPs are still kicking my butt. As is everything else. But I still have the best kids. Also, Spanish class is going a little better, I think (I hope!)
TFA stuff - Also kicking my butt. But I have an awesome program director :)
Home - I will be home on Friday, December 21!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Island Fever - I didn't understand it when I moved here. But now, I get it. I really get it.

COME VISIT ME!!!!!!!! :) Email me for details!

Things I Miss About Mainland Living, Part 1

Returning to your desk, taking a shower, or just simply being in any room and not having to worry about geckos who are EVERYWHERE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

update

Okay, so I left at 5:20...not quite 5. But I'm at home now watching "The Office" and I am seriously cracking up sooooooo hard I barely have time to breathe...if you haven't seen "Launch Party" you need to go to nbc.com and watch it NOW :-)

5 PM!!!!!!!

I'm probably jinxing myself by posting this, but it's 4:21 PM and signs point to me being able to LEAVE BY 5 PM TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ALSO WE HAVE TEXTBOOKS :-D And they're really, really awesome ones too!

"Computers are about trying to murder you in a lake" - The Office

Some of you may have been wondering how I still manage to get lost even with a GPS. Like Michael Scott, I sometimes lack common sense and put a little too much faith into machines. Fortunately, I have never driven into a lake...yet.

"The Office"/Spanish Presentations/So Much Work

We don't have a working TV right now and I was at school anyway, so I am currently watching "The Office" Season 4 premiere...and I CAN'T STOP LAUGHING. It's hilarious!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My favorite part of Spanish presentations today:

Student X's group members elbow him as they deliver their cultural presentation on Argentina onstage, in the auditorium, in front of the principal and other teachers, letting him know it's his turn.
Student X: The food of Venezuela...
Me (from the audience): Pssst! Student X! ARGENTINA!
Student X: Huh?
Me (pointing at the screen next to him): ARGENTINA! You're doing Argentina!
Student X: Ooooh! Right! The food of Argentina...is very tasty. I haven't actually had it, but I think it's very tasty. You see, I forgot to research my topic last night because I was-

Students in audience: STOP Student X! We don't want to hear your whole life story!

It was amazing...haha...

Fall Break starts tomorrow...except I just got a billion more assignments...ick. Countdown to Christmas?

JKJ to answer your questions, I feel like it's going awful, haha. I have no idea what I'm doing and I don't know if they're getting anything...they seem to be doing okay on the grade tracking though so that's good...thanks!

Regarding a Westinghouse Pencil

"Miss, where did you get this?"
"Oh, that's from my family."
"Where's it from?"
"Oh, that's from where my grandfather worked. He sent it to me."
"Miss...no offense, but how do you have a grandfather who's still living?"

FALL BREAK...

So close I can TASTE it...

Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, & Friday are teaching
Wednesday is some kind of day where only teachers go in...

then Oct. 1 - 5 are FALL BREAK! AHHHHHH!

Ayiyi...

Female Student: He said women should be in the kitchen! But I know PLENTY of great chefs who are MEN!

North Shore Pictures

Click on the picture for more!

amazing day on the island

Today I realized something: no matter how hard I work or how many hours I work, there is still more to do. So I need to take SOME time off, and just keep working really hard the rest of the time. So after another late Friday night at school, I decided to hang out today with Candice and her friends from CA who are visiting for a few days. We had an awesome day all around the island - pics soon!

I have to share an excerpt from one of my students' essays. I assigned him a 3-paragrah, 5-sentences-per-paragraph essay on why we need to respect both men and women after he screamed out, "WOMAN" to the EA in my classroom (education aide). The student still insists that he was asking how to spell woman and I misheard him, but regardless, the way he said it needed to be addressed!

"Even if you are not a female you still should respect them because you could of ended up as a girl. Besides if you dont respect your mom you will get in trouble. Men are the same as women because they have similar things like heart, lungs, and all that stuff. That was one reason why you should respect men and women. . . Yesterday I did not show respect. I did not show respect because Mrs. Moretti thought I offended a women by calling her women. Next time I should speak loud and clear."

Somehow, I don't think he quite got the point...

MAKING GREAT GAINS!

This was the document we signed today as a class :-) I seriously have the best students ever. They are amazing and they are what keeps me motivated...but it's been pretty rough. Soooooooooooooooooo much to do...sooooooo exhausted....today was another pretty long day, 5:45 AM - 9 PM.

