New Title & HA Update

I changed the name of my blog today. Initially, I named this thing "Welcome to the Jungle" as a nod to the Guns N' Roses classic, which referenced one's initial introduction to a new, foreign world. There was absolutely no racial undertone intended on my part with this title, but after reflecting upon it, I could see how some people could interpret it that way. I decided to avoid the issue all together and just change the title.

The new title, "In The Blue Light District," is a reference to a system in Baltimore City that helps to track crime. In high crime areas, video cameras are put up on top of the street lights. Residents of these areas are made aware of these cameras with an accompanying blue light that flashes all day and night. Thus, in high crime areas at night, if you look up, you can see blue lights everywhere. If you want more information on this project, you can find it here: "Baltimore Blue."

Today was a good day, all things considered. Despite the fact that I had to miss about 2 hours of my placement and a half hour of my first class (Understand Special Education and Inclusion) due to getting the first part of a crown in one of my back teeth following a slightly questionable water tubing accident/arrangement on Memorial Day this past May (shout out to Peat Joe Wesolowski), I was able to get everything done that I needed and wanted to. I didn't teach today in class, but even when I am in a support role, I can tell I'm getting more comfortable around the kids and with my role in the class every day.

It was awesome to see some support from the people at Higher Achievement today. Higher Achievement, for those who don't know (everyone), is the company who runs some of the schools that some of us are working, including yours truly. The staff at HA expressed concern about how much work we have been putting in, and even said that they had plans to talk to some UTC people about our course load. Although it probably won't mean much of anything at all as far as that actual work load goes, it was still great to see them looking out for us. It was also really cool that one of our advisors told my co-teachers and I that she thought all of the UTC people at the school were doing incredibly well, and that the kids were receiving such "quality instruction" despite the fact that some of us had only been in front of a class for three days TOTAL prior to today.

Tonight is great because I have a lot of work, but, I can choose not to do any of it!! Tomorrow is the 4th of July so we don't have placement at HA or classes. In all honesty, I'm still probably going to do a lot of work tonight, but it's still incredible to have the option of not doing it.

Happy Amurica Day tomorrow, y'all.

BD

Positive Post!

Apart from all the work, living in the dorms again has been a crazy fun experience. We are here at Coppin State in Baltimore, which is essentially in one of the "rough parts" of town. You would never know it, though. The dorms are air conditioned, the rooms are bigger than any I ever had at OSU or Miami and everyone is getting along really well. It's not all bad, I promise.

Signing off now. Honestly just writing so much so I can pretend I'm not going to pull my first ever all nighter tonight.

BD

Logistics Post

Here is the run down of my program, according to their site urbanteachercenter.org:


"The Urban Teacher Center (UTC) is a four-year, alternative teacher preparation program that operates in the Washington, DC region (and soon in additional cities). Each cohort participates in an intensive year-long residency, followed by a three-year teaching commitment in a high-need urban elementary, middle or high school. UTC residents prepare to become highly competent teachers; in addition to the clinical experience, they also enroll in a FREE Master's of Education program that is directly relevant to the urban teacher. All UTC teachers are part of an unprecedented commitment to student performance: only those who can demonstrate that they can improve student learning will complete the program. Over time, UTC teachers will be among the most expert and results-oriented in the nation."


Let me translate "only those who can demonstrate that they can improve student learning will complete the program" for you: every year, I have to prove student achievement by a certain mark, set at the beginning of the year. Ex: I have to prove I can raise 7th grade test scores one grade level by the end of a school year. If I don't do that, I'm fired. So there's that.


BD

Hello, world.

I decided to start this blog after a close friend of mine, who had been through a similar process to this before, recommended it to me. I had initially formed plans to keep up on this blog every day, starting the day I got out here to Baltimore, but this is the very first time I have had the chance to actually follow through on it. In truth, I really shouldn't be writing now, as I just got back to my room for the first time since 7 AM this morning (it's now 8:40) and I still have about 4-5 hours of homework left. Either way, here it goes.

I'm working as a teacher in inner-city Baltimore and/or Washington DC (depending on my placement) through a company called Urban Teacher Center. I have been in Baltimore for the past two weeks as part of a six week summer program, working on earning a master's of education in secondary math and special education while also working about thirty hours a week at a local summer school program. Our days our hectic, to say the least. We are required to be out at our school sites starting at 7 AM and usually don't get back from our master's classes until 7 PM -- and then are expected to do readings and homework until we can't function any more. I've only been here for two weeks, and I can already say that I know this is the hardest and will be the hardest I will ever work in my life.

So far, we have heard from principals from around the area, past residents of the program, and fellow teachers who have all told us the same thing -- this is going to be incredibly difficult. There are already moments where I am legitimately terrified that I did not make the right choice. However, what always sucks me back in are the moments when teachers and principals talk about individual moments where kids express how much of an influence a teacher has had on them. This is an unparalleled joy I have only felt a couple times in my life, but I can undoubtedly say that this is the purest form of true elation that I have ever felt.

I know that this task will be difficult. I know that there are days I will want to pack it up, head back to Ohio and sit on my couch, surfing Reddit and watching Netflix all day. However, in times of struggle (and I have been assured, there will be many), I plan on reverting back to an old quote from Thomas Paine, in a speech proclaimed to the American people right before the Revolutionary War: "The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph." These will be the times that try my soul. I know that after my four year commitment with UTC is over, I will be changed forever.

I will try to keep up with this as much as possible, but in all honesty, I have no idea how often that will be. Plan: go with the flow.

BD