Not in Kansas Anymore.

I started my new job on Monday.  It is very different from my old job.  But, here is the wonderful thing: it's still working towards the same goal and vision of opportunities for great education for all children.  As I meet the team, learn more about my responsibilities, and attend meetings I am finding myself so energized and confident that I made the right choice.  It feels good.

I won't go into all of the differences, but I will share two of my first discoveries that made me realize that "I'm not in Kansas anymore...":

This.

The bathroom has MOUTHWASH and hand lotion.  And the toilets are not teeny-tiny and made for 3 year-olds...of course, I never used those ones, but I wanted to drive the point home.  

I was fixated on the mouthwash discovery -- I don't remember, but I may have even called Jamie to report on this -- that I wasn't prepared for my next discovery.  The common space has a free soda fountain with Coke Zero.  FREE!  In order to limit my intake of Coke Zero I am only allowing myself to visit it a few times a week and will have to take the 8 flights of stairs up to it.  But FREE Coke Zero!  Glorious day!

Small pleasures, friends.

Oh!  And Happy Fourth everyone!!!

So Long DC Prep.

I have been meaning to post on this for a long, long while...but life happened -- as it usually does.  Sorry, friends.

Anyway, the big news is that I left DC Prep.  I had actually been planning on leaving Prep for a bit now...realizing that I need to try out new things in order to best prepare for future endeavors...wherever they may lead.  Plus, it is exhausting work.  Totally worth it.  But exhausting nonetheless.

I finished up the year taking over a classroom for one of our teachers who resigned mid-year.  While I was nervous about going back into the classroom after so many years out of one, it turned out to be a great way to reconnect with students and the whole reason I got into teaching to begin with.  I have a few backlogged stories (with photo evidence) in my pocket to share with the blog later.  But I'm going to try and stay on topic for now.

It has been incredible to be a part of the DC Prep family for the past five years.  Building the school from scratch and being a part of its growth into the successful establishment it is today.  It has been a true learning experience and I know I have made life-long friends.

Turning towards the future, I have joined another organization that is making waves called The Achievement Network.  I have been fortunate enough to work with them through Prep for the past few years and attribute a lot of our success in the upper grades with their work.  It's a really great opportunity for me to do some of the things I love: (puts on nerd glasses) like data analysis, consulting with school leadership, and really pushing teachers to think critically about how to improve their instruction.  I'm especially excited to be able to work with many schools throughout the District.  It will definitely be another learning experience.

So, last week, I wrote up my exit memo, finished up some projects, and took on the task of cleaning out my office.  I gave away so many years worth of books, materials, etc. since I'm pretty certain now that I will not be re-entering the classroom.  By the end, my office looked like this:

Trust me.  It hadn't looked like that in a long, long while.  It was sad leaving my office last Friday.  And I will not lie...Sarah McLachlan was playing in my head (I Will Remember You...natch!) when I turned off the lights on my office.  Specifically, the last scene from the first season of Felicity (you know what I'm talking about, D) -- granted, I didn't have Scott Speedman or Scott Foley waiting for me -- but I was thinking about it anyway.  (I should note, I was going to find a clip, but I could only find one that included the 7 minutes leading up to the scene...and also it was in Italian.  What did I say about staying on topic??)

Anyway, on that last day of DC Prep, I had a visitor that was very fitting.  He (she?) always came out around this time in the summer.  In fact, I spent a good amount of time looking for a post about him (her?) until I realized it was much more likely a Facebook post.  (Yep.  It was June 24th, 2011.)  But my little friend came out to say one last goodbye.

This guy was missing a couple of his one MILLION legs which made me feel a little camaraderie with him (her!) as that's how I feel after 5 years of some of the most difficult (but rewarding) work.  In the end, I let this little guy climb up the wall and out of sight -- free to terrorize the next occupant of that office.  

And then I left.  We'll see what's in store for me now!

Final Stretch.

Tomorrow is the last day of school for students.  Friday is the last day of school for teaching staff.  I don't think I have had more to do in my life than I do this week.  For the first time since I entered the professional world I actually fear it. will. not. all. get. done.

I think it might have been written all over my face today because more than one person sent me this link.

Kid Gives Speech After Learning To Ride A Bike - Watch more Funny Videos

Thanks for the perspective kid!  (Oh how I wish your dad could have panned up to the American flag that was just over your shoulder...)

I promise there will be more posts after the teachers are out for the summer!

Happy Mother's Day.

First things first, HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY to all of the mothers out there!  Of course, to my wonderful mother who is in Moscow tonight, my sister-in-law (mother to the two most intelligent and adorable nieces I could ask for), my mother-in-law who raised the single most incredible person in my world, and to all of my friends who became mothers this year.  I hope this day was filled with the love and reverence you deserve!

