Mohamad Maarouf, 2010 Corps Member, Houston - A Day in the Life

Mohamad Maarouf graduated Duke in 2009 and spent a year working in New York City before joining the corps. He is currently teaching geometry at KIPP Houston High School. Here, he shares with us an insightful look into "a day in the life of a TFA corps member"... Enjoy!

After graduation, I spent a year working in New York before applying to TFA. When I was accepted, I had a very tough choice at hand – stay in New York and create and implement an international training program for the largest privately owned linguistics company or join an international movement dedicated to educational equity and excellence. Needless to say, I chose the latter, and after 3 months in the classroom, I can honestly say that it was one of the best decisions I have ever made.

Looking back, I realize that understanding not just what goes on in a corps members classroom but what happens on a day-by-day basis could have made the decision a lot easier. I hope that this “day in the life of a corps member (me)…” gives you a deeper understanding of both the dedication it takes and the wonderful experiences you could have daily with Teach For America. Notice that while the odds are definitely stacked against you as a corps member (the challenges) there are plenty of things to appreciate (the successes).

A day in the life...

It’s 5:30am, and my alarm is going off. Challenge #1 - I’m exhausted and don’t want to get up, but I have to… the kids need me. It’s what keeps me going every single day. I get ready for work; eat some breakfast; and grab my computer, lunch, and head out the door. I almost forgot! I have some rewards for the students who have worked hard to achieve 80% mastery on all the daily learning objectives of Unit 2. I’ve gotten to know my students pretty well (and if not, I always have those surveys from the beginning of the year J), so I try to personalize their gifts - artist pencils for B since she loves to draw, a box of Mac & Cheese for G because that’s his favorite dish, etc. Success #1 – It takes a lot of time, but seeing those beaming smiles of pride when they are recognized for their achievement and hearing those laughs when they see the rewards makes it well worth it.

It’s 6:15am, and I just made it to school. I finish signing in and swing by to check if another corps member is in. He and I are usually the first ones on campus and the last ones off. We both teach math at KIPP Houston High School. I teach Geometry and he teaches Pre-Calculus and Statistics right down the hall from me. Success #2 - It’s incredible to have that moral support a few feet away, and not to mention, we’ve built a friendship that I’m sure will last for years to come. Of course, he’s in his room getting everything ready for class. “Good morning. How’s it going?” “Same ol’ man. Just making sure everything perfect for first period.” “Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a ton of copies to make, emails to respond to, and papers to grade. I’m going to get some stuff done right now.” Challenge #2 - With so much to do, it’s really hard to have every single thing prepared, and unlike what he said, there’s never perfect…we both know this, but we’re trying.

It’s 7:15am, and I just finished making all the copies for my classes, writing the objective on the board, and setting up all the chairs. At KIPP this is about the time that students start swinging by to get tutorial passes, say good morning, ask about homework, etc. The school day starts at 7:45am, but teachers are required to be there at 7:15am. The first student comes in, “What’s up Mr. Maarouf?! I didn’t master objective 3.2 from our last test. Can I come in to do the retake this morning?” “Of course K. Did you study?” “You know I did Mr. Maarouf! I got this.” “haha…Ok, here’s a tutorial pass.” Success #3 - It’s awesome to hear my students refer to specific objectives, the term “mastery,” and really understand where their gaps are, especially when they used to come in saying “Can I retake one of the quizzes I failed? I don’t know which ones though.”

It’s 7:45am, and my tutorials are starting. It seems like a million students are coming in. Challenge #3 – How in the world do you tutor all these kids, when each one has a different question? I set them up and start sending them to different stations – quiz retakes, objective 4.1, objective 4.2, and homework. I have student helpers set up at each station and spend my time running back and forth answering as many questions as possible. Last ten minutes are for students to do the quiz retake. Success #4 – they all achieve mastery. It’s such an incredible feeling to see the gains made over just a couple of days.

