Janelle's Story

(Caution - This is a long post, but only because it's a story worth telling)

There are several tangible things that determine success or failure in the classroom:

Is the pencil sharpener working?
Is the class clown in rare form ?
Did you sleep last night? .....

There are also several intangible things that make an even greater difference. 
One noteworthy example of this is student motivation.  If your students don't care to learn, then there isn't a whole lot you can do to make them.

Fortunately, I had Janelle* in my summer school class. 

The first day, I thought Janelle was going to be a handful. She had a blank gaze on her face with a slight air of disinterest.  When I gave the diagnostic test, she just continued to stare straight ahead.  After the allotted hour and a half, she had completed 10 out of 33 problems.  In that moment, I had about zero idea how I was going to reach her.

The second day was just as much of a surprise as the first.  Midway through my first math lesson, Janelle, still with a look of mild detachment, handed me a folded note with "Mr. S" neatly printed at the top.  Inside, all the note said was:
"Could you help me with math?  I don't get it."  -Janelle
Here was this girl that I thought I would never reach asking me to help her with math (as you can imagine this is a teacher's dream for a student to realize they need your help :)

Janelle had reasons to want to succeed in my summer school class.  Her twin sister was already a grade ahead of her, and if she didn't pass, Janelle would fall two grades behind her.  It was already obvious that she was one of the oldest sixth graders in the class.  At 5'8", Janelle nearly looked me in the eye when I would greet her each morning.  Whatever the reason, Janelle wanted it, and that made two of us.

Janelle and I worked together every spare moment we had.  She regularly did extra homework, bringing it back to me so I could check it during breakfast.  Her older sister wanted her to succeed so much that often she would check Amanda's papers at home.  Janelle's father was completely on board as well, seeing a motivation and confidence in Janelle that was new to her approach to math.  And the results started coming.  Janelle would regularly get 100% on my daily worksheets, and her long division and multiplication improved every day.  When it came time for our final assessment, Janelle completed a practice test at home and got 30 out of 33 correct!  She was so ready.

For anyone who is looking for an uplifting Teach For America success story, this is the wrong place.  Despite all of her improvement, on the final test day Janelle broke my heart.  The final test got off to a good start; Janelle was working diligently and seemed to be confident.  After about half an hour though, her eyes started wandering and she began to stare off into space, behavior eerily similar to the way she acted during the original diagnostic test.  I stopped at her desk to emphasize that it was important that she concentrate, but when she looked up at me, her eyes were beginning to tear up.  "It's too hard, Mr. Siscoe." This was the first time Janelle had shown even a hint of emotion.  My body immediately tensed up.  Here was a girl that I had worked side-by-side with the entire summer, but right now I couldn't be there for her.  She had to complete the test on her own. 

As it turned out, Janelle suffered from a paralyzing test anxiety.  Even though she was capable of solving the different problem types, the stress of the test environment (one that had meant repeated failure for her in the past) made it difficult to do what had begun to come naturally on her homework.  Janelle completed 26 of 33 questions and got a 45%, 15% lower than what she needed to pass the summer school class.

I thought we had everything we needed to succeed.  The tangible things were there:
-completed homework
-a strong support system
-a teacher willing to work hard enough to overcome his weaknesses
An important intangible was there as well:
-Janelle's motivation.

All of that only to be upended by another intangible.




*All student names have been changed

Four Weeks or Four Years?

When I was still back at Olivet in the spring, I had a friend who was an education major approach me about my acceptance into TFA.  I told them about the patchwork introduction I was getting into teaching, complete with cram session for certification tests, Skype hiring interviews with administrators, and teaching four weeks of summer school.  As they were starting to understand the whole process, they pressed me with a question:

“So let me get this straight.  I’ve been going to school for four years to get into education and I don’t have a job yet, but you have majored in something completely different and you already have a teaching job?”

When I heard it phrased like that, it all did sound a little bit ridiculous.  The fact that I am not even marginally qualified has really been an ever-present reality of this whole process.

