Oh! The Places You'll Go...

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Here I am again!

No, I am not in foreign country. But I am on a whole new "journey" right here in the U.S. of A. I am in Denver, Colorado, preparing to start my first year as a Teach For America teacher.

I've kept the same blog, but I have changed my "nick name" to "Maggie Moose" which changed the web link to: And I changed the name of the blog to "Miss, what kind of Spanish do you speak?" (I'll explain that later). All this was in an attempt to make the blog a little bit more anonymous so that I don't get my future students coming in on Monday and reading the blog to the class, although I'm sure I'll only have GOOD things to say about all of them. I'll be referring to students as "student A" or "student X" and by law I'm not allowed to post any photos of my students on the web, so I'll have to get creative there 😞

So, speak now or forever hold your peace (hit unsubscribe) if you want to get off Maggie's wild rollercoaster of teaching. The other option is always to save this link to your Favorites/Bookmarks ( ) and check back whenever your heart moves you to.

Now on to a few updates...

Last days in Nicaragua
Here is my final column for the Bainbridge Review about my time in Nicaragua. It was quite a sad ending but I learned quite a bit about life and death:

Nicaragua farewell has a serendipitous tenor · Guest Column

May 22 2009

This column is dedicated to Don Salvador Gutierrez Traña. Que descanse en paz.

One dusty, hot bus ride around Concepción Volcano Dorita and I planned my Nicaragua farewell. On May 1, we would ride our bikes around the entire island, stopping at various points of interest for meals and rest.

This idea had actually been in Dorita’s head for several years, after witnessing former volunteer Jim Starrs do the same, in parallel to Chilly Hilly, but only until now did she find someone crazy enough to do it with her.

Then, on May 9, Dorita planned to accompany me to the Managua airport where we were going to eat tasty sandwiches in the waiting area before our final hug goodbye. Thereafter, she planned on traveling to León that same day where her son, Hendrick-son, a college student, would celebrate his 19th birthday.

But if there is something I have learned in Nicaragua, it is to take seriously the expression, “Si Dios quiere (If God wants it to be so).”

May 8, 2009

9:42 a.m.

Altagracia

I had been waiting in Dorita’s house all morning, beating the dust and trinkets off the top of a catch-all cabinet, joining in the anxious bustle of women, cleaning silently.

The television, a former focal point of the room, had been removed a couple days before when there was a rumor that Don Salvador was coming home, but the hospital had decided to keep him longer.

Today, it was confirmed that Dora’s father was actually coming home. The hospital in Masaya had worked for two weeks trying to rehabilitate him after his third heart attack, but his condition had not improved. His family wanted to bring him home to be at peace on his island.

After the ambulance drove up and the team of family helpers poured in, the empty house filled quickly with noise again, but an uneasy noise. As the commotion fell, my eyes met Dorita’s and our bodies gravitated towards each other. We hugged hard and long. I could feel her fear, her exhaustion. She had been at her father’s bedside in the hospital the entire two weeks, barely sleeping or eating.

The priest arrived not long after to give Don Salvador his final rites. I stood in the bedroom among the entire family, hands open to the sky, hoping for peace, for Don Salvador.

11:40 p.m.

The bustle had finally calmed. The wooden rocking chairs and plastic chairs were filled all day long with concerned neighbors and relatives, peeking past the white lace curtain for a few moments with Don Salvador. Dorita and I had just come into the bedroom after chatting on the front stoop for a while, recalling memories of my first few weeks here, when we were just figuring each other out.

Now, I sat with Dorita and her sister, Mirna, in the near-darkness, at Don Salvador’s bedside, whispering in the silence, nodding off in our chairs. He rested with great tranquility, especially after having such a hard day with the transfer to the island and his breathing problems.

I had visited him in the hospital in Masaya the weekend before, given him a handmade card of himself riding a horse, just like the photo in the living room. I took his hand, and he squeezed mine very hard, almost trying to prove his strength. Very lucidly, he’d asked me when I would be leaving, and I told him the date.

By serendipity or fate, Don Salvador had returned home to see me off, the day before my departure. But our goodbye was not spoken, it was not planned.

It was an undefined moment among the peace of that late night. He was immersed in that peace in being home, on his island. May our dear Salvador rest forever in that utter peace.