No, you may NOT do construction on my room DURING OUR TEST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

1st Math Test

First math test tomorrow!
I'm way more nervous than I have ever been about one of my own math tests...ayiyiyiiiii

another birthday!

Happy Birthday, JKJ! Now when are you and Megan gonna come visit to celebrate? :-)

wild friday night

It's 7:25 PM Hawai'i time. Just grabbed dinner with two veteran teachers and I'm staying for a few more hours to do some work. According to them, it doesn't get easier. You just get used to the work. Oh, man...

Seriously, they are amazing. They've been doing this for years, but they still are giving it their all. I really respect them and I'm lucky to have them as my mentors.

But yeah, that's my wild and crazy Friday night :-)

I GOT KEYS :)

Still no keys...

Happy Birthday, Dad! And Happy Birthday, Julie (yesterday)!

Hmm...

Now I have a door.
But I have no key to my new door.

Um...

Today I walked into my classroom and I didn't have any doors.

John - My first Cleveland connection!

Yesterday at UH orientation, I met two of my professors who used to teach at Kent State! Then I met a woman who lived in Cleveland for 18 years and DJed at WRUW...

I'm actually in class right now...I need to start paying attention.

the three-ring circus

At any given moment, my class is a three-ring circus. You've got construction noises blaring through the unfinished windows, rain or sunlight pouring in through the unfinished windows, either drenching us or making it difficult to see, students coming in and out at the wrong times because their schedules keep changing (and sometimes no one tells the kids), math and Spanish papers flying around because of the wind coming in through the windows, which need to be open even when they are finished, since we are in a sweltering portable classroom, problems going on, office aides coming into the wrong room, and phone calls for the wrong person since I've switched classrooms so many times.

ay de mi...

still overwhelmed

Still pretty overwhelmed...conducted my first IEP meeting today...I think it went okay...now time to write it...eeeek.

My New Classroom!

I loooove my new classroom! Today was Wednesday, advisory day, which means we don't have class and instead do educational activities. Every teacher gets a random mix of students from a particular grade, so they are all big general ed groups. There are schoolwide activities, and then activities the teacher gets to plan, so we had a mini-creative convention: math challenge, perform a song, build a structure that can support the most pennies/books, and Presidents questions. I was very impressed by my creative students! They had to write a song that incorporated India, video game makers, and recycling. My students are obviously the best :-)

Here's a sampling of the lyrics:

Push it, push it, to the limit, limit

Cause we're in it to win it

Oh yeah,

We need to recycle, everyday

Don't litter

What, what, we gotta show them now

We gotta show them how

we recycle

Put it, put it

In the garbage,

Garbage

Oh yeah

(to the tune of Disney Channel's "Push It to the Limit")

and

We recycle

With our bycicale!

We bake cake

With our brakes!

and

Hi my name is Ruem and I live in Purem

I make video games all day

I guess it's a delay

cause that's what my wife says

and

Da na Da na Da na Da na

Somethin somethin somethin

Video game tester in India

and

Here's a rap for you and me!
Let's go to India and see what's happening!

It's the game house, yo yo yo

I'd like to see what's in da game house!

Oh! datz sweet!

There's a game tester it's hard to see!

Oh my God it's Halo 3!

Let me play!

So I can be out of my misuri!

Fun Times!

After a long day of errands, grading papers, planning, and TFA work, I went out with Maggie and Jenn to Moose McGillicutty's in Waikiki--very fun! Then when we got back, we 'talked story' (Hawai'ian term for talking and chatting) with our awesome neighbors until right now. It is 5:00 AM.

TIME FOR SLEEP! Tomorrow = more planning and prepping...

Universe: 1, Elyse: 0

After spending 1.5 hours of the school day on Thursday and a considerable amount of time on my day off yesterday at the bank, after every customer service representative imagineable that the checks were somehow lost (and after one even insinuated that my roommates may have stolen them) and that the best course of action would be to open a new account, guess what arrived in the mail today?

The original checks. Thank you, Universe.

More Good Times in Sixth Grade

I accidentally incited a major panic in my 6th grade Spanish class today. Every day, as they come in and work on the first activity, I play a different type of Spanish music. Today, one of my students brought in a Selena CD. As I was explaining what Selena's music was known for and how her life was celebrated in a movie starring Jennifer Lopez, one student raised her hand and asked, "Didn't she die? Didn't her best friend kill her?" and I started to explain that yes, it was a very big tragedy and that one of her managers and friends killed her, but that she is remembered for her music. Hands shot up and immediately people got very upset.
"JENNIFER LOPEZ IS DEAD?!"