It’s 8:15am, and my first class begins. Success #5­ – All 28 of my students walk in and begin their First Five quietly; eight weeks ago, I didn’t think this would ever happen. Challenge #4 – Only 21 of my students have their homework on their desk for me to check. Getting my kids to do homework has been extremely difficult, and unfortunately this is one of my best classes. I have to give them their consequences. For two of them, it’s a detention (since this is their third time); for one, it’s a one-on-one conversation with me after class and call home (since this is his second time), and for the others it’s a warning (since this is their first time). We begin the lesson, and everyone is following along. Success #6 - Students are raising their hands, calling out answers when appropriate, and really following along. When I give the Exit Ticket, everyone seems to have mastered the day’s objective. It is such a great feeling!

It’s 9:50am, and this is my off-period. Challenge #5 – There’s no such thing as an off-period – there is always something to do. Two students walk into my class. “Mr. Maarouf can we get some work done in here?” They’re in a study hall next door, so I let them come in and work. Five minutes later, my Instructional Coach (soon to be followed by my Program Director - PD) walks in. I have separate meetings with each of them about the observations of my class. Success #7 and Challenge #6 – As usual, at the end of each debrief I walk away feeling really good about the lesson, and I have a ton of action steps, all of which I really want to get done, so that I can be better for my kids – unfortunately, they take a lot of time, and that’s one thing I don’t have. I know that the steps will make me much better, so I put them on my to-do list and implement them as soon as possible. Challenge #7 – They’re on top because I don’t have time to waste – my kids are too far behind. I prioritize, but it still has to get done as soon as possible, and that’s very stressful.

It’s 11:30, and this is my lunch break – my time to relax J. I sit back and eat my food, and my door opens. “Mr. Maarouf, I have to speak to you.” She slips me a note; it’s depressing. Something more terrible than I could have ever imagined has happened to one of my students this weekend. Success #8 and Challenge #8 – I have built an amazing amount of trust with my students, so much so that they come to me for everything, but how do I deal with it? What am I supposed to do in this situation? I have to tell someone, but I don’t want to break the trust I have with her (or any other student). Success #9 - We talk about it, and I am able to convince her to reach out to one of the counselors on campus. Nothing is cleared up just yet, but I hope that it will be soon.

It’s 12:40pm, and this is 3^rd period. Challenge #9 – This class has 21 students, 4 of which have Individualized Education Plans (IEPs), 7 of which are some of the lowest performing sophomores, and the rest of which are a mixture of high-performing and in-between students. Success #10 – I have learned to engage almost every student through some methods of differentiation. I still have a lot of work to do, but being able to challenge every student even with my First Five (warm-up activity) is an awesome feeling! Challenge #10 – Because of the mixture of students in this class, it is one of the toughest to manage. I spend a lot of the period giving consequences for misbehavior and inattention – one student has her head on the desk, another student keeps getting out of his seat, and one other student is not getting to work. It’s stressful to waste class time managing misbehavior, but it has to be done. As usual, they realize how important every minute of class is to me and settle down. Challenge #11 – An announcement comes in; the class pictures will no longer happen during 4^th period, instead they will happen right now. This is terrible, because I don’t have much planned for 4^th and 3^rd period really needs the extra practice. I don’t have a choice, so I take them all down. We get back from the pictures and have about 40 minutes left. Success #11 – I clearly lay out my expectations, we get down to work, and once I bring in a game of Jeopardy to practice the new concepts they just learned, everyone in the class is involved. It makes me think though, how can I get them like this the whole time. I can’t reasonably make a game of Jeopardy last the entire period every day, and even if I did, they would get bored of that. I have to make class better. Challenge #12 – How? I will spend part of my evening reflecting on this and drawing conclusions from what went well and what didn’t in this lesson and in past lessons.

It’s 2:15pm, and this is 4^th period, my Honor’s class. You’d think this was the best and easiest class, but guess again. Challenge #13 – I have to make every single minute of this class as challenging and engaging as possible or else… Unfortunately though, 90 minutes is a really long time to do just that. I get everyone on their feet to “Practice the Fundamentals.” Challenge #14 – My 10^th grade students struggle when working with negative numbers and fractions, so I’ve instituted an activity in which I call out math problems and they have to solve them mentally. I’m hoping that this will get them comfortable. Of course, right in the middle of the activity, the fire alarm goes off. I take the kids outside. Success #12 – My students start yelling, “Mr. Maarouf, why don’t we practice the fundamentals out here?!” I’m stunned; they want to do math during a fire drill? It makes me so happy, and we jump right in.