Home
I was able to spend 2.5 weeks at home on Bainbridge, really enjoying family and friends. It took me about a week and a half to finally UNPACK and then immediately turn around and start packing again! But I can honestly say that I did slow down and enjoy myself. I had a couple weekends up at our family cabin in Cle Elum, one with the girls, and one with family. I also got to meet with the BOSIA board to tell of my experience and give updates on projects, relationships, and Don Salvador's final days. I spent time with Maria Estela, my Nicaraguan coworker that was up on Bainbridge for 2 months. And Emily took me power-shopping for a new teacher wardrobe!

Summer institute
After the first week in June spent in Denver for a logistical "induction" with Teach For America, we were all shipped off to Atlanta, GA for the "Summer Institute" training. This is a 5-week program that all Teach For America teachers undergo. Basically, you teach summer school for 45 minutes a day and the rest of your day is filled with intense sessions on everything from classroom management, to tracking student test scores, to working with students with disabilities. Depending on your region, you go to a specific city, where there are usually 5 or 6 other regions also represented. You have a Corps Member Advisor who is basically your mentor home room teacher. You have a Faculty Advisor who is a district teacher that observes you whenever you step foot into the classroom. You have a "collaborative team" (collab for short) that consists of 4 people, including you, that teach the same group of students. You usually stay up until 1 am working and wake up at 5:30 am to get breakfast and get on the bus to school. Then you get back to campus (we lived on Georgia Tech) around 5 pm, power nap for 20 minutes, eat dinner, then work, work, work preparing for the next day. We created lessons from scratch based on the state standards.
We had a group of 13 rising 6th grade students. They had all failed either the Math or Reading portion of the GA state exam (CRCT) so if they did not pass the retake at the end of the summer, they would not be passed on to 6th grade. Our goal for the summer was obvioiusly to prepare them to pass the cRCT, but in the short term it was to increase their reading scores (DRA) by 6 points on average and increase their math scores by 80 percent on our in-class math test. By the end of summer school, our class grew on average 6.9 points on their reading test, and 84% on their math!!!!
They were a great group of kids. Here is a letter from one of my students that I will read on my bad days:
The 3 things I have learned this summer is, #1 I learned how to get along with people. #2 I learned that whenever you need help the teachers are always their to help, their like a mom and dad. #3 I also leanred that my teachers are the best teachers ever, they are there to help us be the best 6th grader and to be able to get out to the world and learn something new. What teachers have prepared for me is that, they tell you to never give up and say "You can do it!" The reason why I'm a 6th grader because I made that "choice" to be a 6th grader. I'm also a 6th grader because the quote of the week is "You will never leave where you are until you decide where you 'd rather be," and I decided where I wanna be in 6th grade learning new things and getting good grades.

Random fact: Did you know that many kids in Georgia have names that end in -quavious? For example, Marquavious, Jonquavious, Starquavious, etc. I had no idea...

Denver
Well now I'm back in Denver, all settled into my new home. I have a very cute apartment, a very nice roommate (also TFA), and a very welcoming school. I volunteered in our school garden for a couple days and met some students doing the summer gardeners program. One of them asked me, "Miss, what kind of Spanish do you speak?" and I told her that it was a mix of Mexican, Argentine, and Nicaraguan. She was really excited to hear me speak, it was fun to watch the surprise on her face 😊
I had 4 days of respite once I flew here from Atlanta because my AMAZING mom Uhaul-ed my stuff out here from Seattle and all I had to do was walk inside and flop on my bed 😊 Thanks Mom! I've been in professional development (ie training) for the last 3 weeks here for the Denver Public Schools (DPS) curriculum and Teach For America, planning for the school year and setting our goals for the year. I've met the new 5th grade teacher at my school, Sara, and she's been really great. We went into the school on Wednesday and sorted sorted sorted books because the 4th and 5th books were all mixed together because last year the grades were combined. I'm excited to start setting up my classroom this coming week with the amazing help of my sister Emily! She's flying into town on Monday to put me through classroom setup bootcamp for 3 days 😊

I was able to access my class roster online last night! I think I will have 18 students! It's crazy that it is finally here...

I can't believe there are only 9 days until school starts. I've been thinking of using this Dr. Seuss poem during the first week of classes, what do you think?

Oh! The Places You'll Go!

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!
by the incomparable Dr. Seuss

Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away!

You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself any direction you choose.
You’re on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.

You’ll look up and down streets. Look’em over with care. About some you will say, “I don’t choose to go there.” With your head full of brains and your shoes full of feet, you’re too smart to go down a not-so-good street.

And you may not find any you’ll want to go down. In that case, of course, you’ll head straight out of town. It’s opener there in the wide open air.

Out there things can happen and frequently do to people as brainy and footsy as you.

And when things start to happen, don’t worry. Don’t stew. Just go right along. You’ll start happening too.