So then I had to establish that Jennifer Lopez is alive and well. And then we wrote to our pen pals in Costa Rica! And then I went to the car inspector so I could get collision insurance and then I went to the bank so I could close my account because my checks were lost in the mail and I need to get a new account number but it took way too long so I have to go back tomorrow and then I called the free clinic so I can get a TB test so I can send in a complete form to UH - Manoa so I can register for fall classes so I can send in another form to get health insurance. And then I got papers notarized so I can send in papers to the DOE so I can finally get paid sometime soon. And then I attempted to search for a post office so I could send the letters to the pen pals in Costa Rica but failed miserably so that will have to wait til tomorrow.

Hurricane Watch 2K7

So far, Oahu isn't expected to be affected at all by Hurricane Flossie. So I'm good :-) No worries! And the earthquake happened on the Big Island, not here, so don't worry about that, either.

I need to express my excitement that a bunch of LOST scenes were filmed RIGHT NEXT TO OUR HOUSE (before we lived there, though).

Please note the similarity of my pictures to the LOST pictures:

http://www.lostvirtualtour.com/lost/filming_locations/byodointemple/index.html

I KNEW that temple looked familiar! (Okay, actually I had no idea. But it's so beautiful I had to take lots of pictures!) And there is a picture on the website of the entrance from the Kahekili highway--that's literally the turn right before the turn to our street!

Also, one of the teachers at the school my roommates both work at has a son who is one of the babies that portrays Aaron (Claire's baby) on LOST. So crazy!

Still at school...lots of work to do...

Sunburn

While trying to teach a math class...

Student raises hand.
Me: Yes?
Student #1: Miss Moretti, did you get burnt this weekend?
Me: Oh, yes, a little bit.
Student raises hand again.
Me: Yes?
Student #1: Did you go to the beach this weekend?
Me: Uh, no, I was just in my house.
[I was trying to say that I stayed in this weekend but laid out on our deck.]
Another student raises hand.
Me [hoping the next question is about math]: Yes!
Student #2: Miss Moretti, I think you need to get a new light in your house if you get burnt from it.

I've been really busy lately...everything is going okay, just really tough. I can't believe the amount of work I have to do...my kids are rockstars though :-) It's really tough to be the teacher and authority figure though, because they are all so interesting and creative and diverse. I just like talking to them and getting to know them. But we have a lot to cover and not nearly enough time!

I'm definitely learning a lot.

Reasons Why Monday Was A Good Day

1. Less than 40 kids in 8th period
2. Productive classes all day (six periods)
3. Only got lost for two hours
4. It's trash pick-up day (pictures coming soon!)
5. Thanks to #4, I now have a new lamp, chair, and our apartment has a BBQ, air hockey table, lamp, and lots of items for our classroom.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh sOOoooo much to do!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tomorrow I have to miss school for mandatory Special Education training with the district. And I just finished four papers for U of H as well as an assignment and midterm. Ahhhhhhh.

All Around the Island with Uncle Jimmy

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood! I don't think I have mentioned yet how FRIENDLY Hawai'i is. I can't even describe how absolutely wonderful the people we have met are. But there are always some people who go above and beyond to REALLY make you feel at home, and Uncle Jimmy is one of those people. One of my roommates' great aunt and uncle gave her the number of a college friend who lives in our town. She called to ask his advice, and ever since, we have been blessed with soooo much from Uncle Jimmy. I have a bed and a dresser all thanks to him. We have all the appliances and furniture and miscellaneous items we need. And today, he drove us all over O'ahu, bought us lunch and ice cream, and took us to lots of cool places. We had amazing Mexican food at Rosie's Cantina on the North Shore, saw some beautiful views of beaches, the Mormon Temple, and Waikiki, ate delicious ice cream at Bubbie's, and explored the Valley of the Temples, which is right down the road from us. Even though Valley of the Temples is practically in our backyard, we had never been inside, assuming, like most outsiders, that it is simply a cemetary (albeit a beautiful one!) In fact, in the back there is a gorgeous Japanese temple, a giant bell, and lots of scenic views.




It was a fabulous day on the island, and definitely helped make up for yesterday, when I wrote 4 five-page papers for my master's class. Tonight = another assignment and finishing my midterm (it's a summer class), planning ahead for this week, filling out mountains of paperwork for school, university, insurance, etc., grading diagnostic tests, and more fun...

