At least once a week, usually while I'm driving to work, the reality of my new lie hits me. One year ago at this time, I was heading into my final quarter of college. Since then, I graduated from UW, did some traveling, started my first real job, quit my first real job, did a complete 180 on my career path, moved half-way across the country, and ended here in Houston as middle school math teacher. So much has changed over the past year, but I can say without hesitation that I am happy with how things have unfolded.
Last week, I finished my first 6 week term as a teacher. My school has 6 terms, so I'm already 1/5 of the way through my first year as a teacher. It's crazy how time flies. I gave out my first big test, and was pleasantly surprised by how my students did. At the same time though, I still know there's so much work to be done. When students arrive at my school in the 6th grade, they're often several grade levels behind, because the elementary schools where they attended were so low-performing. My principal has said that because of this, 6th and 7th grade are in many ways the hardest years to teach, as the students transition. To put on top of this, several of my students are Special Ed students. My school believes in mainstreaming all students, so one of my challenges ahead of me is to figure out how I will reach out to my lowest students.
With that said, I still want to hold my students to the highest expectation, so one of my big goals for the year is to get 100% of my students to pass the math section of the TAKS (Texas's standardized test). I know the goal is lofty, but I often feel because of the school I'm at, reaching for anything less would be settling. In fact, my school's results have been so outstanding that we were featured on Oprah last week, and we received a one million dollar check from Oprah! (No I don't think any of that money will go directly to my paycheck) At my school, I am surrounded by such high achieving teachers; it's very humbling, if not somewhat intimidating. I think the environment is healthy for me though. I'm pretty competitive, so it has just pushed me to work harder to become a better teacher. On an average week, I easily work 70 hours, and sometimes push 80. The sheer volume of work the a first year teacher faces is daunting. Before this, I never understood how it was humanly possible to work that many hours in a week. Oddly though, even despite the few grey hairs that have now found their way on to my head, I'm still happy. At the end of the day, I know I'm doing something important, and that I am a part of something so much greater than myself.
Outside of my math classes, I also started a cultural film appreciation club. From the quotes I shared in my last 2 blogs, you might have noticed that my students don't have much exposure to cultures outside of their own. I'm almost positive that I am the first Asian teacher they've ever had, and because the school is 2/3 Hispanic and 1/3 black, my students don't really seem to know about any other cultures other than Hispanic and black culture. My club has about 25 students, and I'm hoping that through some movies, they can learn about other cultures and demystify some of the stereotypes they hold. Right now, we're watching Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon. But don't worry, I'm not trying to push only an Asian agenda. We'll also watch Hotel Rwanda, Kite Runner, and a few others.
I'll close again with some students quotes. I'm sure I'm forgetting some, but here a few good ones.
Me: "Notre Dame football is always overrated"
Student: "Oh, you mean like PG 13, and R-rated?"
Me: "Hahaha, no. Overrated, not R-rated"
Student: "You're Mexican, right?"
Me: "No, I'm Vietnamese. My parents are from Vietnam"
Student: "Where's Vietnam?"
Me: "South of China"
Student: "Do they speak Spanish in Vietnam?"
Thinking to myself: "I think I just died inside a little bit"
Me: "You're such a smart alec"
Student: "What's a smart alec? All my teachers call me that"
Thinking to myself: "Wait, are you being a smart alec with right now?"
Me intoducing a lesson about sales tax: "I went to the store and got $20 worth of supplies for the class. I went up to the cashier and gave her a $20 bill, and she laughed at me, and said that wasn't enough money. What did I forget?"
Student 1: "Tax!"
Me: "You're right. I totally forgot I had to pay tax. Today we'll be talking all about taxes!"
Student 2: "Mr. Tran, are you sure you didn't make up that story? You're a GROWN UP! Grown-ups don't forget tax. They don't make those types of mistakes."
Me: "You don't think my story is true?!? Grown-ups make mistakes all the time"
