"What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, more unashamed conversation." -Glenn Close

So I have officially completed three weeks of teaching in my own first grade classroom in Mississippi. It has been many things, including exhausting, busy and chaotic, but it has also already been full of moments that are shaping who I am and who I want to be as a teacher. I'm learning a lot, working a lot, fixing a lot, changing a lot and constantly reminding myself why I'm here. This is basically what my life looks like down here (by the dubs I've been here for almost 3 months now. holy BUCKETS time flies, like WHAT?): 1. I teach first grade writing, language and science/social studies (mostly writing/language). There are 46 students in the first grade, 15-16 in each of three classes, and they rotate from classroom to classroom for the different subjects. Yes, they are so young for that. No, I've never heard of it anywhere else. But YES, they CAN handle it, they are BRILLIANT little children, resilient and flexible. We're all working together and doing everyth...

Lots of people asked me why I decided to move to Mississippi. Why not to...Hawaii, for example, with my greatest friend Miss Anna Tucker (fellow TFA corps member)?? Did I draw the short stick? No. I've wanted to move here for years. I've wanted to move here because at some point, some how, the education system failed certain people in our country and I want to be a part of the solution. These students are FULLY CAPABLE of the success the students from higher performing and more affluent schools experience, but because of what has been named the achievement gap, the resources are not available to them. Teach for America works to fill that gap, and Mississippi is one of its highest need areas in the country. Here are some facts (I'm slowly learning these more and more as I go and I want to share): -18-21% of students in Mississippi are retained at least once after kindergarten -41% of students in Mississippi don't even graduate -towns like West Bolivar, Mississi...

Well, it's pretty much official (it is official)...I HAVE A HOUSE! And by I, I mean WE, because I'll be moving in with two beautiful Hollandale colleagues of mine (Katie and Vanessa) and one lucky other lady from another area who we are just getting to know! So now, for the great unveiling of the BEAUTIFUL MAJESTIC PALACE that I will soon call home....prepare to be amazed.  We begin with the peaceful drive from Cleveland (where I'm currently staying at Delta State University) toward Leland, Mississippi, homeland of George Abide and now ME!  A little drive through town (note the Abide Furniture Store)...we're nearing my house! TA DA! And we pull up in front of the gorgeous 607, the beautiful little red brick house owned by Mary, already sure to be the greatest landlord (she has 12 rental homes and all of them are rented out to TFA).  ((the house is yet to be named, but I won't let this beaut go without a good one, that's for sure))...

#margs #fridaynight #teachers #mississippi #friends out to La Cabana for school socials and MONSTER MARGS Sometimes margs make you think deep thoughts (not me, but maybe him). Colleagues at Sanders Elementary School! Climbing to the roof of the dorm...#adventureous (turns out the college cops came right after my friends and I climbed down and everybody on the roof got scolded big time....narrowly escaped that one...#lucky) #timetogettowork

Just finished week one with the little angels! Honestly its hard to put into words everything that we've been doing down here because it's so much. I can say this much, however: I literally laugh constantly with my students. They are honest, funny and real. They say what they're thinking and they mean what they say. They work so hard and make me so proud every single day! It amazes me the amount of effort they're giving so that they can be ready to go to second grade and eventually "play college sports" or just go to college in general!   So here's a little pic update, maybe interspersed with some hilarious 6 year old stories (if you're lucky):  Our 2nd grade teaching team!  From left to right, Ms Karpilo, Ms Forster and Ms Delgato I'm the luckiest because these two ladies are so great to work with and I'm learning so much from them! These pictures were taken at our community night (pizza with parents) at West Bolivar! ...

((a little glimpse into life at Teach for America Summer Institute and the talent I'm surrounded by))

Dear Loyal Listeners, Sorry these blog posts aren't funny yet. Turns out there's a lot of serious business when you're in the position of getting 9 almost-second-graders ready to enter second grade when some of them are still doing reading and math at a pre-primary level. It's a huge job, actually. It's unbelievably daunting. 9 students, 3 adults, 1 month to conquer this b-word called the achievement gap. NOT COOL, EDUCATION SYSTEM. But in the meantime, when we're not working on lesson planning, building classroom culture, learning how to teach (it's good review for me, it really is), practicing behavior management (explicit directions, narrate behaviors "Kenderrius is showing me he's ready to go by having his hands in his pockets and his voice turned off, Lisbeth has her hands in her pockets and is facing forward, I see that X'Zavier is showing me he's ready to go by having his hands in his pockets and his body facing forward...,"...