My kids are rocking my socks off today after what can be called a rough week to the core. (The roughness, by the way, has nothing to do with my children themselves, but rather the circumstances for which I joined TFA in the first place.)

So I walk in today after a day of ZERO raised voices from my end yesterday (score!) and a determination for two solid days of nurturing voice in a row. And then I look over my kids' homework, something I am not so good at doing on a regular basis. What I saw were the most creative, adorable stories. The assignment was for students to pick at least 5 spelling words and write a short, creative story.

I'm sharing a few of these now for two reasons. 1) Kids are adorable and their silly and creative ideas are too much to not share. 2) I look at what my students were writing with a year ago, and I'm amazed that they are creating full stories linking words together that only share prefixes as their commonality.

Here are their stories: (dun-dun)

TT - One day we went to the park. I was kind of UNHAPPY about all the trash we saw on the ground. I was very UNCOMFORTABLE about being there, so I decided to REACT. We began to look for a RECYCLE bin. UNFORTUNATELY there was not one. Then we all realized (vocab word) that it was a MISTAKE. The park crew was cleaning and blowing trash to be cpicked up. We all just laughed.

ZG - Once upon a time there lived the craziest man. He had a daughter and a son. He went to school to UNROLL the chair. He had to REACT and he MISLEAD the kids to the basement in the school. He made lots and lots of MISTAKES. He MISSPELLED all of the spelling words. He was an UNKNOWN man. And he had to REWRITE all of those spelling words. When the people started to UNLOAD the board (we have a promethean board now), the children said, "HUUUUUUUUUUUU!" They started yelling, "I want to measure my muscles! I'm UNHAPPY with you flower! We DISAGREE!!!"

CM - One day a man named Jack was UNHAPPY because he lost his puppy. A man named JOHN said to him, "Do not search for your puppy," but Jack DISAGREED. He was DISHONEST with himself because the puppy wasn't lost. He was very DISCOURAGED because he did not find his puppy. At the end, he UNROLLED his sleeping bag and his puppy was under the bed!

JF - Once upon a time a boy named Muppy was in a spelling bee. He MISSPELLED DISHONEST and DISAGREE so he REACTED like he was UNLOADING boxes.

These both cracked me up and impressed me in many ways. For your entertainment. Soon to come, the video I shot of my kids reading a Native American play called, "Pushing Up The Sky." Be excited.

PS: This post is titled "Let's Go Gamecocks!" because a couple days ago when my kids were being loopy in line to the gym, one of my students started clapping his hands and chee

Spoiler Alert: This blog entry is 99% not about teaching, but an entry about my experiences living in St. Louis today, this week, this year, at this time in its history and my life. As being a St. Louisan is part of my commitment and TFA journey, I vote I'm allowed to blog about this as part of my TFA chronicles :)

Q: Why is it the best time to be living in Saint Louis, Missouri?

A: Too many reasons to count.

    1. WORLD SERIES 2011 CHAMPIONS!!!!
    St. Louis has been turned upside down this post-season as the city rallies behind the Cardinals. The journey to the world series was a stressful, exciting, an amazing one. I can't believe I actually got to be in this city while it met that moment of celebration! I've never been in a baseball city before, and the closest I got to this feeling was rallying behind the Gamecocks as World Series champions for the last two years (which was, in a word, AWESOME!). This city needed this win, needed the chance to prove itself and prove its reputations as the baseball capital. The camaraderie, the excitement, the purest form of pride in that last catch - it's a moment that cannot be recaptured or described in words. Go Cards!