Although it is unrelated to Mother's Day, I wanted to share this story given to me by Catherine as it might make other smile.   As always, I appreciate any "students say the darndest things" handouts...Here is yet another golden nugget.

I bet my teachers friends can decode that last word at the bottom of the page...I think it's a pretty awesome example of invented spelling.

Breaking News: Rockstars

I'm interrupting my Tanzania recap (just one more post left!) to share the latest DC Prep in the news!  Emily was on TV this morning.  Go Prep!

Fight for Children Helps Improve Education in DC Area: MyFoxDC.com

Backlog.

I meant to post here with a bunch of stories over the past week or so, but life has been busy lately.  A combination of family visiting, DC-CAS at work...just all around madness.  At the very least, I wanted to post a farewell before heading off to Tanzania tomorrow (er...this) morning, but I got home from work after 10pm today and have been busy packing and prepping for our big adventure and haven't had the chance.

I will definitely have a backlog of stories (or at least pictures) to share when we get back...

Until then, I hope everyone is enjoying their Spring, and that all my teacher friends enjoy their Spring Break!

Cause and Effect.

Today was the first day of the DC-CAS for our students.  This is how I feel right now:

I'm just so exhausted after so many months of non-stop prepping and planning.  Last night, I woke up at 3:40am and couldn't go back to sleep because my mind was running a mile a minute.  (Incidentally, there was a pretty awesome storm that hit around 4:30 that kept me company.)  Now is the time for us to see the fruits of our labor...but unfortunately, the actual results don't come out until sometime in July.  

Hopefully, I'll be able to get some sleep before then...

Dinosaurs.

Taking a work break to share the highlight of my day.  Being out of the classroom means that I don't get direct access to the awesome things that students say or do.  However, every once in a while a kind teacher takes pity on me and shares some of the awesomeness.  Today, that kind teacher was Catherine...and it was awesome.

The best part of all is that when he was showing his drawing to his teacher he pointed at the girl in #3 and said, "That's [a little girl in his class]."  Like a pro, Catherine managed to sternly tell Jason that it was not a nice thing to say without laughing.  I was especially impressed with how he was able to capture the emotion of both the dinosaur and the girl.  Well done, Jason.

Organized.

I know I said I would stop doing this...but this is the best ever.

Seriously?  It doesn't get much better than that.

Now for something completely unrelated.  At work we are starting a series of optional lunch sessions that are more focused on broader topics -- less grade-specific and more focused on leadership (i.e. designing agendas, facilitating meetings, etc.)  This Friday, one of our first sessions in the series is on getting organized.

This is a complete shift from my regular presentations which normally have to do with something data-related or some instructional practice.  But this one kind of stumps me.  Granted, I am pretty organized when it comes to work -- but I just think it's so funny that I would be considered competent enough with organization to put together an entire professional development session on it.  Now to plan the PD.  If only I could get organized enough to start.

Also, anyone who has seen my closet understands the irony...

Happy Heart.

One of the main reasons I left Baltimore was because of the heartbreak.  I loved my school, I loved my students,  and I felt successful within my classroom.  The problem that I couldn't get past was the uncertainty that surrounded my students when they left my classroom.  There was the chance they would continue their growth with their next teacher, but there was also a chance that they could be placed on the roster of a "lemon".  Every year, I watched and suffered repeated heartbreak at seeing some of my students slide back into bad habits, lose confidence, or end up suspended more and more often.

So I left.  There were many, many other reasons why I left -- we bought a house, the commute was rough, etc. -- but I may have been able to live with those, had it not been for the lemons.  Unfortunately, I felt powerless to stop it.  It was a city-wide...and even nationwide issue.  So I decided to go with charter schools where the school could hire the most-qualified teachers and fire those that did not pull their weight.

Today, DC Prep was in the news again and it made me cry.

The students in that video are largely made up of my former students -- the last class I ever taught.  After all these years, it is wonderful to know that I have passed them along to excellent teachers in 3rd grade, then 4th grade, and now 5th grade.  What is even better is knowing they will get more of the same at least through 8th grade, and very likely through high school and college.  So proud of DC Prep.

One of my teachers always tells her students that they make her heart smile.  My heart is smiling now.

Heroes.

Look!  Prep is in the news!  Aren't our babies adorable?

If you're in the area and would like to volunteer let me know! 

All Work and No Play...

...makes for a very boring blog.

The trouble with spending over 12 hours at work, then an additional 4 hours working from home every night, is that there is nothing to blog about except work.  Put into that the fact that it is generally not a good idea to blog about work and the blank screen staring back at me gets pretty intimidating.

(Don't worry about me -- I whine, but I do get to do fun things too!  Thanks for the post-work dinner, Kayla!  Ooh!  And thanks brunch on Sunday, Lindsay and Connie!)

