Why I Do What I Do

Right now I'm working on my Kansas Performance Teaching Portfolio. What's that you might ask...well it happens to be a 35 page document that's supposed to prove I'm a highly qualified teacher. It consists of demographic and assessment data, a unit plan, two detailed lesson plans, accommodations, journals, a communication log, plus a lot of other junk that I don't think really proves that I can be an effective teacher. Jumping through hoops is an understatement. It's time like these when I question whether or not it's worth it, and I think about why I wanted to teach in the first place.

Earlier this afternoon I watched a documentary called American Teacher, which I highly recommend for anyone interested in public education. It's narrated by Matt Damon who is a serious advocate for teachers, with his mom being a long time educator. If you haven't seen the clip of him defending the teaching profession against an uninformed journalist and camera man...check it out here, pretty inspiring.

But that's besides the point. Our public education system is a mess. This documentary points that out very well. While I was watching this film, I kept thinking to myself, why would anyone choose to be a teacher? Horrible pay, long hours, no respect...pass! But that's not why we do it...I don't teach because of the great pay, flexible hours, and immense amounts of professional respect.

Regardless of pay, opinions, and laws, I do what I do because I love it, plain and simple. Not because someone tells me it's a noble profession or that my life will be fulfilled. I do it because maybe someday I'll actually change someone's life, help a child succeed, and become something they never in their wildest dreams imagined. 

On Tuesday I'm back in the classroom until the end of April...I can't wait! It's been since mid October that I've been in the classroom and I'm really, really starting to miss it.

Dear "Family" Photographs

So, this Dear Photograph project I started has been a really great distraction from doing my homework...who really needs homework in grad school anyways.

This particular post is going to be entirely dedicated to my grandparents (at least on my mom's side...I don't really have any pictures of my dad's parents I could use for this). Grandma and Grandpa Mac...where to begin.

 Let's start with Grandma: I don't think I've ever met a more selfless, kind and loving person...ever. And I'm not just saying that because she's my grandma. She's your typical small town woman. A retired Postmaster that everyone in town knows, does volunteer work for her local Baptist church, and bakes lots and lots of chocolate chip cookies. She has 8 grandchildren (I'm the only girl) and 4 great-grandchildren. If you ask her, she'll say she's the luckiest person in the world. And I love her laugh.

Dear Photograph,

My mom has that exact same beady-eyed smile.

Maybe some day I'll be lucky enough to have it too.

Amanda

Alrighty...on to Grandpa. Two words: Self-proclaimed Grouch (and yes, it's two words because of the hyphen). When I say self-proclaimed I mean it. He even had a sign outside the house that said "Beware, Grouch Lives Here." We all loved him regardless. He died almost 5 years ago. If I have one regret in life, it's that I didn't give him more hugs. I used to be afraid of him when I was younger because he was so loud. And I mean loud! His stories usually involved yelling (at no one in particular) and cursing (never the F-word though). He was a lot more caring than I think most people realized. One time, he and my uncle found a calf stuck in the mud during a rainstorm. They pulled the calf out and Grandpa actually brought the calf inside the house so it would stay warm. A farm animal inside the house...seriously?! And we always had to be extra careful when we played on the hay bales in the yard, because Grandpa was convinced us kids were going to fall between 2 bales and suffocate...which never, ever happened. But you bet your behind that every time we hear the door open we hid!

Dear Photograph,

My mom tells the same type of long, drawn out stories he did.

Secretly, I love listening to them.

Amanda

Dear Photograph...

So if you haven't had the chance to visit the website Dear Photograph...do it!

The whole purpose of this post is to distract myself from being incredibly stressed about classes and nervous about my screening interview in DeSoto on Tuesday...eek!

Anyways..if you visited the website, you get the general idea. So the other day I started looking through my family's old photo albums. I've decided to start my own Dear Photograph art project with family photos. I think of it as Post Secret...but better! I also decided I'd use it to change the tone of this blog for the time being...while I'm on break from student teaching until January.

So here's the first one!

Dear Photograph,

The swing set might gone and the hammock stored

in the basement. The deck has new stain on it, and

the scattered toys are gone...but that backyard still

has some great memories!

Amanda

There will be many more more to come throughout the holidays!

Now on to that cover letter : /

Rainy Day Field Trip

Aren't you so excited? Two posts in a week?! Crazy!

Alright, so as you already know, today was field trip day! The rain kindly held off until I had to walk from Allen Fieldhouse to my car at the Union...thanks Mother Nature (that's supposed to sound sarcastic, BTW)

I hoping that my kids had a good time...they seemed to enjoy it, but I'm not sure if that's because they got a day out of school or because they genuinely enjoyed learning about KU's Athletic Training program. I really enjoyed it...even if they didn't. We had the opportunity to go inside the new Anderson Family Football Complex...one word...INCREDIBLE. We got to take a peek inside the weight room...HOLY COW you could get lost in there it's so big! They also have this really awesome underwater treadmill they use in their therapy pool. State of the art indeed! Overall it was a good time...I even had one student tell me she was thinking about going KU after the visit...I'd call that success! (P.S. sorry for all the triple periods...I don't know what's gotten into me) I got some good pictures, so I'll share one of the group ones with you.

