What's going on at the Tampa Housing Authority Community Center?

THA Students proudly displaying their Keith Haring drawings :)

So, as I previously mentioned, I also do a second "job" at the Tampa Housing Authority (THA) community center, Oaks at Riverview. Not too far from the Community Stepping Stones location. The center is for the children and youth of the community there, a community of very underprivileged families. In fact, in order to live there, you have to be of extreme low income. THA not only caters to these families, but they also place their communities in areas where slums exist... so, this kind of gives you an idea of the type of people in these locations. They are strict though... they have rules and they also do not allow anyone who is a criminal or felon to live there. Good. I guess they should be, considering these are really nice homes that are being given to these people.

I don't think many of my co-workers at CSS understand the amount of hard work and dedication it takes to work at THA and to be the ONLY art teacher there. Only my AmeriCorp leader (who used to work there as the art teacher) truly understands the hard work and dedication the position there requires. She has made sure to let me know on numerous occasions how well she knows I am doing, which I truly appreciate because it has helped to keep going. The "coaches" at the center have also told me on various occasions that they appreciate my work too, which was also really uplifting to hear. But anyway, this is all besides the point.

Teaching there is difficult. I don't mean that in a bad way though. One of the main reasons I have such a hard time teaching there is because I am a first time teacher. Actually, teaching there is the first time I have taught class sizes that large before. I teach a range between K-12 (I have written before on a previous post about the differences each have so i won't go there). They give me about 2-4 groups a day, depending on how many they get, and about 20-22 in each class. Phew! That's a lot for one person to handle! And as a beginner who has never taught a class this large or has never had any true formal training to prepare me for this.... it was quite overwhelming. It still is. :/ Despite that, the experience is more valuable than gold... well, if you're going to be a teacher it is. Although I am the teacher, the children there have taught me a lot as well.

All in all, I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience at this location. I learned more than I could have ever imagined. It was as if a wonderful opportunity was just thrown onto my lap without me even foreseeing it. I learned a lot about the way community centers function and the way they handle and organize kids. I learned a lot about classroom management and lesson preparedness. And I learned about what works and what doesn't. Just SO much. It's not like I haven't learned anything at CSS, I have. It's just that I never got the classroom experience that THA has given me. CSS is more like a mentorship program, and I think I like it that way, because I get experience in both. I just hope more than anything that the staff at both locations have seen my hard work and has appreciated it as much as I appreciated being there :)

Lesson Planning

One of the most horribly overlooked things about being a teacher is the time that it takes to create lessons and plan them. Of course, this is assuming that the teacher is not forced to go by an already created lesson. I hear that many teachers are to go by a set curriculum but write their own lessons within the curriculum. I guess that makes their job a little easier. Regardless, creating and implementing a lesson plan, whether you created it or it is one you found and will be using for the first time, is not an easy 1-2-3 task. In this post, I wish to discuss a few of the aspects of lesson planning and what makes it so difficult, so that those who read this may come to a better understanding of it and may even appreciate the time and effort a teacher puts into them.

I am honestly still a beginner at writing lessons. I have not even been writing them for a year (which I hope does not make me seem less credible in writing ABOUT them). In spite of this, I have still written and implemented enough lessons to say I know what makes them hard. The only thing I am bad at when it comes to writing lessons is the proper day-to-day organization and planning ahead part of it. A messy curriculum means a messy lesson and a messy class (as far learning goes).

Some aspects of lesson planning that one must consider is the age group the lesson is being written for. If you are teaching a kindergarten class, then the lesson must be radically different from one of a 5th grade class. Often, the younger the group, the more simple the lesson needs to be. This seems like a no duh kind of thing, but it actually takes some time to figure out what is appropriate for what age group. It's a learning process and you WILL make some mistakes and you WILL have to often go back to the lesson and simplify certain points. Another aspect is time, and it is one I mistakenly ignore all too often. Each part of the lesson needs to be timed accordingly to the amount of class time you have. A lesson for a 45 min. class will be slightly different from one for 1 hr and a half class. Of course, the more time you have, the better, but often, it's not the teachers choice. Next is the objective. Without one, your lesson literally has no purpose other than to spend time. You need to think: what will this lesson teach? What will it prepare the students for? Is it a follow up lesson? And so forth. Having an objective is not just about having a purposeful lesson, but it is also about being a TEACHER. You are teaching something, so explain WHY.

