Keep Hope Alive

It turns out I'm the worst at blogging regularly... oops. So here's a basic rundown of my life since I blogged last in November.

The City Year life is as exhausting and rewarding as it's ever been. I haven't spent much time at school recently, with winter break and then a CYDC retreat that took us out of schools last week. So I'm really excited to get back to Ferebee tomorrow and reconnect with my students. On a sad note, DC Public Schools recently made a finalized decision about schools that will be closed next year, and Ferebee is among them. Because The Hope is so under-enrolled and under-performing, it will be consolidated with a nearby elementary school. That means all of my students will have to make the transition to Hendley next year, and despite a small protest effort on behalf of a few staff members/parents (hence the "Keep Hope Alive" slogan), the next few months will be Ferebee's last. This is a really conflicting idea for me as a Corps Member because I wouldn't be serving another year at Ferebee anyway, but it's sad to think of all my students making the transition to a place where they will have to start over and learn to interact with people they don't know, which is always a challenge for them.

More happily, I have begun to see improvements in my students' course performance and behavior. The behavior fluctuates on a day to day basis, but for the most part I've noticed that I break up fewer fights on a daily basis. And I can see that a few of my boys are making concentrated efforts to work harder and get in trouble less, which is very encouraging! All of my focus list students improved on their last PIA (Paced Interim Assessment, which measures their progress throughout the year), both in math and reading. This is excellent news, as it means that their time with me is effective.

In other news, I am in the process of figuring out my life for next year. I'm applying for a senior corps year at City Year, which would mean serving as a Team Leader at a school. I'm also applying for law school because my LSAT came back much better than I hoped! However, I'm applying pretty late in the year, so that makes acceptance rates a lot more unpredictable. So I'm going to submit a bunch (19) of applications and then see what happens. I know I could always defer if I am accepted to a senior corps year and opt for that. Basically what I'm saying is that I have no idea what I'll be doing next year, but hopefully I'll still be here in DC!

And finally, the most important news: SNOW! It snowed while we were on our CY retreat, and then a little bit when I got back to the city. Obviously, I'm obsessed with it. Take a look at this picture of the Ferebee team at the retreat in all of its snowy glory:

A Day In My CY Life

I realize that the majority of my friends and family outside of City Year have very little idea about what a Corps Member's work entails on a daily basis. The interesting thing about the organization is that everyone's experience is a little different, based on their school, their team, and the teacher they work alongside. To give everyone a frame of reference for when I talk your ear off about my students, here's an average workday for me!

6:30 AM-Leave home

I take a metro and then a bus from our apartment in Northwest to Ferebee in Southeast. The commute is typically between 45 minutes and an hour.

7:30 AM- Morning prep

I try to get to school a little early so I'll have time to make copies, print my lesson plans for the day, and get anything else that I need.

8:00 AM- First circle

City Year days always start with a brief team meeting so we can talk about what's going on that day. 

8:15 AM- Breakfast

Probably the worst part of my day, breakfast is just plain chaos. It's the only time that all the students are together in one place, as they all get free breakfast. With that many kids in one overheated room, it gets noisy and miserable really quick. I spend 40 minutes passing out breakfast and trying to keep kids in a seat instead of running around or fighting. 

9:00 AM- Planning period

I get 45 minutes each day to prepare for my small group, lunch club, and after lunch reading group. I also serve as my team's Events Coordinator, so I use this time to plan for any event that we have coming up, like our recent fall themed literacy event, "Harvest Hallways."

10-11:10 AM- Literacy small group

City Year's mission is to give students extra help in the three ABCs: Attendance, Behavior, and Course performance, in order to keep them on track to graduate. Corps Members go about this by building focus lists in behavior, attendance, literacy, and math. Our lists are students who are sliding off track in those areas. I have 6 students on my literacy list; all of them are well behaved for the most part, but struggling a little in reading. The teacher that I work with and I decided that it would be most effective for me to take these students out of the classroom because it is often impossible to concentrate in there, and we believe that if they're given a chance to focus and some extra attention, they can get back on track. 