And it's Jenny's birthday today, HAPPY BIRTHDAY JENNY!

More pictures here.

T.G.I.F.!!!!!!!!

whoa...kind of overwhelmed at the moment, but keeping a positive attitude.
GREAT CHOICES GREAT GAINS!!!!

This weekend I'm going to make the great choices of catching up with all the assignments, planning, paperwork, etc. that have been stacking up. . . eeeeek. I also need to grade the diagnostic assessments of my math class and figure out what areas we need the most work on, and how I can get my class, who are all on dramatically different levels to sixth-grade math.

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!!

Tonight I got to see Meagan, someone I worked with in the I-triple-L last summer at Carnegie Mellon. She's off to Indiana to start a Ph.D. program, but she's from Hawai'i, so she was back for a few weeks before leaving. We went to Bubba Gump's at Ala Moana, and it was way fun! I love Forrest Gump.

I'm going to spend the night in tonight--I need a break!

I also can't believe how exhausted I am after only 1/2 a week of teaching!

Oh and funny story: today I ended up with over 40 sixth graders in a tiny, sweltering portable classroom that only had 35 desks. A lot of them were in the wrong place because of renovation craziness and a confusing schedule format, and I didn't have an up-to-date list so I couldn't bounce them if they didn't belong, because I had no idea. I ended up taking them all outside and I'm not sure what all went on, but I don't think I mentioned a word of Spanish, and the class is Spanish class. Also, since we were outside, I released them when we heard the bell. But it was the elementary school's bell, so I let them out 7 minutes early, and they got sent back...hahaha...craaaaziness.

<3

I love my kids!!!!!
I'm extremely overwhelmed and going a little crazy but my advisory class is super!!! Tomorrow we start the actual classes, so I'll have my first day of math and world language (Spanish) :-)

Lanakai!

Today we went to Lanakai Beach! Click the beach for more pictures :-)

The next week is going to be craaaazy...so I'm glad we went to the beach :-)

Pearl Harbor

As soon as I decided to join Teach For America and move to Hawai'i, the one thing I was most excited about was visiting Pearl Harbor, which is something I have wanted to do for a long time.

It's such a beautiful place that it's impossible to fully comprehend the tragedy that happened there. The memorial receives about 4,500 visitors each day, and though I left before 8 AM, it took me a few hours to get to the actual memorial. First, I visited the museum and did the audio tour, and of course, took some pictures. When you arrive, you get a ticket that tells you what time your tour is. Mine was at 10:45 AM. We watched a documentary in the theaters, then took boats out to the actual memorial. It was an incredible experience.




Here is my favorite shot: looking upward from inside the memorial is the American flag, flying high.

First Day at Wheeler

Today was my first day at Wheeler Intermediate School. I'm so excited to join such an awesome team of teachers, staff, and administrators! Sorry this is a super short post, but it's just about bed time. My drive in the morning can take anywhere from 30 - 90 minutes depending on traffic, so I'll be leaving at 6 AM to get there on time.

In other news, I'm thinking about joining the Waikiki Swim Club. I'm really excited about it! We have a pool in our complex, which is also something I'm excited about. But I forgot to bring goggles and a swim cap, so I need to get those. I also used the word excited three times (now, four) in this post. I think it's time for bed.

Aloha!

Pictures!

I bought a new camera! Just click on the picture below to see some pictures of my school, U H - Manoa, our townhouse, and a nearby beach. I'll post more pictures soon!

lost in hawaii

I think I am the only person in the world who could get lost for over 5 hours in Hawai'i, which is not that big. So this weekend has been kind of crazy...

We have lots of new furniture and I started my Master's program at the University of Hawai'i - Manoa. I am VERY excited about it!

While I was at Institute and had no idea where I was living, I called and reserved my copy of the 7th Harry Potter book at the Ala Moana Shopping Center (there were only two options in Honolulu). Yesterday, while I was in class at UH - Manoa, I mapquested it and found that it was only about two and a half miles away! I went there, and though the mall was amazing-I can't wait to go back and shop-didn't allow myself to be distracted. I got my copy (unfortunately since I had been lost, I didn't get to go on Friday at midnight) and came back to Kaneohe. I'm still reading it, and it's sooooooooooooooo good. It's like the end of an era; I can't believe it's over. I have about four hundred pages left.