Well, to keep this blog post short, I will leave it at that. of course, there are more things one can discuss, but for now these are some of the most important. As I learn more, I may create another post to discuss what new things and experiences I have gained from writing lessons.

What's going on at Community Stepping Stones?

First off, I'd like to state that my blog is going to have many various posts concerning different topics (and of course on the same theme: teaching). They may come in rather quickly, depending on whether I am in the mood to type/write or not. Today, I am. For a little bit.

I want to talk about Community Stepping Stones, one of the places I currently work at as an after-school art instructor. "Community Stepping Stones (CSS) is a 501 (c) 3 not for profit organization whose mission is connected to the quality of life in the Sulphur Springs neighborhood of Tampa. CSS is dedicated to providing education, mentoring children and adolescents, enhancing the community’s economics, and enriching the residents’ quality of life. We work through the arts to teach youth the creative and critical thinking skills needed to solve problems, make important life decisions, graduate from high school, and continue on to college." - From the website.

Right now, CSS is in a very developmental stage, probably in its earliest of stages. The current staff are stipend paid AmeriCorps members, such as myself. AmeriCorps pretty much provides much of the funding to the staff and staff needs. We feel a bit understaffed, and because of the lack of enough helping and hard-working hands taking charge, we seem to lag behind in development of our center. Many things go left undone and many kids are left with nothing to do besides monopoly and hang-man, and no one person can be blamed for that. It's a team effort and when things are going wrong, it's everyone's fault for letting things lag and not taking charge of situations. I'm not going to say I am perfect and I have no flaws, but I admit I put a lot of hard hours into working there, and I would never regret a single hour I put there. When I only need to put 4, I put 6-7 hours a day. And sometimes, with the kids and the way they are, it's just not easy. I admit I do enjoy the experiences that CSS gives me, though.

Anyway, right now, we are preparing a bit for the summer. It begins in about 2ish weeks. One staff member is leaving and another will be working 2 days a week. Regardless, I think we will be okay, considering that we will actually have quite a bit of good helping hands there. We have my boss's college class and a slew of other volunteers. Some include film-makers, cake decorators, and a music teacher. I myself plan to teach a photoshop class in our utterly undeveloped computer lab :D

About that. The computer lab now sits in a building that is probably hazardous due to the amount of construction going on, but the computer room itself is in okay condition. It's decent for now. We were donated a good number of computers by USF, but they are rather old. Either way, I asked my boyfriend, who is skilled in computer repair, to help me out with setting up those computers so that they can be ready for my photoshop class in the summer. So far, he is doing some great work in there, and it's actually rather generous of him to volunteer his time to us :)

Well, I thought I'd share that bit of info about CSS. More things are bound to come as we continue to develop our little center into something bigger. I foresee a great future for CSS! :)

My experiences with teaching, kids, and teens so far...

I have actually been meaning to do this... to write out my current experience and thoughts on teaching so far. I THINK about it a lot, but I never write it down, and I feel like I need to get it out of my brain. Writing is good for you anyway! It's been a while since I have written anything, so please excuse me if the quality of my words are poor ):