It’s 4:00pm, and at KIPP we have something called Co-Curricular Activity. It’s an hour in which you teach any topic you’d like. I have chosen to teach Rap/Hip-Hop Appreciation. Success #13 – I get to spend an hour with students sharing something that we are all really passionate about. It’s a great time for everyone and a very fun hour.

It’s 5:00pm, and I have after-school duty. I usually have morning duty, but today I switched with another teacher. Success #14 – A couple students walk by me and give me a high five while yelling “Have a good night best teacher ever!” I’m sure they’re saying it just so I can give them a different assigned seat, but it still makes me happy J. Success #15 – A senior (who I do not teach) asks me to check my email tonight, so that I can give her some feedback on her application to Duke. Helping students make it to and through college is an incredible feeling, especially when it is Duke.

It’s 5:30pm, and the school is clear of students. I sit back at my desk and relax for 30 minutes or so. I have a lot of reflecting to do and a lot to prepare for my other 3 periods tomorrow. Challenge #15 - I know I will be at school for at least another 3-4 hours. Success #16 – Of course though, it’s all very worth it to me, because for every challenge in the day, I know there is at least one more success.

Chrissy Booth, 2010 Corps Member, Atlanta

Chrissy graduated from Duke last year, and is already a Teach For America veteran! While at Duke, she worked on the recruitment team as a Campus Campaign Coordinator. Now, she is teaching 10th grade chemistry in Atlanta. She has graciously offered to share her experiences over her first few months of teaching. Thanks, Chrissy!

From its opening in 1924 until 1947, Booker T. Washington High School was the only public school in Atlanta for black students. The alma mater of Dr. Martin Luther King, located just down the street from three colleges, was recently split into four small schools in an effort to ensure that the schools would meet Annual Yearly Performance standards. One of these schools, Washington Health Science and Nutrition, has been my school for the last three months since Teach for America and APS placed me here as the tenth grade chemistry teacher.

When I decided to join Teach for America in February of this year, I anticipated late nights planning lessons, the challenges of running a chemistry lab, and the excitement and relief of confirming that students had mastered a challenging concept. I anticipated that an achievement gap would be visible in my own classroom and that students would be encountering extremely challenging circumstances both in school and at home.

Even having heard so many statistics about the achievement gap in America, even having read stories of students who have slipped through the cracks and been left behind by a failing system, I could not have imagined the magnitude of the disparities I would see in my classroom. I only begin to understand the issues when my tenth grade students try to explain to me that 12+13+14+15 = 141 or that there are 99 cents in one dollar, or that “indivisible” means see-through. An appalling 70% of my students failed to meet standards on the math EOCT as ninth graders, and over half of them failed to meet standards on the math portion of the CRCT in eighth grade. Few of them read on a high school level. Based on informal surveys given during the PSAT and during a “We Do it 4 the Hood” assembly, it seems that more of my students have family members who have gone to jail than have graduated from college.

As a homework assignment on the first day of school, I had my chemistry students fill out a mock Duke application. The essay asked them to explain where they wanted to be in four years, where they wanted to be in ten years, and what it would take to get there. The essays revealed that my students understand that the stakes are high for them. An education means a chance at having a real career, a stable life, a safe neighborhood, and an opportunity to look after a family. Their goals range from becoming pediatricians to football players to forensic scientists to “just getting out of this hood.”

Early in the year, we watched a clip from President Obama’s address to American students and discussed whether the unique challenges of poverty create a barrier for students. I expected my students to optimistically say that even if you come from a rough background, you can still fight past the challenges and be successful. They did not take up this argument. Our discussion of this speech was enlightening; my students could articulate the problems of the achievement gap into which they had fallen, as they had witnessed the impact it had on their community.

The thing is, they are starting to prove themselves wrong. Many of my students who are juggling financial issues at home, a dangerous neighborhood, a night-shift, or a child of their own, are still making the time to do homework and build a model of an atom. Students who told me they have no interest in school are starting to come up with proposals for experiments they could try over the weekend. They may be far below grade level, but my students are inquisitive, resilient, and loaded with potential. We have a very long way to go, and the first three months have brought plenty of discouragement and frustration, but the more I get to know my students, the more grateful I am for the opportunity to work with them and witness their sparks of curiosity and revelation.

