Miss

It seems like a second has gone by since I submitted my application and anxiously awaited a response to see whether or not I would even make it through stage one of the rigorous process to join Teach For America. A phone interview, group and individual in-person interview, month-long institute in Arizona and countless job applications have led me here, one year later. I've just finished teaching my first full week of classes in southwest Denver. *Pinch*. I can barely believe it myself. How can I possibly be teaching when I still don't know anything? I guess this may mean that I do know something. Shocking. All those years behind a desk were worth it. Maybe. I try to convince my students of that every day.

My school is a 'Multiple Pathway Center' in the Public School system where students come who haven't found their niche anywhere else in the vast sea of public education. They've misbehaved, ditched, gotten pregnant, went to jail, and just plain-old failed. They come here for a 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th.... 100th, and likely last, chance to get their high school diploma or GED, and some may even leave with some college credit through our nursing, criminal justice, or business classes. We're implementing a program called Diploma Plus, which is currently mostly East and West Coast, but is slowly creeping into the center of our vast country. We are debuting it here in Colorado. It's unique. Essentially, no A-F grading system, no grading on content (we stick to 'competencies'), and more or less unlimited chances for students (or scholars as we call them) to prove to us that they have mastered something. I could have a student this year come back to me 3 years from now and re-do an assignment to improve their grade. It's really pretty much on them. They can and will graduate, IF they pull it together and try. They are supposed to each have access to a laptop. We don't have standard grade levels (since many students are significantly older than the average for their grade), but have 3 levels; foundation, presentation and plus, that the students advance through in order to graduate. They create a portfolio as they go through the levels and give a presentation to staff/community members detailing what they've learned and what they plan to do with themselves post-graduation (and this must be a solid, realistic plan) before we cut them loose. Overall, a really great concept.

Unfortunately, the district sees us as yet another dumping ground for students that other schools can't handle/don't want, and the pressure has been on for us to enroll anyone that walks through the door. Diploma Plus is built upon a fairly in-depth interview process to ensure that students are fully ready and motivated to return to school and testing to ensure that they can read and write at a 6th grade level. The interview and testing are occurring, but not all of our students fit either or both of these criteria. It is clear in class who is ready to saddle up and graduate and who still has no clue why they're coming each day. Additionally, about 40% of our students read/write below a 6th grade level, and many are between 1st and 3rd grade. So, not exactly what we're set up for. DP also wants class sizes of 18 or less, and if everything goes as the district hopes, we will likely be at 25 plus by the end of the year.

All that being said, I currently have classes of between 5 and 12 students. Which is great. I am really getting to know them and am so inspired and awed by their stories, their perspectives and their personalities. They are, for the most part, great. I teach for 330 minutes a day, with a 45 minute break for lunch and a scheduled 37.5 minutes on either end for planning. I'm usually at school by 7am and leave by 5:30pm. I spend most of the weekend doing lesson plans for the coming week. It's definitely hard, but they students are making it worthwhile.

Back to planning...