First day of work at Wheeler = Wednesday!

Kaneohe!

WE HAVE A PLACE TO LIVE!
And it's GORGEOUS :-D
We are living in Kaneohe, on the Windward side of O'ahu. Click here for the weather and here for what Wikipedia has to say about Kaneohe. Ironically, when Jenn's (my roommate's) dad was stationed in Hawai'i in the 70s, he lived in Kaneohe, too! There are three of us, all TFA teachers, who moved in...we're so excited! I'll post pictures as soon as my camera starts working again...for some reason, my gadgets cannot function simultaneously--something always is broken!

BACK!

I'm back on the island!! Not feeling too jet-lagged. On the agenda for today are checking out houses, possibly checking out Pearl Harbor (ahhh!!!!!), picking up my laptop (yaaaaay!!!!!) and checking into a hotel. Right now we're staying at the house of an awesome '06 TFA corps member (they have been sooooo great, helping us with everything).

In the next two weeks, I have TFA orientation, orientation/starting work at Wheeler, Univ. of Hawai'i Orientation, renting a house, buying a car, figuring out financial aid, taking out loans, finalizing bank information, etc. Ayiyiyiyiyi! But it feels gooooood to be in Hawai'i :-)

What I Did On My Summer Vacation

Today was the last day of the 2007 Teach For America Houston Summer Institute. At closing ceremonies, a corps member performed a dedication in which she talked about a "Wish You Were Here" postcard from a friend in Portugal and said she wished her friend was here, seeing the injustices we are facing and the progress we are making.

No matter what, I will never be able to fully express or articulate what exactly I did on my summer vacation. But I will attempt a final reflection on the past few weeks: They have been the hardest weeks of my life. I have been physically, mentally, and emotionally pushed to the limit and beyond.I have learned so much, probably much more than I have ever learned in such a short time. I have been exposed to so many things I never expected and could not have predicted. I have led a classroom of students to achieve significant gains over four weeks of instruction. I have learned about and taught a subject I had no prior knowledge of. I have interacted with students on a daily basis and realized that middle schoolers are an incredible challenge. You need to strike that balance between being a respected teacher they will work hard for and a friendly but too lenient teacher who lowers expectations. I have learned to set high expectations, deliver clear instructions, hold students accountable for their actions and achievement. I have joined a movement that is working to close the achievement gap. I have joined a committed group of citizens, dedicated to change, relentlessly pursuing those results and never giving up on their students. I have met the students I have been talking about, learning about, and hearing about for almost a year now. I have talked to students that don't have homes or phones. I have taught kids who have been through more in 12 or 13 years than I have been through in my entire life. I have met kids who have to deal with things I never even considered, like not having a home phone number because they didn't have a home. I have worked with kids for whom the circumstances transpired against, but who succeeded. And maybe it was just that-one summer. I am almost positive their month with me was not as powerful to them as it was to me, but I hope that it had some impact, however brief. But I can only hope that I can take these experiences and mindsets and apply them in my region to motivate my students to beat the system and excel, not only in my class, but for the rest of their lives.

Today, one of my students missed class. I was disappointed that I didn't get to say goodbye to her, or tell her that she'd rocked out on the test--passed the test at the TFA standard, achieved over 100% of her growth goals, and only missed 2 questions. But I had written a positive note to her family telling them how great their students had done. As we were breaking down our classroom, our school director came and found me and asked me about that student, saying her mother was there and was anxious to know about her grades. I went out to see her and told her what a terrific job her daughter had done, and her other three teachers also joined us. She told us about her daughter's experiences at another school across town during the regular year, when she was living with her father. The teachers told her she couldn't do it and wasn't going to pass. Their negative energy was awful for the student, and brought her down. It also made her self-conscious and unaware of the power of her own knowledge. It clicked for me and the other three teachers who had the student as we listened to her mother talk about what her daughter had been through. In my class, she had often expressed, "I can't do it" or "I don't understand, what are we doing?" I just pushed through it, and kept telling her to keep it up. This was more a function of my inexperience and attempts to concentrate on the students with behavioral problems, but I see now that it was a positive attitude to take with her, because she COULD do it and DID understand, she just didn't know that she was able to.

Seeing her do well had been a high point for me. Another high point was telling another student he had an A in my class. He had stared at me in disbelief, happy and shocked, as I told him how well he was doing. He received an A on the test, achieved over 100% of his growth goals, and only missed 1 question.