Meg Foran, 2010 Corps Member, Greater New Orleans

Meg Foran is a new Teach For America teacher in our Greater New Orleans region. Here, she shares with us her decision process in choosing to join the corps, and her experience teaching High School Social Studies. She is already making a fantastic impact for her students!

I have been deciding what to write for this blog post for several days. There are so many thoughts and stories and feelings I have about my time in TFA, even after only six months in the Corps. I finally decided that the most useful thing would be to write the blog post I wish I could have read this time last fall and talk a little bit about how I made the decision that led me to being here-- here being my classroom, in New Orleans East, staring at the tracking charts and student work on my walls.

A year ago I was exactly where I assume many of you are-- enjoying my senior year, dreading the decision about what to do with myself and feeling vaguely panicky and depressed whenever I thought about the future past May 16th. There seemed to be an infinite number of options open but none of them really spoke to me. I was having a long series of meetings with the Career Center about what I wanted to do, getting constant opinions from some people I asked for input and many that I didn't and above all, having everyone and their mother tell me, "I can't wait to see what you do, I am sure it will be amazing."

No pressure there. None at all.

Eventually, my counselor-imposed reflection led me to decide three things: I wanted a job that was not the same every day, I wanted a job that would challenge me and use my abilities to their full potential and I wanted a job that was significant, not just filling papers and getting coffee.

At the same time I was having a series of meetings with first Caroline and then Victor, hearing about their classrooms and above all being moved by the passion and conviction in their voices when they talked about the movement. This was something significant. I was also in communication with a number of friends who were in the corps, who were all, yes, exhausted and perhaps overworked, but utterly convinced of the importance of that work. I was intrigued. And by the time I went through the interview process and got my acceptance, I was hooked—I was going to be a teacher. I thought I had made the right choice.

I am happy to say that a year later and six months post-grad, I am in a job that fulfills all three of the things that were on that list, plus so much more. Of course, the things we ask for often arrive in unexpected packages, so here I am, teaching four different classes a day to a pack of very energetic high schoolers. When I was making that list a year ago, I did not include things like "waking up at 5:30 every morning" and "working harder than I ever have before," but I can recognize that everything that I wanted out of my first job is being fulfilled by my life right now. (With some extra "perks.")

Moreover, the idea of what to do after the Corps is still wide open, but much less terrifying. It is already clear to me that closing the achievement gap is: possible, difficult and a multi-level challenge. Whether I stay in the classroom, move to a non-profit or look into being an administrator, I know what my work will be focused on: creating the schools my high schoolers deserved to attend from kindergarten until now. And in the short term, I am working round the clock to be the teacher my kids deserve today, tomorrow and the next day.

And now, because no TFA Corps Member account would be complete without this, here is the student moment that is keeping me going this week. J is one of my eleventh graders, a sweet boy whose sociability and pleasantness can mask the struggles he has with his academic work. I realized that his tiny, cramped handwriting was partly a mechanism to try and disguise his lack of answers. I won't be honest-- I didn't quite know what to do and as a first year teacher I had a half dozen more pressing things in my mind than the quiet boy struggling in the corner.

J got a D in my class last quarter and it is more of a testament to his temperament and amazing attitude that he came back to class for the second quarter, gunning to improve. I will only give myself credit that he trusted that doing my work would get him where he wanted to go and I have been trying very hard not to fail him there. His hand was up frequently to answer questions; his notes and assignments were complete. We talked about how much more of this made sense to him.

J took his first quiz of the quarter last Friday and literally blew me out of the water with the improvement it showed-- he had a response for every question, he had details that had never been present before, and his confidence in his answers showed even in his handwriting, which was way more legible for once.

The problem? His grade was still a low C. I was still thrilled-- this was SO much higher than some of his quizzes had been in the last quarter, where one had been a 5 out of 20. But J, who had been waiting anxiously at my desk waiting for his score did not see exactly the same thing I did.

"It's only a C?" And I swear, I am not exaggerating even an iota, when I say his eyes watered up a little bit. Mine did too, because I cannot even explain how moved I was that he cared so much about a quiz in my class.

I very calmly put one hand on his shoulder and whispered, "J, this is so, so much better. This grade is an enormous improvement and I am so proud of you. Look at all of the things you know-- you have learned an incredible amount this week."