    2. Halloween 2011
    I love Halloween, and it took some major arm-twisting to get A.J. to (at least pretend) to love it, too. My friend Kelly (and fellow Walbridge teacher) and I had a Halloween party for our kids on Friday, with trays of treats and "Hocus Pocus" for the end of the day. The party was a success, and I never get over how much it tickles me to watch my students react to my favorite childhood movies. Thinking back to the holiday parties of last year and the craziness and misbehavior that generally took place, it meant something to see my kids sharing and trading favorite goodies, laughing at the movie, and respecting our celebration.
    That's my teaching Halloween piece - my personal Halloween was ever better. One of the things in my St. Louis Bucket List I was missing was Halloween in the Central West End, a must-do in the city. Thanks to two of my favorites, A.J. and I got to enjoy the celebration! There were hundreds of costume-crazed St. Louisans on the streets downtown celebrating the night, and it was one of the best Halloween celebrations I've ever seen, if not the most centralized. We had a great time watching the creative costumes and enjoying one another's company. Afterwards, we spent time with a bunch of our TFA friends and let loose. Halloween was a complete and wonderful success this year.

    3. The St. Louis Greats
    A.J. and I had what I term, a "perfect weekend." We spent Friday cheering on the Cardinals and celebrating the BIG WIN, even walking back from the streets of Soulard to Lafayette and enjoying the team spirit of the city. And then on Saturday we enjoyed our weekend tradition of lazy mornings watching our favorite television shows (thank you, "The Office" and "Parks and Recreation" for being so awesome). We then set out for our ABSOLUTE favorite thing: Soulard Farmer's Market. I wish I could explain why it's so much fun for us and the enjoyment we get from it, but all I can say is that I have my favorite time of the week every Saturday morning with A.J. at the market, taking our time to enjoy the simplest things. We even got to enjoy a St. Louis "Must-Do" by lunching at the famous Gus' pretzels in Benton Park. Delicious.

Perfect Weekend.

    4. And as my 1% teaching part of the blog, (okay, I know I mentioned my kids already, but it's hard to do....!) I got the best news Thursday: my Promethean Board is here! I have been pushing to get one of these amazing smart boards since last year, and I got the good news and dozens of boxes Thursday to set off this perfect weekend. I can't wait to start planning my lessons, seeing how many cool ways I can reach and engage my kids. The board is installed Tuesday, and I literally feel like I got my Christmas gift of the decade.

So, thank you St. Louis. Not only have you given me the most intense job of a lifetime, a city to venture out on my own, a setting for one of the biggest times of my life, and several new-found loves ... but you have allowed me to experience this city at what I believe will be one of its greatest times of all. Thank you.

I grew up lucky, in a family and time when childhood was something to be treasured and protected. My childhood innocence was cherished, and my parents made sure that their worries weren't mine, that their problems were behind closed doors, and that my fears from the rest of the world would always be taken care of before I had to worry about it.

When i said I wanted to grow up, my parents said, "Not too fast."

What scares me when I walk around today is how many adults have abandoned this beautiful and still-too-modern idea that children can and should be protected by the grime that inevitably taints their lives. I hear parents dish out their conflicts in raised voices in front of their children, vulgar language or movies tossed out in public view for confused young faces, and the stressors of adulthood flaunted in childhood faces.

This lack of respect for the sanctity of childhood has plagued me since before my Teach For America experiences, but now with all the exposure it is safe to say that this once-annoyance floats near the top of my true frustrations. Not to sound like the gray-haired, "Back in my day" folk, but what is up with what our kids are exposed to these days?

While I could limit my rant to risque magazine covers, lightly edited vulgar music, and what used to be late-night television on family day channels ... the stakes are much higher for some children. Children who haven't even learned multiplication can give you every swear known to man, every gang sign in their area, and a list of people killed or hurt with street violence.

My students and others I know have taught me things that I never thought children would know, that I am only now still learning. They know to drop on the ground when they hear gunshots, because shots have flown past them during recess. They don't show me the "okay" sign because it reminds them of gangs. They avoid (or pursue) red because it means more than a bright color. It's a heartbreak.

I share this now not to past judgment or make my students look like they have a certain lifestyle, or that their families have a certain lifestyle. That's not the case. I have great students and wonderful families who worry for their children the same way (more than, because they're their parents) as I do. No, I share because of this:

Gang violence in my school's neighborhood has been a threat to my students since they were born, with murders and other violence plaguing streets and sidewalks that SHOULD be safegrounds for the children that attend school on the block. But they aren't. I ask all readers to think about my students this week, all Walbridge students, teachers, staff, and families. Think about them, pray for them, hope for them -- whatever you can do to keep safe thoughts.