And now, on the last day of classes, as we are about to go into our fall placements, this woman was telling us we had made a difference in her daughter. "Your vocation," she kept telling us, telling us we had what it takes to be teachers. I have been skeptical throughout the process, and I still am, but that was a major energizer and confidence booster. The best part was that she told us her daughter said she really liked all of her teachers this summer and wished they could be her teachers all year. She said she was going to show her report card to her teachers at the other school to show them what she could do and that she had learned more with us than she had throughout a whole year at the other school. She told her mother about our program, and her mother took the time to express to us her appreciation for what we did this summer.

These are stories just like the ones we have heard about. And now I have one, too. But there are so many other students and so many other stories out there, waiting for a teacher to guide and a student to take action and finish the story. This is why I teach for America.

more pictures

Here is a view from my hotel room from Induction:




And here's the entrance to the International Market Place, which has delicious food, gorgeous leis, and beautiful jewelry.

getting psyched...

my computer is fixed! 808 called today (hawai'i area code) and it was best buy, saying my laptop is fixed. HOORAY!

upcoming events in my life
july 14 return to o'ahu
july 15 pick up my computer
july 16-19 hawai'i tfa orientation
july 20-21 univ. hawai'i special ed orientation
july 26 first day of school at wheeler middle!

sooooooo exciiiiiiiited!

ONE WEEK

In one week I will be on an airplane en route to O'ahu...
I CAN'T WAIT

almost friday...

sooooo excited for the weekend!
I have a lot to do tonight before I can sleep, but it will all be worth it if my kids pass their tests next week to advance to Grade 8. The students were great today, but they weren't engaged in my lesson...I got mixed reviews. One observer found all negative things, and the other found all positive...so what do I do with that?

Week 4

Sorry the posts are so short! I'm also sorry if I owe you an e-mail. You know that I'm usually uber-prompt on responses...but lately I have just been swamped. JKJ, since I know you are one of my regular readers, it was great talking to you tonight even if it was only for a few minutes! I downloaded Audacity and it worked great :-)

My collaborative partner and I (we teach the same grade and subject but have different students) made up a rap to review Texas history. It's pretty awesome, if I do say so myself :-) We are planning on unveiling it to our students tomorrow...which is also the day we are being videotaped. So our craziness will be recorded for posterity!

Tough week...

Tough week...it's been craaaazy. Still a little more left to go...
Only two more weeks to get my students to the 8th grade!! It's crunch time :-/

Yessss :-)

WE GOT THE AFTERNOON OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D
We got to leave school at 1:45 PM instead of 4:00 PM and we had a carnival when we got back! Soooo fun! AND they cancelled our evening activities! Time for a meeting with the managing director of Hawai'i TFA, then dinner off-campus with the girls!

Everyone is sooooo happy :-)

Funny

One elevator is working again! Hurray! But I thought it was hilarious that some corps members posted signs saying things like, "Keep relentlessly pursuing your dorm room!"

Week 3...

Week 3 Starts Now!
(Group meetings + homework + office hours = good times)
Also, the elevators are broken. We live on the 11th floor.
But I shouldn't complain. The last I heard, Floor 16 was without A/C. If I had to hike up 16 flights of stairs, and had to deal with a dry, humid room...well, I don't know what I'd do.

Let's hope the elevators get fixed soon...

Week 1 of Teaching/Week 2 of Institute down

Wow. I'm still really exhausted, but so glad to be done with Week 1 of teaching and Week 2 of Institute. Three more weeks!!

Yesterday, I had a headache at school and wanted to stay in, but my school was having a mixer at a bar in Rice Village. I wasn't going to go, but then my friend Diyn and I found out there was a Half-Price Books there. We immediately changed our minds and decided to go. It was my first time in a Half-Price Books, and it was amazing!! I couldn't control myself and came home with several pounds of books that will never fit in my luggage. It was the perfect end to a really tough week.

It's really weird that our groups are made up from people whose placements are all over the country, because I've met so many awesome people and we're going to be so far apart in a few weeks. But it's also cool because we'll all be doing the same thing, and we'll have people to stay with when we visit :-).

Today I'm going to hang out with my friend Caitlin and her friends tonight, but for now I'm going to work on my [neverending] TFA assignments. Our faculty advisor is awesome and is letting me use his LCD projector every day, so I can do PowerPoint for all of my lessons. Let's face it, we all know that I am not the crafty type who can bust out posters for visual information! I am very technologically-dependent!