For this hour, I focus on guided reading activities with them. Right now we are in the "Living World" unit, and have been reading about animals and their habitats, extinct species, fossils, and coming up soon, climate change. 

11:20-12:45- Math small group

With the same 6 students, plus one more who isn't quite at their reading level, but can keep up with the small math lessons, I spend almost 90 minutes each day teaching math. It's third grade math, so obviously pretty basic stuff, but sometimes it is really hard to explain something that seems so intrinsic, like multiplication. 

The vast majority of my class is far behind in math, with most of them scoring around 20% on their most recent standardized math test. So my goal for my 7 students is to give them a chance to not just get back on track, but to get ahead of the rest of their class. I believe that with more one on one attention, all 7 of them have the potential to start grasping advanced concepts and eventually score much higher on their next test.

12:45- Lunch club

Each Corps Member leads a group of students in a lunch club each day. Since I'm the only CM in my 3rd grade class, I have split the entire class up into 5 clubs, one for each day of the week. The focus of these sessions is leadership. Each week, my group does an activity focused on building leadership and citizenship. They aslo participate in a program called 50 Acts of Leadership, where they try to record 50 instances of leadership, which encourages them to build their character skills outside of their lunch club day. 

1:20- Lunchtime reading group

The principal of Ferebee is highly focused on building literacy, so he instituted a lunchtime reading program for Tuesdays-Thursdays. Instead of going to recess, each student has a reading group based on their Leveled Literacy (an alphabetical scale that indicates a student's reading proficiency). I have the advanced group of 3rd graders who are reading at a Level Q or above (scores in my class range from B to S). For 20 minutes, I try to minimize the girl fights they are constantly in so that we can read aloud a few pages from a book that I chose for them. 

1:45- Lunch

2:20-3:15/4:15

On Tuesday-Thursday, Ferebee has an extended learning day, and school dismisses at 4:15. On Mondays and Fridays we get out at 3:15. For the last part of the day, I am back in the classroom with all of the students as they finish their work for the day and participate in a character building curriculum. I use this time to work one on one with students outside of my small group who have struggled that day, and with students on my behavior focus list. These five students all have serious behavior issues which are debilitating to their learning and that of students around them. I often take them out of class for a few minutes at a time, just to chat about their day and their behavior. 

3:15/4:15-5:45- Afterschool

Ferebee has two afterschool programs, and I go with the 3rd graders to Dream Academy, a program designed for students at risk of incarceration, run by an outside organization. I'm mainly there for support, as the Dream Academy staff runs the curriculum. I help the afterschool 3rd graders with their homework, and sometimes I get to go downstairs to aftercare and play with the Pre-K to 2nd graders! 

6:00- Commute home

And I'm home by 7:00! Except for the next three weeks, as my teammates and I go to study after work so we can prepare for the LSAT. 

Everyday is different at Ferebee because so much of it is dictated by the behavior of students that day. But I am loving my work, especially the freedom I have to teach my reading and math groups. It's really fun to give those 7 students a different curriculum, and because there's only 7 of them, I can make the lessons a little more interactive and engaging. Hopefully all of this daily routine will contribute to increased academic success for all of my 3rd graders! 

Becoming a Ferebee Eagle!

I've been living in DC for over 2 months now, and I have definitely established a routine! My service at Ferebee-Hope Elementary has made that necessary, because extremely long days call for an extremely early bedtime and wake-up. Having spent 4 years of undergrad seriously sleep deprived, I thought I was ready for an adult sleep schedule. The thing I didn't consider was how exhausted I would be. All the time. Including the commute, my work days are a little over 12 hours long. So by the time I get home, I struggle to stay awake for 2 or 3 hours to watch some TV, and then I pass out. The work of everyday is so incredibly draining; it feels like my most tiring day of undergrad. But it happens every single day, and that wears me out! Fortunately, I get to sleep in on most weekends and I definitely take advantage of that.