He paused for a second, and looked over the paper-- "But I didn't get anything wrong? I just wasn't complete in all my answers?"

I looked over the paper again to check and nodded emphatically. "I just need a little more next time. But no, there is nothing wrong on this paper."

And then he beamed at me. I don't think I completely understood-- and still don't entirely understand-- how much it meant to him that none of it was "wrong." But I do know that our hard work combined to allow J to feel like he had done something right, in school, in my class. It might sound ridiculous, but sometimes I forget how much validation I can give students from my position.

So-- that is why I am teaching this week. Next week there will probably be some other story in the forefront of my mind. But if I was talking to me, a year ago, sitting in Perkins slaving away over a list of life choices, I would tell me-- the right opportunity is coming, so recognize it and seize the day. I am never bored, I am pushed to the limits of my strengths and the depths of my weaknesses and am constantly amazed by the magnitude of the impact I can have-- on the micro scale in my classroom and on the macro scale as part of a city-wide Renaissance in New Orleans and a nation-wide movement as a Corps Member.

If your list that you are making looks like mine than know this-- TFA will really be the most challenging and most rewarding thing you ever do. And it will also be the right choice.

Marion Kennedy, 2009 Corps Member, Special Education, Greater Boston Area

Marion Kennedy graduated Duke in 2009. As a Teach For America corps member, she is currently working as a 7th grade Special Education teacher in Chelsea, MA - part of TFA's Greater Boston Region. Please enjoy Marion's perspective on the TFA experience, as well as teaching Special Ed!

Why I joined Teach For America:

I was born, raised, and educated in Durham NC, a town with areas both of affluence and of desperate poverty. I am so deeply grateful to my parents for not only providing me with a fantastic education, but for also instilling in me a sense of social responsibility. They taught me that an education is an individual’s most valuable possession. Through their values, my observations of just how unjust the education system is in Durham, and my own study of this country, I knew upon graduating from college that my career mission is to help ensure that all children, no matter what zip code they were born into, deserve a chance at success. Naturally, I was drawn to Teach for America’s mission and joined to help solve America’s greatest problem: education inequality.

My experience as a Special Education teacher:

I am currently in my second year of teaching 7^th grade Special Education at the Wright Middle School in Chelsea, MA. As I applied for Teach for America, I thought there was no way I would want to be a Special Educator. However, after a trying first year, I grew to love the position more and more. The role is unique in that I get to know my students so well; it truly facilitates closer relationships than any general education position.

That being said, my role as the 7^th grade inclusion teacher is very different from that of a normal classroom teacher. I co-teach two homerooms in their English, Writing, and Math classes as well as teach remediation math and literacy workshops. I am responsible for supporting 10 children who have a moderate disability (ADHD, Communication, Literacy based disabilities are all common) that affects their ability to access academic content. Just as each one of my scholars has a unique personality, so do their disabilities manifest themselves in unique ways. However, every single child I work with has two things in common: First, despite being teenagers, at best, their math and reading skills are at around a 4^th grade level. And second, and they are disheartened and disinvested because for their entire lives, they have felt like failures. When I decided to switch my placement over to SPED, I was told that this is basically the stuff TFA dreams are made of: closing the achievement gap within the achievement gap. It could not be truer. I work with the kids who have fallen through the cracks the most, are the most disheartened, and the lowest performers.

However, through my experiences it has become so clear that these kids are just misunderstood. They simply learn differently. It is so awesome to have a job where I problem solve to make education work for these kids, and to consequently see them succeed. I provide daily accommodations to lesson plans, alternative ways of learning, and modified curriculum to my students in each of their classes. My position as their special education teacher forced me to problem solve, preserve, and extend my creativity to a degree I could have never imagined in order to facilitate my student’s achievement. Everyday is different and brings on new challenges. Figuring out how a child can learn best can be extremely frustrating, but when those challenges are tackled correctly, I cannot even describe the sense of accomplishment and pride I feel over every single success of my students. My children are brilliant; they just need the right academic support to show that. At the end of my first year, seeing Cristofer, a boy with severe behavior problems and a communication disability that impairs his ability to take the words from his head and put them onto paper, tell his buddies to “Shut up I’m trying to pass this essay” and proceed to write a full page of perfect English was indescribable. Whether it was moments like that, or a student turning in homework for the first time, or my students’ collective 79.8% mastery of all math standards last year, being able to share the excitement and watch their growing confidence made every trying moment of the year worth it.