Anyway, I realized that I never finished the Wedding Trivia -- so here is the final question:


What is Melissa’s favorite phrase that she picked up from her students?

a)      You big baldheaded boy!

b)     What d’do shorty?

c)     Oh-wah!

d)     I didn’t do nothin’! 

To be honest, I don't actually know which one I would have listed as my answer -- I actually hated ALL of these because of how many times I had to hear them.  If it is based on the phrase that I adopted as my own, it would have to be option "c".  The "Oh-wah!" is a perfect expression of shock at an "unjustified" accusation.  Of course, "unjustified" is in quotes because it was ALWAYS justified.  Always.

In Baltimore at the beginning of the decade, "a" was the worst insult one 3rd grader could throw at another 3rd grader.  And "d" gives me indigestion just to think of...I had to listen to "I didn't do nothin'" about 25 times a day.  *shudder*

And so ends wedding trivia.  Can't believe it took me so long to get around to finishing that up...hooray for procrastination...and now: bed.

Emerging.

I am emerging from my blog silence.  A couple reasons for this: 1) my parents are out of the country and I bet they are checking my blog for updates while they are in Peru and 2) I was encouraged to "breathe, then blog" by a colleague at work (who I didn't know knew I had a blog.)  I started this blog as a way to keep in touch with people -- or rather, for them to keep in touch with me -- while I was across the country in Massachusetts.  It's kind of sad to think that my work schedule is such that it has now become a way to keep in touch with people who are across the building.  Bum bum.

Still, it's worth it right now!  Our kiddies started up again this past week and things seem to be going pretty well.  By day two, the kids were looking great walking in the hall, the teachers are on top of their game, and we are already moving pretty quickly towards our goals.  Feels good!

I promise, I'm almost done bragging about our kids and teachers, but I have to get one last one in there.  After all of the District's test scores were released, our Assessment Associate pored over them in order to run some comparisons.

• In the end we found that overall, our 3rd through 8th graders performed over 35% better than the average for all DC public schools and public charter schools.  
• Our middle school is ranked #3 in reading and #4 in math for overall student performance (and that includes schools that have very different or "traditionally high-performing" demographics then ours).
• Our middle school is #1 in reading and #2 in math in overall student performance among the "disadvantaged" demographic.  
• Our 8th graders -- those who have been with us the longest -- are the highest performing students in the city.  (You can't get much better than 100% proficiency.)

I see how hard our students and our teachers work every day and it is the most motivating thing...

Is It Wrong...

...that as someone who works in a public charter school I can totally relate to the dog owner in this video?  Constantly encouraging kids/people...making excuses...not getting much back in return.  Although, I can probably relate to that dog too...(disclaimer: there is some foul language and a pooping dog in this video.)

It's been a very long week.  Students returned to school and it has been early mornings and late nights*.  Totally worth it, though...but I'm going to get into that in a later post.  For now, I need to finish up reviewing these lesson plans before I can start packing for our quick trip to New York!

*I am so sleep-deprived that this video made me laugh so hard that I cried.  

A Secret.

The results of the DC high stakes test were released to schools earlier this month.  Remember that test we took back in April?  Today, 241 D.C. teachers were fired.  As part of DC's overhaul of the school system, a rigorous teacher evaluation process was developed and implemented.  According to their test data, those teachers that were let go today were not moving students forward.  

Normally when data is first released to schools there is an embargo until the appeals process is complete.  Since today is the last day for appeals, I figure it is okay to share the news here...right? 

We made AYP!  Not just that -- our third graders' Reading and Math scores improved by 15% and 13% on average since last year.  Basically, it means that in our 3rd year of existence our 3rd graders are outperforming most of the schools in DC.  I am very proud of our students and our teachers.  They worked hard and they got results.  We still have lots of work to do, but it is wonderful to know that we are moving in the right direction fast.

Incidentally, our 8th graders -- those students who have been in our school for the longest -- did exceptionally well.  Are you ready?  94% proficient and advanced in Reading, and 100% proficient and advanced in Math.  Every single student in our graduating class is on grade level or above in Math, and all but one or two is on grade level in Reading. 

We're closing the achievement gap one step at a time...Congratulations to our students and staff.

STB! STB!

If you have been a reader of this blog for a while, you may remember those posts about Traffic Light Boy. If not, you need to click those links and catch up. Sadly, I don’t have any updates on TLB or his quest to become an electrical engineer in order to solve the Great Traffic Light Crisis in America. But, today, one our teachers shared with me an obsession of one of her students that surpasses TLB.

Prepare yourselves.