It breaks my heart that I have to talk to my class tomorrow about this rough time of year, how important it is to walk straight home, and that trick-or-treating might not be a good choice this year. I wish my kids, all kids, lived in a world where their innocence and childhood traditions were valued and sacred. All I can do is teach them to make smart choices, care for one another, and make the world they want to live in.

Oh, and throw them an amazing Halloween Part tomorrow :)

Every day after I hug that last student and walk them out after dismissal, I have myself the largest piece of pie. We have pie all over the place at Walbridge. Donovan says I smell like pumpkin pie (gross or endearing), our job is the total opposite of "easy as pie" and that slice I take for myself? A giant slab of humble pie.

Our school does this thing where we celebrate the students who show mastery on their weekly (well, now, bi-weekly) GLE tests. I'm giving quizzes in between based on topics to actually show student growth and progress, so I had a Rounding and Estimating Quiz, a Spelling Test, vocabulary quiz, and reading comprehension independent practice this week. A lot of work? Yes. Could I have given these last year in a purposeful fashion? No. Did we master? Well . . . .

At least 80% of my kids got at least 80% on two or more of their tests. A few students routinely get a ZERO on their tests for either laziness or level factors, but aside from those drastically low scores, my kids showed two thing this week:

a) Investment. Why? Our compliment chain is halfway to the ground after two weeks. Nobody turned in an incomplete test. And at least one student cried because they didn't get MORE THAN 100% (not getting the extra credit was a cry factor for a student who last year laughed at 20% on tests).

b) Mastery. My kids are starting to get it. Are they ACEing tests? Not really. Do they TOTALLY get it? No. Are there holes and incomplete lessons? Absolutely. But there is a work ethic there that wasn't there before.

Not to be all "Beauty and the Beast" right now, but I think Angela Langsbury would be proud ... "I think there's something there that wasn't there before . . . "

I'm a proud Ms. Davis.

You know it's going to be a good day when you walk in to find the class fish sunken to the bottom of the tank. RIP Nemo.

But the blessing was that today was a wonderful day, that this week has been a wonderful week, and that I feel a little more like a regular classroom teacher this week. Our compliment chain added 5 links today, and we are about halfway to the floor.

And this is a big

I don't like to give too many details because my kids deserve their privacy, but last week was one that I've prayed for and against all too often - I pray that my kids are never that hurt, confused, and and lost ... and I pray that the ones who need it will finally get the help they need. That's what last week was. For one of my kids, one you have all ready about all too often, hit a point that can only be described as traumatic. The amount of anger, loss, confusion, and terror in one child - that it can exist in a young child -- is a lifechanging thing to see. This little boy who has been robbed of life's most simple necessities and rights, who has been burdened with pain and abuse, and who has not only been served a life of hardness and despair but also lacks the mental and emotional abilities to deal with this life -- this little boy is one of mine and I watched him hit rock bottom last week without any understanding of why. It was one of the most heartbreaking moments of my life, and yet in a terrible way I was grateful. Because in this imperfect world, imperfect school system, imperfect school ... rockbottom is what it takes you get help, sometimes.

It breaks my heart how often we force people to lose it all before giving them a little to get by, that people are supposed to fall all the way before we pick them back up, even when we see it coming. I (and not just I) have been trying to get help and attention to this child for the last year, and all I get is "improve your classroom management" or "are you differentiating enough for him?"

Finally, this child is getting medical attention and psychological help to understand and deal with the biological and circumstantial burdens that have plagued his emotional intelligence. He came in today with a big smile, an Iron Man bookbag, and a feeling of gratitude that I've seen from him before. But never this big.