The culprits in all of this exhaustion? 25 third graders. The work is intense because it's not just about classroom education. In a community like Southeast DC, everyday is inseparably linked to the lives of students at home and in the neighborhood. These 7 and 8 year olds bring in so many hardships and behavorial issues, I spend the vast majority of my time helping them work through those, just so they can be ready to learn eventually. City Year provided 6 weeks of training on this very topic, but nothing could have prepared me for the challenges that my students face. I am consistently shocked by the anger that 8 year olds can harbor, and it has proved to me how much work lies ahead for my students and for me. Multiple fist fights each day, severe learning challenges that go unaddressed due to a lack of resources, and pervading home issues make third grade so much more difficult for these students than I remember it being for anyone in my experience.

There's no denying that this work is tough; the toughest thing I've ever done. Fortunately, it also means working with 25 of the most fascinating and thoroughly enjoyable (most of the time) little ones I have ever met! Everyday, in the midst of screaming students and behavioral encounters, I find at least one significant moment that makes me smile. Sometimes it is a struggling student finishing an entire page of math, sometimes a troubled student screaming their heart out with joy on the playground. And sometimes it is something entirely off the wall and hilarious. Here's a list of top moments thus far: (City Year prohibits the use of specific identifiers for students, under FERPA. No names can be used)

1. "Ms. Jillian, you not white. You black!" 

During a lunch club session, my students and I were discussing leaders. I brought up Mitt Romney (we recently learned about the upcoming election) and my club unanimously said Romney is not a leader. I already knew that President Obama is immensely popular in their neighborhood, but I asked if Romney is not a leader simply because my students don't like him. One of my students replied that "he's not our kind, so we don't like him." I recognized pervasive racism in this comment and I pressed my student to come up with a legitimate reason why she doesn't think Romney is a leader, to which she replied "You know black people don't like white people!" I was a little horrified by this comment, and seeing this, she quickly followed up with "Not you, Ms. Jillian! You not white, you black." I thanked her for her vote of confidence, and obviously followed up with a conversation about racism. But for the rest of the day, she was quick to remind me that she considers me one of her own people, and one that she likes.

2. It's raining tacos

On a recent field trip to the national mall, I got to see my students in an entirely new context. Many of them rarely leave Southeast, so most of them had never seen the memorials, even though they were all born in DC. They enjoyed the memorials and despite complaints about walking long distances, had a good time on the mall. While we were there, a fleet of army helicopters flew over. I pointed them out to a student, thinking he would find it interesting. He agreed that it was cool, but then said "I hope those drop tacos on us! Oh yeah, I bet they will. Yum!" He then went on a tangent about tacos. Needless to say, his favorite part of the trip was actually lunch at Ben's Chili Bowl.

3. Love, in all its forms

The other day, a student randomly hugged me tightly and told me she loved me. I was a little taken aback by this affection, because in my school it isn't common. I wasn't sure what to say at first, because I am still in an authority building stage with my students, where we have been encouraged to be very firm with them and make it clear that we are not there to be their friends. But then I realized that it might be all too familiar for this student to give love and not receive any in return. And the thing is that I do love my students, even the ones who cause me constant frustration. So I told her I loved her too, and I realized that's the truth. I love these third graders so much, and I want them to know. The sad truth is that there aren't many people in their lives to love them, and I want to be that person for them. It was a gentle reminder to not let their behavior take away from my affection for them. They might yell at each other and at me, they might fight daily, and refuse to do their work, but despite all that, I love each and every one of them.

City Year is great at providing support for all of us in our service, and there a lot of positive culture pieces that build community. One of these was the red jacket dedication ceremony. I got a chance to write for the City Year blog about this event; check it out if you want to read about it: http://cityyeardc.wordpress.com/2012/09/17/the-idealists-journey-begins/

I realize that this entire post has been about work, which is natural because this year of service is consuming. But next time I'll post about life outside Ferebee, and all the amazing things I've been doing in DC during my free time!

District Life Begins

I have completely failed at blogging in the last 6 weeks or so. In my defense, starting a life 2700 miles away from your old one takes a lot of time and energy. But for those of you that haven't realized, I am officially living in DC! I can't believe that I've already been here five weeks, and that so much has happened in that time!