Other things I need to accomplish next week: meet individually with students to discuss scores on diagnostic, adapt my behavior system, figure out how to fix the Bingo game I made for my students to play, and get individual organizers for all of my students.

Day 3 of Teaching

Third lesson taught! My group is super lucky because we have an awesome faculty advisor. He helps us with our lessons, finding resources, managing the classroom, and gives us great feedback on our lessons. I was really nervous because he sat in on my whole lesson today, but it went really well. My students are really well-behaved!

Last night I got 5.5 hours of sleep, and it was amaaaazing!! Back to school...I am on the Internet to look up TX history and technically should not be checking my e-mail...they are kind of strict about everything here, so I'm just going to close this window.

so excited...

I AM GOING TO GET FIVE HOURS OF SLEEP TONIGHT!!!!

Thanks to my amazing teaching group member Camila, who is super productive and helped me focus soooo much. I am going to bed before midnight for the first time in as long as I can remember!

Day 2 teaching was not bad...not good, but not bad...I think my kids are awesome!

Day 1 with Students!

Today was my first day with students at West Briar Middle School. It's really difficult to establish authority when you can't stop giggling...we know this is an issue of mine I need to work on. But my observer's reviews weren't bad. I have a ton of stuff to work on tonight that is due tomorrow, so I'm going to focus on that. My goal is to get some sleep tonight!

Week 1 Complete

One week down, four to go. I didn't expect the first week to be so hard. This won't be a very long post because I have a ton of stuff to do. But here's a few notes, sorry if I've posted them before:

-I'm teaching 7th Grade Social Studies (Texas History) starting TOMORROW! Ahhh.
-I work in a collaborative with three other corps members. Each of us has our own class, so we'll all be doing different things, but all of us have our own unique ideas and systems as well
-This past week has been all about establishing authority and acting assertively in the classroom
-We have also been learning the content of our subject area, because none of us are from Texas or particularly knowledgeable about the history of Texas
-Yesterday I got to hang out with Caitlin and her fellow NASA friends, which was really fun. Her friends are all really sweet and welcoming, and we had a blast hanging out around Houston and going to the Astros game. I was exhausted, but it was amazing to get off campus and get away from TFA for a while. We have been eating, sleeping, learning, etc. together for the past week, and it was good to get away.
-For the next four weeks, we will continue our schedule at the school from 7 AM - 4 PM (bus departs at 6:30 AM, hurray! Last week it was 6:15 AM), but we will also be teaching and doing professional development. So we won't be in sessions from 7 - 4, like this week. We will still have sessions, but only for part of the day.
-There are also optional and required events at night. Soon we will be starting learning groups, and special education has a learning group, so I will be attending those as much as possible. Because of time constraints, we haven't learned about special education at our schools, so the special ed. teachers are all getting really nervous--we want to learn what to do when we get to our schools!

Tired but Excited!

A few quick updates:

1. Coming into this, I wasn't positive what to expect. On the one hand, previous corps members all got the same strange look in their eyes as they recalled their institute days...waking up at ungodly hours, freezing inside and sweltering outside, no time, tons of work, session after session. But I figured, I should be prepared. After all, my schedule has been SO crazy for so long. I mean, look at Senior Week! I figured I would be able to handle it, since I had handled similar intense times before. But this is completely different. The work I have to do may not seem hard initially, but it's incredibly difficult to try to understand concepts of teaching, then try to apply them in lesson plans while we are still taking in everything ourselves. So institute is really, really hard--and we haven't started teaching yet. That's when the real craziness begins! Right now, we are all completely exhausted. I have to go in 15 minutes to another session...

2. I love the Hawai'i corps!! The first week was fun, but at institute, we're all really bonding, and I love it. I think that's the experience of every region--shared experience unites (especially when it's rough, haha)--and it's fabulous. But I've also met amazing people from all over the place.

3. This weekend's going to be great! On Friday night TFA is busing us to Rice Village, which I hear is a really fun hangout, and then on Saturday I'm going to a brewery tour and Astros game with my friend Cait who works at NASA. She's amazing and I'm so excited to see her!

Institute

Yesterday was the first day of Institute, and I am still incredibly jet-lagged (along with the rest of the 2007 Hawai'i corps)! Last night at opening ceremonies, Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America, spoke. It was the second time I've gotten to see her speak. It's truly amazing that her idea as an undergraduate almost 20 years ago has turned into this major organization that improves the lives of students (and teachers) everywhere.