Oh! The Places You’ll Go!

You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers who soar to high heights.

You won’t lag behind, because you’ll have the speed. You’ll pass the whole gang and you’ll soon take the lead. Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best. Wherever you go, you will top all the rest.

Except when you don’t.
Because, sometimes, you won’t.

I’m sorry to say so but, sadly, it’s true that Bang-ups and Hang-ups can happen to you.

You can get all hung up in a prickle-ly perch. And your gang will fly on. You’ll be left in a Lurch.

You’ll come down from the Lurch with an unpleasant bump. And the chances are, then, that you’ll be in a Slump.

And when you’re in a Slump, you’re not in for much fun. Un-slumping yourself is not easily done.

You will come to a place where the streets are not marked. Some windows are lighted. But mostly they’re darked. A place you could sprain both your elbow and chin! Do you dare to stay out? Do you dare to go in? How much can you lose? How much can you win?

And if you go in, should you turn left or right…or right-and-three-quarters? Or, maybe, not quite? Or go around back and sneak in from behind? Simple it’s not, I’m afraid you will find, for a mind-maker-upper to make up his mind.

You can get so confused that you’ll start in to race down long wiggled roads at a break-necking pace and grind on for miles across weirdish wild space, headed, I fear, toward a most useless place.

The Waiting Place…for people just waiting.

Waiting for a train to go or a bus to come, or a plane to go or the mail to come, or the rain to go or the phone to ring, or the snow to snow or waiting around for a Yes or No or waiting for their hair to grow. Everyone is just waiting.

Waiting for the fish to bite or waiting for wind to fly a kite or waiting around for Friday night or waiting, perhaps, for their Uncle Jake or a pot to boil, or a Better Break or a string of pearls, or a pair of pants or a wig with curls, or Another Chance. Everyone is just waiting.

No! That’s not for you!
Somehow you’ll escape all that waiting and staying. You’ll find the bright places where Boom Bands are playing. With banner flip-flapping, once more you’ll ride high! Ready for anything under the sky. Ready because you’re that kind of a guy!

Oh, the places you’ll go! There is fun to be done! There are points to be scored. There are games to be won. And the magical things you can do with that ball will make you the winning-est winner of all. Fame! You’ll be famous as famous can be, with the whole wide world watching you win on TV.

Except when they don’t. Because, sometimes, they won’t.

I’m afraid that some times you’ll play lonely games too. Games you can’t win ‘cause you’ll play against you.

All Alone!
Whether you like it or not, Alone will be something you’ll be quite a lot.

And when you’re alone, there’s a very good chance you’ll meet things that scare you right out of your pants. There are some, down the road between hither and yon, that can scare you so much you won’t want to go on.

But on you will go though the weather be foul. On you will go though your enemies prowl. On you will go though the Hakken-Kraks howl. Onward up many a frightening creek, though your arms may get sore and your sneakers may leak. On and on you will hike. And I know you’ll hike far and face up to your problems whatever they are.

You’ll get mixed up, of course, as you already know. You’ll get mixed up with many strange birds as you go. So be sure when you step. Step with care and great tact and remember that Life’s a Great Balancing Act. Just never forget to be dexterous and deft. And never mix up your right foot with your left.

And will you succeed?
Yes! You will, indeed!
(98 and ¾ percent guaranteed.)

Kid, you’ll move mountains!
So…be your name Buxbaum or Bixby or Bray or Mordecai Ale Van Allen O’Shea, you’re off to Great Places!
Today is your day!
Your mountain is waiting.
So…get on your way!

Click on the light blue "Next" button below to see photos from Atlanta and Denver.

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Comments

[lisa thompson]

Good luck with your class!!
Maggie, what a great quote to use for your class! That one is one of Lyn's favorites! If you are anything like me, I could never sleep the night before school started-I'm still that way about my preschool classes! Keep in touch and let me know how you are doing! Love, Aunt Lisa

[Dad]

Oh the places you'll go
The Teaching Place And some roads will have teachers who will help you to learn, Why they care so much for you, you may never discern, But they do and so trust them for they want you to fly, It is beautiful looking down from way up in the sky. And going to places, you see, is much easier then, And you will remember these teachers every now and again. Love, Dad

[Mom]

And so it begins...!
The pencils are sharp and the erasers are brand new - there's excitement in the air for the first day of school. The journey begins as each student steps through the magical door into your classroom. You are their guide, their expedition leader, their navigator - and their dispute resolver, their hall pass distributor, their kleenex hander-outer. This is a special year - your first year of teaching!