The rest of my week went fairly routine, with many ups and downs and a smooth course. Our grades were terrible on the Thursday Test Day after a short, rough week and a difficult concept (main idea). But it did help me refocus on purposeful, individualized academic plans once a lot of the help that needed to be given was.

And now this week, I keep moving my class forward as I watch our classrooms become more and more emptied. We are currently at less than half capacity, with only 10 regular classrooms plus pre-school. It hit home pretty hard today when one of my students, a favorite challenge of mine since last year, didn't return from last week and was taken off my roster. His house was in the crossfire of a neighborhood shooting last week, and the family had to relocate.

Devastating are the circumstances we find ourselves in sometimes. It's devastating that a little boy has to live a life so hard, especially when put on top of chemical issues that keep his emotional intelligence to be independently able to handle his experiences. It's devastating that Matthew had to be afraid in his own home, and is now no longer attending our school where he had a family - especially without a goodbye. And it's devastating that a school that has been the center of this neighborhood for over one hundred years now stands half-empty with the staff working its hardest to keep the doors open and the children learning inside.

Our kids need and deserve more than that.

Today is just going to be a little bit of a brag board. Wow, my kids have come SUCH a long way since I met them last year. They are incredible!

This week had an incredibly strong start. We had full days with clear, purposeful work that led us to real understanding and inquiry. All of my children were ready, all of my children were answering deeper questions about our reading, and all of our children were practicing asking why questions and because answers. One of my students who never ever ever follows our reading, raised his hand every day this week to answer at least one question about "Chyrsanthemum" (which is, by the way, the most awesome teaching book).

And while math is always the struggle because it is after our late recess, we did make much bigger strides this week. This week had rounding and two-digit addition on the planner, so to say that I approached Monday with a big of trepidation is an understatement at best. But, I have to say, the little buggers did really well. Some of my slower learners in math just got it right away, and watching their confidence shine all week as we got further and further in was amazing. One student in particular usually fidgets nonstop in class, is our class clown, and never does any work due to serious lack of confidence in school. This week he was really active in reading class and ROCKED rounding. I mean ROCKED IT! Four weeks ago he could not read the number "248" and yesterday in differentiated practice I gave him the advanced rounding sheet, and he rounded "248 to 250" with ease. It was AWESOME!

Watching my kids come around, showing their parents at Open House where their diagnostics had them when we met and where they are today ... it's an incredible experience. While I may disagree with many things that happen in my school, I will eternally thank my principal for allowing me to loop with this group of kids. Watching them go through 50 2-digit addition problems in a Quick Math quiz (and many of them with ease), watching them work in purposeful groups on their Story Maps, and watching them all try to pick chapter books in library time ... they may not be where they need to be, but they are going to be there.

And now that I've focused so much on their behavior and academics the past few weeks, I realize that this week their investment in me as their teacher, in understanding my true purpose for them and love for them needs to be a big focus. That's my big goal this week - more serious conversations with my children about my plan, purpose, and belief in this incredible group of children.

PS: Please check out my DonorsChoose project and give in any way you can. Spread the work. Right now we have decades old books that are falling apart and books at random levels. I'm requesting help financing a small project that will give my students a new leveled library so that each student can understanding where they are and where they want to be, and can grow in their reading by reading books at a level that will appropriately challenge them. PLEASE help get this project to its goal so that we can get to work!






It felt really good. No, the end of my week was no quite as stellar, but such is life (especially after a five-day week after a four-day week, a 13-hour day at school for me, and busy busy planning to stay on top of the good week).

The funny thing about bad days or bad weeks in Year 2 ... they don't compare to bad days or weeks of Year 1. And what's more, I label them "bad" because of the picky and high expectations I now have for a group that I worked tirelessly on last year. Nothing outside of perfection is acceptable, which means frustrations from both ends until we fit the mold I want to see.

That said, this week has been difficult. I find myself back to feeling frustrated quickly for the constant little things that aren't working the way I want, and not recognizing of the good and the growth. As easy as it is for me to own my mistakes and my lackings, it's harder to own my successes and triumphs. Thankfully, however, I am surrounded my strong students, families, and teachers to remind me of how far we've come and how blessed we are - how appreciated and blessed I am.