The traditional group photo in front of the Jayhawk at the Union

All in all, we all had a good time and I was happy I got to see my students again. Needless to say, I'll be making a few more trips to Wyandotte before the semester is over. 

Until then...time to celebrate! It's BIRTHDAY WEEK! Friday cannot come soon enough : )

Double Takes and a Field Trip

So I waited to do my final post about Wyandotte until I had the chance to go back and visit my students.

Last Day.
My last day was emotional to say the least. I didn't cry at school, but let me tell you, the car got some waterworks on the way home. I was the most strict with my third block...and I got the most hugs from them. Students I thought hated me because I was strict with them told me I was a great teacher and that they'll miss. I guess all they needed was a little tough love. By the end of at all, I realized that teaching is what I want to do with the rest of my life. I fell in love with teaching in those 9 weeks and wouldn't trade the experience for one in the Blue Valley School District any day.

4th Block threw me a little party and my cooperating teacher put together a gift basket with all sorts of awesome teaching supplies. I can't wait until I get my own classroom so I can start putting it all to good use.

Oh PS, the principal made get my picture taken, since picture day was my last day there, so my picture will featured in the Wyandotte year book...I tried my hardest to get out of it...but couldn't dodge it.

Visit.
So today, my day off from classes and work, I decided I'd go visit "my kids" at the Dotte. I'm so glad I did. I walked out of the building today with a huge smile on my face. I didn't realize how much I missed those kids until I walked in the door. I got there during 2nd Block so I was already in the room for 3rd Block (my hardest, biggest, and craziest class I had). The kids were SO funny when they saw me. They did this double take and when they realized it was me they got this huge smile on their face and they ran over saying, "Miss Riss!!!" and gave me a huge hug. I told them a long time before I left that I would come back and visit. A lot of them said, "That's what they all say" and I know they didn't expect to come back and see them...so my guess is that was where most of the surprise and excitement came from.

It was really good to see the other community teachers too. It's crazy how you can build relationships with these people over such a short period and you don't realize how much you miss seeing them until it's been three weeks and you finally get to see them again.

On Monday I'm taking the 4th Block kids on a field trip I set up with the athletics department at KU. I'm so beyond excited and I'll share more on that experience and hopefully I'll have some pictures too.

Until then...Wyandotte Forever.

I See The Light...

At the end of the tunnel, that is. Next Friday will be my last day at Wyandotte High School. I'm relieved and sad. Relieved that the stress and exhaustion will subside (at least until January)...sad because it's really started to feel like home. I let all of the teacher's in my community know how much I appreciated their kindness and support. I feel like I've become part of a family...even if I am just a student teacher. I told them that if there was an opening for a teaching position at Wyandotte High School in the Health Community, I would take it...no question. That says a lot of the type of teachers they are.

On a less serious note...I had some of the typical crazy teacher moments last week. Last Monday, during third block, not only did I have wasp flying around the room (imagine screaming 14 and 15 year old girls) but someone decided to drop a stink bomb in the sink. My mentor and I affectionately call the ninth graders "little stinkers" when they give me hard time...that name has so much more meaning after this incident : )
The very next day...I walk out of the house with two different shoes on...and I had no idea until I got out of my car and walked into the building. Two TOTALLY different shoes...and all I could do was laugh. Every time I look at the picture I can't help but smile.

I also had my second evaluation on earlier this week. Much better than last time. I changed everything she told me to and I put on the bells whistles...she had nothing bad to report. Needless to say I'll have an A for student teaching...YAY!

Now I just have to get through Mitosis and Meiosis by next Friday and I'm golden!

Just A Reminder...

This is a reminder to myself...with every job, there are good days and bad days. For me, the good days are becoming more common and bad days are becoming a rare occurrence. I hate the fact that my students are actually starting to see me as a real person and not just their teacher and in three weeks I have to say goodbye. I got to meet some of their parents on Wednesday night (it was a combination of an open house and parent teacher conferences...neither of which really exist in KCK). I was genuinely happy to meet their parents and talk to them about their kids. The parents that showed up were beyond supportive of their kids and all they want is for their children to be successful in life...same as any other parent. I've gotten so used to the idea as long as a student passes my class (not necessarily with an A) that it's good enough. How wrong was I! I told one student's mom, "Well she's got a 73% so she's passing, so that's good" and the mom responded with "Well in our house, a C is not passing." Inside I was cheering! This is what these kids need...a supportive parent, or someone....anyone, at home. At 2:20 I don't have any more control over what those kids do. When they're at home they need someone pushing them to do their homework and study. It doesn't matter if I tell them to study when they get...let's be real, they're 14 and 15 years old...they won't study. In a nutshell...it was nice to see supportive parents.

Let's get even happier and talk about last Friday. I got to go to my first Wyandotte football game! The best part was getting to see students I knew play in the game. One of my students, that I've made a really nice connection with, had an amazing game! It was the greatest feeling to walk into school on Monday, give him a high five and tell him he was awesome in the game. Every time I think about how amazing some of these kids are it kills me to know that I'm going to have to leave them in less than a month.

In the meantime...I'm going to enjoy the time I have left...and be thankful when all of the stress is over!