Marcus is obsessed with sharp teeth. SHARP TEETH! Apparently, he will list things with sharp teeth (i.e. sharks, cats, Ms. Miller – his teacher) and automatically love anything with sharp teeth. For the record, Ms. Miller’s teeth are not any sharper than the normal set of adult teeth…I think it’s his way of justifying his love for her.

I wish that I could post a picture of how adorable this kid is…he may be one of our cutest (and we have tons of cute), but I must restrain myself. Just know that there is a teeny little preschooler out there, with a big smile, who is obsessed with anything to do with sharp teeth.

Chills.

Finally saw the trailer for Waiting for Superman and it gives me chills.

If we can inspire one more great educator to join the fight in our public schools, inspire one more middle schooler to stay in high school, or inspire one more high school graduate to go to college than it will be worth it.  Of course -- much like An Inconvenient Truth -- the people who will go and actually see this movie are the ones who don't need this message because they already know.

Light a fire under someone you know to go see this movie with an open heart and mind.

Fun in the Sun.

It's been a hectic week -- the good part of that is that it flew by!  After a few days without internet (made less devastating by the good ol' Palm Pre), we were visited by family!  Everyone was in town to see Scott graduate from SAIS.  For some strange reason, the Powers That Be at SAIS decided that during work hours on a Thursday would be the perfect time for a graduation ceremony.  While I may have considered taking time off to see the little brother-in-law ("Lamer" according to the last post comment), I could not because that day was also our schools Field Day.

And while, I generally don't put pictures of my students up on this blog...some of these are just too adorable to pass up.  Don't worry, they all have media releases...because my blog is read by so many people.

Yes.  Little man is giving himself bunny ears.

How can you look at these pictures and not want to be a teacher?  Of course, they look much more manageable when they are frozen in time...

Sunburnt and sweaty, I rushed home and showered to get ready for a delicious meal at Vidalia to celebrate Scott's graduation.  Incidentally, it was also Jamie's and my anniversary.  All in all, a pretty fun day.

Tomorrow, we leave bright and early to get to Williamstown!  For Lindsay and Noah's wedding!  Can't wait to see everyone and catch up.  (So much fun!)  I'll post from there...

Thrilled.

As mentioned yesterday, Jamie and I went to see an opera last night -- The Marriage of Figaro to be exact. I know this last series of posts may make it seem that Jamie and I are these uber-cultured people who throw money at the arts, but the truth is that Jamie does all of the purchasing and I just get to go along with the ride. And we usually get those cheaper tickets for the "younger generation" folks who actually buy tickets to go to the opera.

This weekend we are going to see another opera: Tosca. This one, however, is actually a wedding gift -- fitting that we are going to go so close to our third anniversary. AND, it's in NYC! I'm really looking forward to visiting Jess and the NY crew. We'll be hopping on a bus on Friday after work, and catching one back on Sunday.

Then, I get to catch a train BACK to New York for work on Monday (staying until Wednesday evening). While it would have been nice to just stay in New York and not worry about going back and forth, we found out today that we are having a compliance review on Monday and Tuesday for which I must be present. Lame!

I am excited about taking a train, though.

I am also excited to share this video from our last dance party -- it was a celebration for our Prepped Up Preppies. It is so fun to see what happens to a room full of our students when you start playing Michael Jackson...

...and for the record, our students don't normally wear jeans to school. That was part of a fundraiser that we had that day.

PSA.

Before I get to today's trivia, I want to do a quick public service announcement.  So, last week I put up a new project on Donorschoose.org in order to get more books for our school.  We got fully-funded within a week thanks the generosity of family and friends (some readers of this blog!) and even a few strangers!  I couldn't believe how fast it all happened!  So a big thank you to those of you who were willing to part with your hard-earned dollars for our students!  You can bet there will be a more complete celebration post once the materials get in and I can get some pictures of the kids with their new books!

Now for the next plea: my friend Ben (father of the adorable birthday boy in the last post) works for KaBoom! which is a wonderful, wonderful, wonderful non-profit organization that builds playspaces in areas in need of said playspaces.  They do many other things -- including volunteer at my school every year.  Ben recommended us for a grant that would give our school $20,000 worth of new play equipment in the form of an "Imagination in a Box Playspace."  Seriously, how cool is this?

As a public charter school at the end of a cul-de-sac, our playspace (space in general) is seriously limited.  We have a small playground (that was "imagined" by our students and built in a community build) that is wonderful, but we can only take a couple classes out at a time.  During the winter and wet days our kids can't go out at all...This playspace would be an awesome alternative for our kids during those days.  Not to mention a wonderful way to help them exercise their imaginations. 

So, if you're feeling like supporting our school in our effort to win one, just click this link and vote for our school.  You don't have a pay a penny!  It just takes a minute or so to register and vote.  (You'll find a link to it on the right side of the page.)  Then tell all of your friends!