My colleagues, especially the Walbridge 7, are a special kind of family for me. Sometimes we vent on and with one another, sometimes we gripe, sometimes we celebrate, sometimes we BS our way through the free times, and sometimes we invest in some very unproductive, unhealthy but worth it celebrating. And the rest of the time, we are simply one of the strongest networks I have ever known or hoped to have known.

I have been a person blessed with many friends - and no, the "Godfather" soundbite was unintentional, though I guess it works. I have always had the most caring and supportive friends and family who have gotten me through the highest of highs and lowest of lows. But never did I expect to have that here in my work, in the most stressful, strenuous, emotionally exhaustive and gratifying work I've experienced. When I was decaying from life last year, when I had my fall apart moments and tearful pitfalls, I never felt alone at my school. There is a love, respect, and sense of unity there that makes my experience what it is.

Yesterday, we attended a supply drive and each school team leader spoke a little bit about our mission/experience and gave thanks. Dave got up and talked about how his investment in TFA has changed with his second year - it's not just about closing the gap, it's not just about how in love we are with our kids or our investment in our passion, but it's also about the group of us. We know how special we are.

Today, after a not-bad-not-good day, one of my great friends who teaches with me, Jordan, shared with me a piece of kindness from her and one of my parents that literally made my day, my week. There is a sincerity in our belief in one another and our care for one another's happiness and success that runs deep. It penetrates our friendships, our teaching, and the way in which we touch our students and their families.

I love my kids. I love my kids' parents. I love my co-teacher. I love my job. And I love, I cherish, my Walbridge family. Thanks guys, for everything.

When we consider all of the relevant factors for the (thus far) sustained achievement gap, we look at points of responsibility from this inside out and every where in between. Is it the country? The state? The city? The district? The administration? The staff? The teachers? The neighborhoods? The families? The students?

If you haven't read me yet, you know I believe that every facet plays a part in both the successes and the failures, the mistakes and the profound discoveries. I take blame for the things I could have done and could have changed but did not, and I have to accept responsibilities for the things I do right, from time to time. But I also find the frustrations that onlookers see: Why is our society exponentially growing more advanced while our childrens' education equally plummets with expectations and levels of academia dropping each year?

One thing I had heard before taking on my first year of teaching in non-affluent was that summer was a huge source for the widening of the gap, especially in those early years of education. Think about your summers in elementary school. Here's what I see: imaginations rampant, activity books and coloring books with scattered crayons about the floor, Highlights magazines, movies, hide-and-seek, and reading with my parents. Sound familiar? Or not?

For many of my students and others in less afluent schools, the scenerio changes when the bell rings. Many students will not read another work after stepping out of the classroom and into the June sunshine for summer vacation. They will not socialize with their friends. They will not see so much as a book, a pencil, or a crayon. They will not talk to their parents about their favorite stories or play with legos and blocks and practice telling time or writing in their diaries.

For this reason, while students in affluent schools continue to grow over the summer months, students in the gap actually reverse during those breaks without text-rich walls and friends and fun puzzles to stimulate their minds.

I wanted to know why. My parents didn't have buckets of money to throw at me in my earliest years, but I grew over the summer. We read our books, I wrote, I made up stories, I did puzzles for fun and played school at home with my friends. My parents valued my education in a way that kept them engaged in my academic growth in their own time over the summer. Why do so many of my kids not have this kind of non-monetary access?

There are several reasons, but any way you look at it, the data says it all. After giving even simple, brief diagnostics this week, I see the dichotomy between the growth of children with involved parents, and the fall back of students who don't seem to have the same support at home. The students who attended camp, spent afternoons browsing the colorful bookshelves of the library, or simply had access to their parents and other children grew, if every so slightly. The students whose parents I never see, who do not have pencils and paper at home, who are behind and lack focus in school - they not only failed to grow, but were actually up to 1 year behind what data showed only 2-3 months ago.

