Teach for America [Archive]

Mad_Bishop

02 Jul 2004, 01:50 PM

zcgf02

02 Jul 2004, 01:54 PM

Iceblink

02 Jul 2004, 02:04 PM

Has anyone participated in Teach for America?
http://www.teachforamerica.org
My wife and I are both comtemplating applying for the program, as she is a semester away from her English degree, and I have decided after three years of film school that I'd rather teach and coach soccer. We're a little concerned about getting in, since we're both white, middle-class liberal arts students, but think the program is an excelent idea.

In truth, your race probably won't matter. Believe it or not, a lot of urban public schools need white teachers for diversity! For a long time, only Black, Hispanic, and Latino teachers wanted to go to the inner city schools. The white teachers were all running away, screaming, to the suburbs.

I live in the suburbs and ran to the city!

The liberal arts thing may be a bit of a problem... but the truth is... so many English teachers are inadequate. I hate to say it, but it's the truth... all the districts care about are the standardized test scores! There I said it. They need help in English!

A school like mine is where you belong, Your Insane Holiness. We have a radio and TV program, and others have film departments... because we're vocational schools. Can you imagine giving a kid the chance to get out of a bad situation through that kind of route? Nice. Of course, the kids will probably only want to produce/direct hip-hop videos. Hehe...

Around here, it's all about the Kanye West success story. He was from the south side of Chicago.

Anyway, I don't know too much about the program, but it sounds like they do a lot of good.

Iceblink

02 Jul 2004, 02:04 PM

Mad Bishop -- I participated in TFA for two years: 1991-93. I too was a white, middle-class, liberal arts student and wound up teaching in an elementary school in New Orleans, LA. PM me if you'd like to discuss further.

Actually, zcgf02(?), I'd like to hear more about your experiences as well.

Jacen McCullough

02 Jul 2004, 03:09 PM

I know of the program by reputation only, and I've heard mixed results. It's basically supposed to be a teacher boot camp. If you survive it, then you're golden, but a lot of folks don't make it all the way through. If money is tight, or if you are just really gung-ho to get in front of a classroom, then go for it. If you've got the time and the money to go it a little slower, I would suggest actually going through a teacher pre-service program at a college. You get to ease into it and get more comfortable.

zcgf02

02 Jul 2004, 10:07 PM

Actually, zcgf02(?), I'd like to hear more about your experiences as well.

Well, I graduated from college in 1991, in the midst of the first Bush recession. I wasn't ready for grad school, so I decided to try to do something useful with myself and applied for TFA.

I had spent nearly my entire life in California (Northern and Southern) and went to TFA training in LA at USC. There, I got a crash course in teaching and did some practice teaching to a bi-lingual class in East LA. It was great b/c I got to practice my Spanish and learn from a veteran teacher.

The trouble was, the lesson that our instructors beat into our heads was that discipline didn't matter. As long our lessons were good and we were committed, the kids would pay attention and learn.

That turned out not to be the case for me and I really struggled once I started teaching my own class of 5th graders in New Orleans. They saw me for the inexperienced do-gooder that I was and class was a mess almost from day one. I almost quit several times, but I refused to give up.

After about six weeks, the principal took pity on me. I was the only white male teacher in a school that was mostly black kids. (There were two black male teachers, the gym teacher and the special ed teacher.). I think the principal wanted to keep me around b/c I was a bit of a novelty, and maybe she saw how determined I was to make it work.

Anyway, the school district had mandated that the lower grades have fewer kids, so she shaved some kids off from second and third grade classes and gave me a new class, just a month and a half into the school year. I was much more strict and organized with the new kids and things went much better. It was not all smooth sailing to be sure, but I enjoyed going to school and my kids enjoyed coming to class (usually).

The second year went even better. I had a third grade class and was much more comfortable.

In the end, however, I realized I was not cut out to be a teacher. It drove me crazy when kids didn't understand a lesson. For example, I tried every which way to teach my third graders how to tell time with an analog clock and a good number of them just didn't get it. This bothers me still, more than 10 years later. I wasn't a good enough teacher to teach them certain things, but was unable to deal with it when the kids didn't learn what I hoped they would.

I have lots more to say about TFA, teaching, and race but it's late. Let me know if you're interested in reading more.

nsa

02 Jul 2004, 11:43 PM

zcfg02, I've addressed a question based upon your last comment in another thread (http://www.bigsoccer.com/forum/showthread.php?t=121227). I hope that you (and others) can take the time to comment.

nsa

03 Jul 2004, 12:03 AM

jmeissen0

03 Jul 2004, 12:26 AM

one of my older brothers just got done with a two year stint in houston for TFA... he enjoyed it

was a russian language major in college, did a year of grad school for slavic languages, hated it, dropped it, worked at the us embassy in moscow, went to grad school for teaching english as a second language, did TFA and is now looking at his options

he had previously accepted a grade school job in the phoenix area, but has since decided to decline it... now he is looking for teaching jobs closer to home (parents in springfield, il) and other jobs that will get him out of the country

it took him some time to remain in control of the classroom and he had to get use to 3rd graders that at times were 15 years old... things he had never been around before due to going to middle classed religious private school his entire life

he seemed to think the main differences were poverty and the lack of expectations... there was no getting out for people... it's a whirl pool that just takes you down, down, down

Iceblink

03 Jul 2004, 12:33 AM

I got a blank screen from the TFA website so I googled for TFA and this came up.

How I Joined Teach for America—and Got Sued for $20 Million (http://www.city-journal.org/html/13_1_how_i_joined.html)

Well.... basically... TFA didn't train him well, or he didn't listen well.