So, to begin. I want to first talk about the differences between teaching Elementary, Middle and High School, because the differences are incredible. Well DUH, right? Of course kids and teens will be different, right?! Well, anyone can say that, but once you experience it first hand, you finally GET IT. Kinda like "OHHHHH....". Each have their pros and cons and I think each take a different kind of person to teach, even if that means having to create a persona or character while teaching for each group. With the younger ones, they seem interested by ANYTHING. They are curious and they sincerely want to know and show that they do know. They love to be the one to give an answer. There is no stage fright, but rather, there is a fight for center stage. This ends around 5th grade. From experience so far, 5th and 6th grade seem to be the rebel and attitude stage. You think it starts in high school, but ooooo how terribly mistaken you are. 5th and 6th graders give so much trouble where I work, that we are contemplating in permanently removing some from our program. We're just getting tired of dealing with them and their attitudes, their lack of respect, the back-talking, and the refusal to try anything. We have given them weeks and months, but it has to end somewhere. At this point, it's about the kids who care now. Rebels can be rebels somewhere else. 7th and 8th grade, they get a little better. They lack knowledge of basic things and they tend to think they know EVERYTHING, but all in all, you can tell they are starting to mature and starting to get ready for hard learning that high school asks for. One trouble I have with them is telling them that they are wrong about one thing, but they just can NOT believe you. High schoolers are cool. They really are. Probably my favorite group so far, but unfortunately, the group I have the least experience with, considering high schoolers are not kids anymore and they always feel like there is something better to do with their time. Most of all, high schoolers want to socialize. They want to be in a group (not too big, like 3-5 people at a time) and they have this special ability to FOCUS, unlike elementary kids. Elementary kids can NOT focus on one thing at one time and basically they become difficult to handle because of this. The can literally be bouncing off walls at times!! High schoolers want to sit. They want to sit and talk. Actually, they don't care if they are sitting, walking, or standing... they just want to talk! I don't mean mindless banter and girl talk. I mean, they want to socialize. They want to know about YOU. It's not so much about learning the material as much as it is about being around good hearted people (considering they are good hearted to begin with!). My only gripe with them though, is what I mentioned earlier. Sometimes, they just feel like their is something more important and serious to do with their time... like sleeping, watching TV, playing games, reading a book, etc etc. None of those are BAD or HORRIBLE things, but because of this, it can be hard to get them to devote a long period of time (such as months) on one project before they procrastinate and move on being lazy and forgetting about it :P Sound familiar? Yeah, does to me too.

All in all, I have LOVED teaching all these grade levels EXCEPT 5th - 6th grade... haha xD Not gonna say there aren't good 5th and 6th graders out there, I am sure there are! But I lack the patience to deal with this stage of life :/ They'll get over it, but I don't want to wait for it to happen >_< Because of my experience teaching all these grade levels, I have been stuck between wondering if I want to teach Elementary or High School. I think I am leaning towards High School still though, like I always have been. Honestly, I would love to be certified to teach k-12. Who knows where I will land, ya know?

First Post!

My first post to this blog! This is only the beginning, but hopefully this little plain blog can expand into something more.... if I can manage it well enough and not just abandon it like I do to every other blog I start >_>Probably not the right thing to say on the first post, but HEY! I'm optimistic! :)

I'd like to first start off with the purpose of this blog. I have decided to start this blog to chronicle my experiences with teaching, from beginning to... end?! This idea has many positives. For one thing, it is great to get my thoughts out into writing rather then letting it circle in my head as I drive home every night from work, or rather than yelling out my frustrations to my best friend and boyfriend (although I'm sure they don't mind :) ). For another thing, it is a great way for others to see what I am thinking. I find it easier to express myself through text than spoken word (and I am sure most people are that way these days too), so one can get a better understanding of me and my ideas through reading what I write rather than listening to what I say. On top of that, I hope to inspire young people who read my blog to want to become teachers, or to inspire new teachers to be all that they can be. Teaching is a tough tough thing. It's not easy, not even in the LEAST bit, so don't ever let anyone trick you into thinking it is... the countless hours that go into making lesson plans and curriculums, the constant tweaking it requires after having taught a lesson only to see the flaws it has... ugh. Endless. I hope I'm not rambling at this point, because it sure does sound like it! I can say SO much about teaching, but I think it is better to seperate each topic into small posts, so they don't become jumbled essay long messes! I tend to do that :/

Well, let this be the end of my first post. May not be the best post, but it's merely beginning of a long long journey (a wonderful one at that).