Yes, much of this is the "lack of practice" idea - the students need to get back into school mode. It's like when you haven't written much all summer and then all of a sudden your handwriting isn't what it used to be. But that's also a problem - that many of these students have not looked at anything they learned for an entire year since I saw them last. They have not seen an analog clock, they have not counted money, they have not sorted objects, they have not put the pieces of a puzzle together.

I am proud to see the growth of my students since August of lack year, as the majority moves from the bottom up, but I regret the time apart. One charge for myself this year: find ways to trigger the students to find academic possibilities at home and outside of the classroom; come up with ideas for simple, free activities students can do on their own at home; organize projects that engage students in an academic-nonacademic mindset. I want to prepare them to be their own teachers when I cannot be with them.

How do we make our students lifelong learners, even in the present?

And how to we, at the very least, kill the summer gap? For good?

Was it because of the well-executed start of day by the staff? Was it because teachers had set expectations and procedures that were relentlessly modeled, practiced, and positively reinforced all day? Was it because students were truly invested in their education and excited to be back in their school? Was it because only half of the enrolled students were in attendance? Was it because the students, for the most part, came back to a familiar face leading their classroom?

Whatever the reason, there was something different about Walbridge today, and something different about the way I felt walking through the halls, welcoming students, and being on my feet. And it's a difference that is truly appreciated, something I will try to pursue every following day, regardless of the hurdles that are surely headed my way tomorrow.

When I went to pick up my students, the familiarity changed the atmosphere. I called my kids to roster as I saw their faces. And my boys and girls lined up, without my prompting, into their usual two lines (boys line and girls line) right at my feet and standing in HALL (our school's hall procedure). It was nothing short of miraculous, let me tell you.

The day went well, with routines picking up where they left off and the kids, thankfully, as excited about returning favorite as my trial runs of new ideas. The question on all of their minds was where Nemo was (our class fish) and if I'd killed him over the summer. No, I did not. Another blessing I'm counting.

I was determined this year to be organized, plan ahead, and stern in my expectations, and so far I think I'm off to a good start. I can't pretend it wasn't hard to keep the cold face on some things and not be totally giddy about seeing their faces again. It was so good. And it was the biggest sigh of relief that I felt like myself as a teacher, I felt natural as a teacher - last year I struggled with feeling like me, today I felt like I was doing exactly what I was supposed to be doing.

And it was wonderful to see what the kids remembered about the things that I taught them - ME. John remembered contractions and the word for them, Chuma remembered what the stars and stripes on the flag represented, Chris remembered multiplication, and Dashaun remembered how many spelling words he had last year - and how he wants MORE this year :)

I let it slide that they thought I was from South California instead of South Carolina, but ZaNay corrected the class: "She's from NORTH CAROLINA, she went to college in SOUTH CAROLINA!"

Two of my most challenging really gave it their all today, being the best examples of behavior and enthusiasm of the class - and I was sure to let them know. And their parents. I was so proud, and even prouder that they had an air of maturity about them that wasn't there during my first day one last year.

I am anticipating the terrible days, I am ready for the behavior troubles, I am prepared for the emotional breakdowns, But I'm also eager for the growth, excited about the changes I continue to see, and incredibly anxious for the moments of real teacher, when the lights turn on, and they dig in.

At the end of the day we had a class meeting about positives and changes (pluses and deltas, a TFA thing) and they loved it. They were also more critical of their behavior than I even was: "Ms. Davis, I wasn't respectful when I called out. And I need to work on my attitude. But I had great HALL all day and we listened well all day."

Rewards and consequences start tomorrow ... let's see how it goes. I'm still leaving room for a system to really fit in ... trying to go more for personal responsibility than, as A.J. says "ostracizing the kids in front of the whole class" with cards to pull. And there goes that neverending to-do list that takes its place in my life this time of year ... but I'm happy, even if the storm is just on the horizon :)