My second year is off to a fantastic start. My goal for the year revolves around both academic success, and for my students to take ownership of their own education and accept each other’s, and their own, differences. So many of them feel as if school is just not a place for them, and I am persistently seeking to change that. I wake up everyday working towards the goal of fostering a classroom community that can change their perception of themselves and their capabilities. My students hear me repeat “smart is not something you are, smart is something you become” and “own your actions, own your future.” They laughed at me at beginning of the year when I told them I wanted 80% mastery of math standards. Two weeks later Robert, a child with very low cognitive ability and a communication disability that interferes with his ability to read text, said to me after the first math test, “Miss, maybe I will go to college”. Moments like this or seeing Gary, a kid with attention issues who acted like he cared more about his faux-hawk than his homework, stay after school to get his English work done for the next day, tell me that all the hard work is completely worth it. Slowly, my kids are making progress and building the self-confidence many were so lacking of in August. I have worked to create a welcoming place where peers accept differences, and our class works as a team to reach our goals. This has been crucial because many of my kids need different accommodations to help them learn, for example Jorge takes his tests on a laptop and Marcus needs to make himself an “office” to do independent work by putting folders up as a fence around his desk. To be successful, my kids need to take a little bit of a different path in their learning. By explicitly teaching that differences are acceptable and we must support each other, my kids are doing a great job working to push each other further.

Katie Mikush, 2009 Corps Member, Eastern North Carolina

Katie Mikush graduated Duke in 2009. As a TFA corps member, she teaches 6th-8th grade Spanish in the Eastern North Carolina region. Earlier this fall, Katie shared her experiences at a dinner at President Brodhead's house. We wanted to share her insights with you - below are her comments. Enjoy!

My name is Katie Mikush, and I graduated from Duke in 2009 with a major in International Comparative Studies. At Duke, I developed a passion for education while working with WISER in Kenya and El Centro Hispano in downtown Durham, so I joined Teach For America to explore that passion. I now teach 6^th-8^th grade Spanish in Warren County, North Carolina. Although only an hour northeast from the gothic wonderland, Warren County’s tobacco fields, cow pastures and quiet Main Street seem to be a world away from Durham.

As a Spanish teacher for 150 wonderful children, I have a unique placement and an awesome challenge. Because I teach the very basic foundations of Spanish, all of my students start with a blank slate. Any academic deficiencies they might have don’t hold them back in my class, so almost all of my students do really well mastering basic grammar and conversation. I have the advantage of seeing concrete proof that my kids—just like all kids—are really smart and capable of academic excellence.

Last year was my first year in the classroom. I worked relentlessly with and for my students, and I saw their developing knowledge of the Spanish language reflected in very high test scores, but I didn’t want to stop there. I thought about my middle school experience—how even in my foreign language classes, my teachers pushed me to think critically about the world and read and write about my thoughts. Those were the skills that eventually got me to Duke—not just the baseline of knowing Spanish grammar or scoring a certain percentage on a standardized test.

After seeing my kids' ability to quickly master basic Spanish concepts, I knew I could push them to think and write about the world in English—a language they already knew! I soon found out that this would be a much bigger challenge than I originally thought.

After a brief introduction to Latin American geography and culture, I asked students to explain in writing what culture means and how cultures differ from place to place. A 7^th grader named Kevasha, who consistently scored in the 90s on her language assessments, handed in this written reflection: “in other cultures, the person stay in different places. in texas and florida they cultures be different than the united states.”

This was a stark reality check for me. By 7^th grade, Kevasha, one of my best Spanish students, had not been taught a) the geography of her country and world, and b) how to articulate her thoughts in standard English, both of which are essential for college today.

I knew all of my kids were capable of greatness; I never questioned that. But there were some very real academic deficiencies holding my kids back from the kind of work that opens doors for different life opportunities. Now I saw a much more urgent and difficult challenge—my kids needed to learn how to explore the world around them and articulate their thoughts and feelings in Standard English in addition to mastering basic Spanish grammar and conversation. In short, we needed to work on literacy—both standard and cultural.