TFA’s remedy for that of course is summer institute.  Here’s a small look into my daily schedule:

5am – Wakeup , shower, and breakfast (Didn’t finish your lesson plan last night? Looks like breakfast and a shower might not be an option)

6– Get on the bus to Lyon Elementary

7 – Arrive at Lyon.  Supervise students arriving for breakfast

8-9:30- Curriculum session and lesson plan work time

9:40-10:45 – Tutoring hour with my Entering 6^th graders

10:45-11:15 - Lunch

11:15 – 12:00 - Teach Lesson for the day

12:00-12:45 – Grade papers, plan tutoring sessions for the following day

12:45-1 – Summer school dismissal

1:15 – 4:30 Various curriculum and training sessions

4:30 – Get on the bus back to Delta State

6 – Dinner

Evenings include everything from additional evening session to planning advance rough draft lesson plans to finalizing the next day’s lesson plan and gathering materials.  Most people get done with this stuff around midnight.

Repeat.

 (Summer School Teaching Team.  We're the Lyon Bobcats.  Nothing like a little cat confusion)

Yes.  It is a whirlwind.  Yes.  We are always tired.  The coffee machine in the faculty room has become our new favorite hangout.  But hey, I figure, “What’s worse?  Four weeks, or four years?”

Southern Connections?

When I heard my TFA assignment was in Mississippi, I was pretty sure that meant I would have to start my life over again.  This is my first time ever living in Mississippi.  I’m pretty sure I didn’t know it was between Arkansas and Alabama before moving down here.  Nevertheless, I’ve been surprised at the connections I’ve found to my past.

Last Saturday, the Guy family from Ball Ground, GA (just outside of Atlanta) stopped by Delta State to take me out for dinner.  I have known the Guys now for three years, ever since I met them working as a counselor at Pine Cove.  I was Caleb’s personal counselor for the week and we did everything together – we rode the golf cart around camp each morning and greeted everyone, went down the slide 50 times a day, spent the hot afternoon hours at the pool, and watched the entire Veggietales series.  I basically became part of the family, which is probably why Mollie now calls herself “my southern mother”.

On their way back from Pine Cove, they went a little out of their way (a little being two hours north past Jackson and back) to take me out for dinner at Pizza Hut.  They made sure to welcome me to the South, and Caleb made sure to impress me with how many words he knows and how mischievous he still is…

This Saturday, I made another Pine Cove connection in Alabama.  Katie Bivens worked the second half of the ’08 summer with me, which led to being facebook friends, which snowballed into me attending a wedding in Birmingham this last weekend.  Katie currently works as an admissions counselor at the University of Alabama and figured that one of her coworker’s weddings would be a good chance to reconnect.

At the reception I had a number of firsts.  First evening in Alabama.  First time singing “Sweet Home Alabama” in its homeland.  It was my first time in Vulcan Park, a hilly overlook on which the Vulcan statue sits and provides an excellent view of the city.  There’s a first time for everything, but I just never figured I would have these with people I already knew.

Feels Like Coming Home

As you might know, the first day of the rest of my life was June 7, 2011.  That's when I moved in to the dorms at Delta State University in Cleveland, Mississippi to start my training with Teach for America!

On Wikipedia, Mississippi has two state slogans: "Feels like Coming Home" and "The South's Warmest Welcome".  I think that we experienced a little of both this week.  After spending a lot of time meeting fellow TFAers and in leadership sessions (for a full overview of this, you might want to check out my friend Jeremy's thorough description), my math cohort was welcomed into the home of Carol Tatum for a Southern-style dinner on Friday evening.  The house was beautiful very spacious, big enough to hold over 30 TFAers and several community guests besides.  Distinguished guests included everyone from the president of the Chamber of Commerce to a local Congressman, and they were all interested in meeting us and hearing what had brought us to the Mississippi Delta.  We were served several Southern essentials-everything from fried chicken to shrimp and grits to spiced tea.  I think I could get into this Southern hospitality...

                         Math Cohort 3! (L to R - John, Kennard, Myself, Gretchen, Jack, and Jeremy)  

The next night TFA was welcomed to Greenville, MS with a catfish fry and live concert at the high school gym.  After that, almost everyone headed over to Indianola for a live concert by the blues legend B.B. King.  He was born in Indianola (about a half an hour away from Delta State) and played the concert right outside the museum commissioned in his honor. 

 (The man. The legend.)

I actually had the chance to talk to a couple of B.B.'s cousins who were at the concert- They told me B.B. always loves doing concerts for his hometown because his roots and his family are his priorities.

The South's Warmest Welcome?  I think so.