He basically did everything wrong. If the student had just fallen down without anyone touching him at all, the parents could still file a lawsuit. The student is supposed to be in the classroom. You can't just put a kid in the hall. Too much happening... too much trouble to get into... too many other kids in the hall. If a student runs out, that's another story... but don't put one out there.

And don't ever touch a student... no matter what. Anything can be misconstrued... deemed inappropriate contact.

The school had security. The only option, if you really want to get rid of a student. Call the security to come and escort the student somewhere specific... the principal's office... the library. Anyplace... just don't let that student run around the hall aimlessly.

In truth, I haven't seen anything, short of actual student teaching, that can prepare a person for the task of classroom management. It's the single hardest part of teaching, IMO. One of the problems with inner city schools is that the infrastructure isn't really there to handle everything that happens. At my school, there is very little support for taking care of disruptive students. If I want to punish someone, I have to write up an insanely long piece of paper and have the student escorted to the dean or escort him/her there myself. Like I have time for that in the middle of a class!

It's tough. I'm still learning, and I learned the hard way that I am really bad with freshmen!!! Juniors and seniors are easier. They look to the future a bit. They realize that high school is almost over, so they understand what I am preparing them for. It is important for many of them.

Demosthenes

03 Jul 2004, 10:23 AM

The trouble was, the lesson that our instructors beat into our heads was that discipline didn't matter. As long our lessons were good and we were committed, the kids would pay attention and learn.

LMAO!

Sorry. That's terrible that they taught you that. I'm a New York City Teaching Fellow, part of a program that's based on/modelled after TFA. They can't drum into our heads enough: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT! Actually, to be honest I think maybe they're not focusing on it enough. But they have a lot to teach us in 6 weeks of training, so it's impossible to spend too much time on any one thing, even something as crucial as classroom management.

I have a friend who is currently doing TFA. Based on his experiences, I would say, if anyone is interested in teaching in NYC, do the Teaching Fellowship. But if there is no local alternative certification program in the city where you want to teach, TFA is probably the answer.

On the other hand, if you have the time and resources (or willingness to go into (more) debt), go the traditional route. TFA and NYCTF are very challenging, difficult programs. Not only must you teach in some of the toughtest schools in the country with minimal pre-service training, but you also have to attend classes and complete your own university coursework. It's a huge time committment, not to mention the mental and emotional committments. I'm saying this now and I've only been in training for two weeks. I haven't even been in a classroom yet. It's already as much of a challenge as anything I've ever done. Then again, I'm pretty lazy and have generally avoided challenges in the past.

zcgf02

03 Jul 2004, 01:40 PM

LMAO!

Sorry. That's terrible that they taught you that.

Yeah, my friends and I were all pretty bitter. A lot of people flamed out after the first month or so and quit. Some didn't come back for the second year (it's a two-year commitment like the Peace Corps).

But I did it in the second year of the program (1991). I imagine they've changed the curriculum by now.

Kanuuuu

18 Jul 2004, 02:40 PM

LMAO!

Sorry. That's terrible that they taught you that. I'm a New York City Teaching Fellow, part of a program that's based on/modelled after TFA. They can't drum into our heads enough: CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT! Actually, to be honest I think maybe they're not focusing on it enough. But they have a lot to teach us in 6 weeks of training, so it's impossible to spend too much time on any one thing, even something as crucial as classroom management.

I have a friend who is currently doing TFA. Based on his experiences, I would say, if anyone is interested in teaching in NYC, do the Teaching Fellowship. But if there is no local alternative certification program in the city where you want to teach, TFA is probably the answer.

On the other hand, if you have the time and resources (or willingness to go into (more) debt), go the traditional route. TFA and NYCTF are very challenging, difficult programs. Not only must you teach in some of the toughtest schools in the country with minimal pre-service training, but you also have to attend classes and complete your own university coursework. It's a huge time committment, not to mention the mental and emotional committments. I'm saying this now and I've only been in training for two weeks. I haven't even been in a classroom yet. It's already as much of a challenge as anything I've ever done. Then again, I'm pretty lazy and have generally avoided challenges in the past.

Hey, just curious what you think about the NY program. I have a friend who got accepted and declined the opportunity. I was looking at it and just wondering how you like it. Do you get enough money to live in NYC? Thanks in advance for your reply....

Demosthenes

18 Jul 2004, 10:31 PM

Hey, just curious what you think about the NY program. I have a friend who got accepted and declined the opportunity. I was looking at it and just wondering how you like it. Do you get enough money to live in NYC? Thanks in advance for your reply....

So far, I'm really liking the NYC Fellows program. If you're thinking of doing it, I would only recommend it if you're willing to be extremely flexible, and patient. You also have to be pretty resourceful and totally committed. The program can be a little frustrating. But I'm learning a lot, and I feel a thousand times better equipped to start teaching than I did less than a month ago. I'm going to be teaching in one of the worst schools in Brooklyn (a teacher I met last week called it "the worst of the worst," in fact). So you have to be willing to go through an extremely intensive training, then teach at an extremely crappy school. Don't do it if your not sure it's what you want.

As for the money, over 7 weeks of training, you get a $2,500 stipend, tax free. That's what? About $350/week - barely enough to live in NYC, but it can be done. Of course, training ends Aug. 6 and School doesn't start til Sept. 6, and you don't get any money during that time. So you need to have some source of income or savings to get by for at least one month. After school starts, you get a full first-year teaching salary - about $39,000 plus benefits, which is nice. More than enough for a single person living in NYC.