Working with my TFA supervisor, my former boss at Duke's Center for Latin American & Caribbean Studies, and a number of veteran teachers from my school and elsewhere, I developed a plan of attack for incorporating literacy into every aspect of my teaching. We worked to develop meaningful curriculum around Spanish, culture and identity, and I started teaching higher-level English vocabulary to make my students better readers.

In class, we wrote and wrote and wrote—when we got tired, we wrote some more. We also read—news articles, short stories, short novels. We acted them out, rehashed them to make sure we understood, and then related them to our study of language and culture.

So many times when I stepped into my classroom, the academic challenges my students faced seemed impossible to overcome. It would have been so much easier to return to Spanish vocabulary and grammar, high test scores and easy-to-plan class activities. But the urgency of my students' needs and the support of TFA staff and others around me convinced me to keep pushing.

By the end of the year, my students had made tremendous progress in their critical thinking and writing skills. Kevasha, the student whose first reflection showed a lack of knowledge of the world and of her own language, handed in this reflection toward the end of the year, in response to the prompt, “Why is it important to know about culture while traveling?” Kevasha wrote, “It is important to know about culture while traveling because all cultures look different. They’re not better or worse. They’re just different from each other. When you travel, you might see something that looks weird to you, like a greeting, but it’s just because that’s their culture. You need to know about culture so you would not offend someone else’s culture and so you can make friends.”

Was her reflection grammatically flawless? No. Was it at the level needed for her to be college ready in 5 years? Not yet. But her progress that year was something she could be truly proud of and build on during her 8^th grade year. That is the work that we corps members—we teachers—do: work every day to change the academic trajectories of our students – to ensure that our students have the same options in life as their wealthier peers who happen to be born in a different zip code.

After my first year of teaching, a summer off sounded nice—but after a year of fighting the achievement gap and working with students like Kevasha, I knew there was no time for rest. So I decided to work at Institute in the Mississippi Delta this past summer, where I got to meet and work with some of the smartest, most dedicated and inspiring new teachers in the country—teachers like Duke alums Ashley Collins who now teaches in ENC, Ted Holt, who’s now teaching in South Louisiana and Charlie DePietro, who’s now teaching in the Delta.

After a year of teaching, working Institute this summer and bringing even higher expectations into my classroom this year, I believe more than ever that our mission of closing the achievement gap is possible. Teach For America corps members are well trained, well supported, and well prepared to be the excellent teachers our kids deserve. Thank you for your interest in our organization. The opportunity to affect our students is too important and urgent to pass up, and our future as a nation depends on it.

Jin-Soo Huh, 2009 Corps Member, Washington D.C.

One of the best things about working with Teach For America at Duke is that we are able to connect with many Duke alumni across the nation who are passionate about their work with TFA. These corps members, past and present, have changed the lives of their students by working relentlessly to even the educational playing field in their schools.

On this website, we hope to share some of these incredible individuals' stories with you. Today, we bring you Jin-Soo Huh, a 2009 TFA corps member teaching 6th grade at Buck Lodge Middle School just outside of Washington D.C. Jin-Soo has also served as Director of Residential Operations at the 2010 Philadelphia Institute, assisting with new corps' summer training. Please enjoy Jin-Soo's story, below.

"Why I Entered Teach for America"

I had a lot of friends join the Teach For America corps and I had always seen the posters on campus with statistics about the dire state of our education system, but graduation seemed so far away and education was never a field I seriously considered entering. Most of my studies were targeted around international development and I thought I would be headed to Africa post-graduation. I got an e-mail from the Teach For America campus recruiter, Caroline, to just meet for coffee and I was curious about the achievement gap so I accepted the invitation.

We talked about my interest in international development and the activities I was involved in on campus. We then talked about the achievement gap and the recruiter's experience in the classroom. I had always known that there were problems in the inner cities with education and that it was unfortunate, but I always dismissed it as a problem that just was always going to persist. And besides, seriously, what do I know about teaching? I had other interests. However, Caroline really made the numbers human. She talked about her students and how hard they worked. She talked about students who still couldn't read or multiply in high school and the bleak outlook for their future without these basic skills. But what got me really excited about Teach For America was when she talked about what an individual teacher can do to help close the achievement gap. An individual teacher can lead his or her students to make stunning progress; instill in them a joy of learning; guide them to college; and most importantly, give them the education they deserve. As part of a movement of teachers, I could help in the fight to close the achievement gap.