I was pretty exhausted yesterday and kept falling asleep in classes. More on the structure and content of the institute later...it's 5:40 AM and I have to be at my bus by 6:15 AM. But before that we have to ride the elevator downstairs (we are all staying in two towers at the University of Houston), pack a lunch, and find our color coded buses while 700 people are doing the same thing, so we have to leave early!

Pictures

It's just about time for dinner at the Institute, but I wanted to post two quick pictures of the beach we went to in Waikiki. Once we get back, I'll post pictures of the non-tourist beaches--I can't wait to explore! I also plan on finding the places they shoot "Lost," one of my favorite television shows. But here are two beautiful beach pictures...

The second one is Diamond Head in the distance!

Updates

Hi, everyone!

I am now in Houston for Teach For America's five-week institute (basically, teacher boot camp). I will be student teaching at West Briar Middle School along with other Hawai'i special education teachers and corps members from all over the U.S. Houston is one of five TFA training sites across the country, and corps members from Houston, Hawai'i, Memphis, Greater New Orleans, Mississippi Delta, New Mexico, Rio Grande Valley, South Dakota, and South Louisiana attend.

Here is the actual link to my school:
http://www.wheelm.k12.hi.us/index.html

Another TFA corps member who will be at my school, Amy, and I visited on Friday before we left Hawai'i. Everyone at Wheeler is really wonderful, and I look forward to being a part of their staff. They told me that in addition to my 6th grade special education classes, I will also be teaching a World Language elective to many of the 6th grade students. I'll learn more when we get back to Hawai'i on July 14. I will be teaching in a portable classroom, so that will be an adventure as well!

I will be living with Jenn, who also went to CWRU, but we aren't exactly sure where we will be living. We didn't have time to look for housing during Institute, but we have a much better idea of where we want to live after talking with the 06 corps members, school administrators, and other locals. I also will probably be buying a used car when we get back.

Last night, we got some much-needed sleep after some long flights. We left our hotel at 6:30 PM on Friday for the airport, flew Honolulu to Las Vegas, had a four-hour layover in Vegas, flew to El Paso, stopped for a little, then flew to Houston. Carmen, an 06 Houston corps member AND the person who got me hooked on TFA (she worked as a Campus Campaign Manager at CWRU during her senior year, then convinced me to apply for the same job) is amazing, and she and her roommate picked us up from the airport around 10 PM on Saturday. As soon as we got back to their place, we CRASHED-I didn't sleep on the planes or in the airports, so I was exhausted.

The next five weeks are going to be really challenging. The bus for my school leaves at 6:15 AM every day, and the days and nights are long and packed full of student teaching, seminars, classes, meetings, and work. But I am ultimately excited because there are over 700 amazing new corps members here, and we are going to learn SO much and gain so much experience that will be vital once we start teaching!

My laptop is being fixed somewhere in the U.S., and it should ship back to Hawai'i in a few weeks. In the meantime, I rented one to use for the time I'm in Houston, so I have regular computer access and can update my blogs accordingly!

Assignment!

I officially have a job!
I will be teaching special education 6th Grade math at Wheeler Intermediate School. I'm very excited!

In Honolulu

Hi all! I made it safely to Hawai'i, but unfortunately, my laptop did not. So posting may be kind of hard for me for a while...but Hawai'i is fabulous! I have my first job interview today. So far, we have already had a meal that included Spam--don't worry, I didn't eat it. We are staying at the Ohana East in Honolulu until Friday. On Friday, we go to Houston for five weeks, then fly back to Hawai'i and start school on July 26. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance, and I'll talk to you soon!

Mahalo!

Aloha!

Aloha! My name is Elyse and I am about to embark upon the biggest adventure and challenge of my life thus far. For the next two years, I will teach special education on the Leeward Coast of Oahu, Hawai'i through Teach For America.

As a Pittsburgh native who went to college in Cleveland, living in Hawai'i will be a totally new experience. I can't wait to meet my students, settle into a house or apartment with my roommates, and just immerse myself in the culture of the islands.

We leave on June 3, spend a week interviewing with specific school districts and finding apartments, cars, etc., then go to an intensive summer institute in Houston from June 10 - July 14. After that, it's back to Hawai'i, and the first day of school is on July 26, 2007.

My hope is that I will be able to update this blog periodically so I can keep my friends and family posted!