Jessica and I found an apartment, and even though rent in DC makes me want to cry, it's still exciting to be living in my first ever non dorm/non parental home residence. The place was definitely a bit of a fixer upper...which for the rent we are paying is a bit ludicrous. But after a few days of scrubbing, air freshening, and furniture building, it started to feel like home! After one IKEA trip from hell, we live in a semi-furnished basement apartment, in a great neighborhood. The proximity to metro and everything in the city probably makes up for the disgusting rent.

In addition to moving into a new home, I also started work this month, and I have been in training as a City Year DC Corps Member ever since! Our Basic Training Academy has been ongoing for 4 weeks now, and it has given me a chance to get to know a lot of my 164 co-workers. Since then, we have all been placed in teams to work in different DCPS schools. Along with 7 other Corps Members, I'll be serving at Ferebee-Hope Elementary School. I've been assigned to a 3rd grade class, and the first official day of school is tomorrow! I'm really excited to meet the students and work closely with my classroom teacher and CY team to make create a positive atmosphere in a DCPS school with a troubled history. I'm just starting to get used to the hours of a Corps Member, but setting my alarm for pre 6:00 AM still makes me a little sad. Hopefully I'll adjust and be a morning person...eventually.

I'll make an effort to blog a little bit more now that I'm actually in the school and finally settled into life here! Anyone who hears how obnoxiously often I talk about Arizona can tell you that I'm still homesick, and it's hard to be across the country from so many of my best friends. But whatever else this year brings, I at least know that it will continue to be exciting!!

Arrivederci, Europe!

After a last week of brutally hot temperatures and incredible sights, the Europe trip is over. I've been back in Arizona for a week now, preparing for an even bigger trip in my life!

As I failed to blog during the end of the trip (having my laptop back is fantastic), here's a rundown of Croatia and Italy. After we left Plitvice Lakes and took a million pictures to remember how gorgeous it is (here's a sample), it was off to the Croatian coast!

Rovinj

We spent two days enjoying the Adriatic and sun, jumping straight into the water from rocks on the coast, and swimming in the clearest water of my life! We even spent both of our nights near the ocean, like we were afraid to let it out of our sight, just sitting on the rocks with a picnic and wine to watch the sunset over the water. It was also here that we realized just how hot the southern countries of Europe get during early July. Fortunately, we had the ocean to cool us off during the day, and one rainstorm to make nighttime more bearable! Ultimately, Rovinj became my 3rd favorite destination of the trip, because it is the perfect place to enjoy the ocean, and the town itself is so quaint that you can't help but fall in love with it! I described it as the Carlsbad of the Croatia/Italy border, and those of you who know how I feel about Carlsbad know that was quite the endorsement!

Venice

As soon as our ferry arrived in Venice, the idea that Croatia was hot seemed laughable. Venice was boiling at around 95 degrees and 98% humidity. To make matters worse, our hostel was actually a converted top floor of a convent, and apparently my religion doesn't believe in A/C. The two nights we slept there were a true test of patience, as Elyse and I battled over the only fan in our room. Venice was definitely crowded, and we had to spend the afternoon inside museums, just to avoid heat exhaustion. But there's no denying that this city just has something special, and as we cruised along on the vaporetto, I think we all realized just how wonderful it is.

Rome

If our last stop had been any city other than Rome, I think I would have felt absolutely depleted and almost relieved to be heading back to the states. Fortunately, Rome lived up to my expectations and memories, and proved to be even more beautiful than the first time I was there! On the very first night in the city, I led the group out on a "Jilliandrews walking tour" and it felt like coming home. All of the sights rejuvenated me, and just being back in that city that I love so much was the perfect ending to the perfect trip. We crammed a lot of sightseeing into 4 days, and I think we made the last city count!

Coming home to Arizona was a weird mixture of sadness and relief, but stepping into the air conditioning of Sky Harbor made me realize I was truly glad to be home! I still am, but many ice cold Diet Cokes later, I am nostalgic for Europe and I would go back in a heartbeat. 