This all occured when D.C. Chancellor Michelle Rhee came to Duke to speak. Rhee had served as a corps member in Baltimore, MD. It was awesome to see such a passionate Teach For America alumna working to end the achievement gap on such a wide scope. It was also great to hear that teaching had not been part of her original plans, yet she was able to successfully lead her students to make great gains.

I'm now in my second year of teaching 6th grade math. My first year of teaching was easily the most difficult experience I have had - there were lots of long nights grading, lesson planning and fretting that I was not doing enough. There was a lot of frustration in trying to keep students focused on the lesson rather than talking and passing notes. There was even more frustration in trying to break down mathematical concepts I had internalized a long time ago and try to teach them in bite sized chunks to students and going back to the drawing board when it was clear that I might as well have been speaking Latin to them.

Yet, despite the hardship, Teach For America has been an incredible experience. I am inspired every day by my students, who show a genuine desire to learn and succeed. Even though there are definitely days that I just want to scream at a student, that frustration is quickly erased by one moment where that same student discreetly asks if he can stay after school for tutoring. It is also awesome to have a natural group of friends in my fellow Teach For America corps members, who are going through the same struggles and successes that I am. You really come to love your students and get invested in them very deeply. You celebrate their successes.

Many people ask me, "So what are you up to next?" The awesome thing is, I don't really know. I have a feeling that I have been bitten badly by the education bug and I hope to teach for a few more years. Perhaps I will seek to join the education policy world or become an administrator. Of course, I have been thinking about my original trajectory of joining the international development community, but no matter what field I find myself in, I know I will be an active participant in seeking to end the achievement gap.

"Pierre"

Ask any teacher, especially first year teachers, and they can all name that student. For me, Pierre was that student. His reputation preceded him. His fifth grade teachers told me he was a "psychopath I would see on the news one day" and "no good." I had heard stories of him bullying other students and starting fights. So even before he came to class, I was nervous to meet him. He walked in and was the tallest person in the classroom. He was at least four inches taller than me. The first week, with procedures and rules, came and went. He was definitely a jokester and his peers admired him. But, nothing major. Then came actual teaching and the end of the "honeymoon period". Throughout the year, I spent many drives home replaying Pierre's exploits (ranging from starting a fight club, teasing overweight students in class, copying other students' homework in the bathroom, and refusing to take a standardized test). When I confronted him, he had an excuse for everything. Nothing was his fault. Despite this, Pierre and I formed a surprising trust. If he felt that an explosion was about to happen, he could go to the bathroom, no questions asked. If he was having an issue, he could drop me a note in the class box. He liked the idea that I was new to the school so I did not know much about his reputation. I got him out of a few suspensions, so he started doing his work.

I did not realize that he actually really liked me, and wanted to do his best, until around December when we were in the computer lab. I was getting the class set up for a program when I saw him being chastised by another teacher for rolling his chair around in his space. I had my hands full with a few students close to him and saw the other teacher taking care of it. This was a teacher he was not exactly fond of. She was getting frustrated with him and told her he was not going to listen to her but only me. When asked why, he said "He's the only one who's ever trusted me." Pierre worked hard that year. Was he my best behaved student? Far from it. Was he my best performing student? No, he was near the bottom. But, he worked hard and he inspired me to keep going too. This is a cheesy moment coming up, so brace yourself - Pierre is the student that I will never forget. I have already had a few rough moments with students in my second year, but Pierre reminds me that all students are reachable. That's why I teach for America.

Welcome to Teach For America at Duke!

Hello all, and welcome to the TEACH FOR AMERICA AT DUKE! We are so excited to launch the first-ever Duke TFA blog - here, you'll find information about Teach For America, a collection of stories and experiences from Duke alumni who have joined the fight against educational inequity, and many links to additional resources to learn about TFA. We welcome questions and comments as you explore our website - and our organization.

Please enjoy the following video, which provides a great introduction to Teach For America's mission and impact.