The month we spent traveling was stressful, but in a very elemental way, as in: Where the hell is our hostel? or How are we going to survive on less than 30 euro today? And now that I'm back in the US, faced with the imminent move to DC, I find myself missing that kind of stress. But I also know that a trip like the one we had is a rare experience, and chances are I will never do anything like that again in my life. And that's probably the way it should be, or else the sights that I saw and the things that I experienced would be much less precious to me. And above all, I will remember the one repeating thought I had at every great monument, national park, masterpiece, and twilight piazza: I am so lucky to be here. 

Living the Croatian high life!

It was a long journey to get here, but Croatia has lived up to expectations in weird and wonderful ways!! After a bus and two trains (17 hours) from prague, elyse and I walked to our Zagreb hostel, only to find that they had messed up our reservation. That left us wandering the Zagreb streets at midnight, until we ended up at Best western. It is laughably expensive and lavish compared to the hostels we have been staying in, but we are obsessed with its air conditioning, comfy beds, private bathroom, and lack of roommates!  So after loading our backpacks with stolen items from our free breakfast, we spent the day in Plitvice lakes. It was easily the most beautiful place I have ever seen! We hiked for about four hours, had a great picnic courtesy of the best western, and loved every minute in the most gorgeous national park that I could imagine! I can't wait to post pictures for you all to see! We leave for rovinj tomorrow, to enjoy Croatia's coast and escape the heat at the beach. If it is anything like the rest of the countryside we have seen, we are in for a treat!  And tonight we will be cheering on italia because we want them to be euro cup champs when we are there next week! 

When in Prague...

Today is our last day in Prague, and Sheas last day of the trip! In the last week, we have been in Berlin and here, in the best city that I have been to!

Berlin was a lot of fun because it was so much different than the other places we have been. It is not as well known as a tourist destination, so we got to experience the real city, with real Germans everywhere. It is a busy place, but it also feels very laidback, and we got to relax a little more there, mostly in beer gardens. Except for the day that we got lost in the rain and walked for two straight hours through the city and a massive park to find a beer garden that was ultimately closed, we all had a blast experiencing a place with so much history and so much going on in the modern day. The city is very upfront with its history of WWII and the Holocaust, which was refreshing because they are clearly dedicated to making sure nothing like that could ever happen again. We wandered through the memorial to the murdered Jews of Europe and toured countless museum exhibits about the horrors, and then stood on top of the bunker where Hitler took his life at the end of the war. The only thing there now is a parking lot because the Berliners refuse to commemorate him in any way. We actually stayed in East Berlin, so the city from that side seems pretty drab. But once you get over to the west side, it is just as beautiful as any city that we have been to!

After Berlin, we trained over to Prague, which has been a real highlight of the trip. I have always wanted to go here, so my expectations were pretty high. But on the first night, when we walked across the Charles Bridge at dusk, everything I hoped for was absolutely blown away because Prague is better than I ever imagined! It is undoubtedly the most beautiful city I have ever seen, and we have spent countless hours exploring cobblestone streets, castles, cathedrals, and the Vltava River, including two paddle boat sessions! It is also a great place for nightlife, and we went on a bar crawl with a 2.5 hour open bar...you can imagine how that went. All in all, we really do not want to leave because Prague has something for all of us. We have all found things that we really enjoyed touring, including the Prague Castle, Petrin Hill, a mirror maze for kids, an orthodox church where Czech resistance fighters hid out, and the most beautiful town square that any of us have ever seen. It will be sad to say goodbye, but according to legend, if you rub a certain bronze sculpture on the Charles Bridge, you will return to Prague during your lifetime. Shea, Elyse and I are already comparing schedules for the next ten years to find a time when we can come back together!

Now Shea is moving on to real life in New York, and the rest of us are on to Croatia and Italy. Elyse and I have a 16 hour bus-train-train journey to Zagreb tomorrow, but then we get to see the Plitvice Lakes )google it if you havent already seen how breathtaking it is!) It is getting really hot, and these Southern countries are going to be a whole new experience for our backpacking skills! Wish us luck!