Yo Mista!

I'm back.  It's been nearly a year since I've last written on Yo Mista!  A lot has changed personally. Yet nothing has changed professionally. And I guess that's why I've been so uninspired to write.  Over the last year, my professional life took a backseat to my personal life. When the dust settled, I realized I didn't want to write  Yo Mista!  anymore. I still felt passionate about my work, but I was somehow uninspired. My day-to-day at school over the last year hasn't changed. I still teach over-age, at-risk students at an alternative high school. Everyday, crazy shit happens in my classroom. Everyday, a student either feels supremely connected to me and my content or feels without direction and completely out of touch with education. My students and I still keep each other on our toes. The only problem is, I'm getting jaded.  This is my fifth year of teaching at-risk youth and I'm getting tired of seeing students arrive to school hig...

In the world of teaching at-risk teenagers, the odds of students achieving what we in 21st century America define as "success" are slim-to-none. For many of my students, college is simply not a realistic or relevant next step, although that's what educators like me are conditioned to believe students should be striving for. We hold these unrealistic and unfair expectations and are then shocked when year after year, familiar faces disappear and become names on paper. And eventually those names become statistics. Something is very wrong with this. In my first year of teaching, I couldn't believe teaching at-risk students was like investment banking: a numbers game. Teachers worked their asses off, giving 110% everyday, but ultimately we knew the return rate of success was slim. In banking, we'd pitch merger ideas to a plethora of clients, hoping one would bite. Eventually someone would like an idea, and all of of our hard work would transform into a lucrative dea...

In a recent report published by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, where a student lives still determines where a student ends up, despite a decade's worth of "education reforms" in NYC. " The portfolio district model adopted by Mayor Michael Bloomberg in New York City is often held up as a national model  for high school 'choice,' touted as the best way to reduce pernicious race- and income-based achievement gaps. According to this model, student demographics are 'no excuse' for poor performance: teacher quality is the single most important determinant of student success. But this AISR study on college readiness shows that in spite of a decade of efforts in New York City to expand choice and ensure that the most disadvantaged students do not invariably attend the most disadvantaged schools, student demographics still stubbornly dictate destiny ." Gotham Schools posted this link yesterday that brilliantly maps this study'...

An article published in the NYT this week highlights how states across the U.S. are changing the way teachers will receive certification. According to the article, "New York and up to 25 other states are moving toward... de-emphasizing tests and written essays in favor of a more demanding approach that requires aspiring teachers to prove themselves through lesson plans, homework assignments and videotaped instruction sessions." I say it's about time. Back in 2009, I joined the teaching profession in New York state via Teach for America , which simply meant I had to obtain a master's degree (part-time, at night) while teaching full-time in a classroom. Like most of my peers, I paid more attention to my job as a teacher than my actual master's degree courses. I wish it didn't have to be that way, but it was. My kids were much more important to me than some excerpt written by Linda Darling-Hammond about best practices. Actually, not all TFA teach...

I saw this nifty graphic on a blog  this morning and decided to re-post it in honor of Regents testing going on in high schools across New York state for the next two weeks. May the test Gods be with you.

Over the weekend, I went to Lucia's high school graduation party in Brooklyn. I never thought I'd get actually invited to a student's graduation party (being a teacher), but there I was, dressed to impress and ready to pretend that I am not awkward. Lucia is special to me, because she's the other student I spoke about here . She's a work horse, scoring some of the highest grades at our grade on all the New York Regents Exams. She's incredibly motivated. I'm quite proud of her: she'll go to a community college for a year or two and then transfer out. As we sat at our respective tables enjoying the company, I remembered what it was like when I was in my students' shoes in this moment. Graduation right around the corner, everyone thinking this was a big deal. My thoughts during my graduation process: Hmm. Well, I don't feel any older... I wanted my high school graduation to end as soon as possible. I didn't want to go to a "formal...

One of the best things about being a teacher is that Facebook, YouTube and Gmail's chat functions are blocked on all Department of Education (DOE) computers and wireless networks. This means, on a day like today, when there's absolutely no one in the building and no one taking state exams, I am literally bored out of my fucking mind. The school feels like a ghost town. One of my esteemed colleagues has taken it upon himself to enter my room any time he has to rip some serious ass. In the past four minutes, he has entered my room three times, and cranked out four (maybe six, if you count the little ones) loud, solid farts. Although, it might be more appropriate to say liquid farts judging by their sounds: some of them might've been a little wet. Pretty impressive, I'd say. Graduation is not until next Monday, so tomorrow looks to be more of the same. It's depressing: my room is barren, all the other classrooms are barren, and there are no gangster-wanna-be studen...

Two of my top students from last year are seniors this year. From September until January, I coached them through the college application process: from prepping for the SAT to essay writing. I wrote a short post about how excited I was to help these students through the process here . I've actually written about one of these students, Kareem , previously as well. It's the end of March now and their decision letters have started coming in through the mail. Unfortunately, there haven't been any positive ones yet.  Both students started receiving rejection letters a few weeks ago. Kareem texts me every time he hears from a school: Hey. I didn't get into [college name]. Well that's one great fucking way to wake up on a Saturday morning: good morning Mista, thanks for encouraging me to apply to all these schools that never wanted me anyway. God-fucking-dammit. When they received their first few letters, I told them to remain positive and upbeat. Don't get discou...

In the past few weeks, I've spent the better part of my spare time helping some students with their college applications. They are doing whatever it takes to delay getting started on their essays. Makes sense, the college essay can be intimidating, particularly for those students who never thought college was an option. Around Thanksgiving, it occurred to me that I am not exactly getting paid overtime for the extra time I'm putting in to do this shit. So why am I doing this? Well, I guess if you know me (and I don't even know if I even know me, so don't feel left out), then you must know that I didn't really join the teaching gig to roll around in wads of cash. Side note: Instead, I write this blog with the hopes of an editor from Penguin randomly finding it and offering me a book deal. Holding my breath. Starting now... It must be Monday evening because my mind is all over the place. It's been a long fucking day and now I'm sitting in grad school, freq...

In the past few weeks, I've been back at my school off and on for the following reasons: Planning curriculum with my department (which usually just means we're doing Beavis and Butthead impersonations all day) Helping grade the August Algebra Regents (there were only 6) Showing my younger brother where I work (he was here for a week!) It's been weird, but every time I went back, I left the building with a small, controlled burst of optimism. Small because I'm now fully aware of the physical and emotional demands the school year will make and I'm a bit scared. Controlled because, well, I don't want to get too excited - last year my students started the year strong but by the end of the first trimester, a majority of them went back to their old ways. I suppose this year I will beat myself up less about it. Not. At one point this week, my fellow math teachers (I have two colleagues now, as opposed to just one) and I were discussing the upcoming school year ...

"Yo Mista, you got any brothas or sistas?" I haven’t seen my younger brother in a year.  As an only child for the first nine years of my life, I learned how to get lost in my imagination. My best friends were the Ninja Turtles, Power Rangers and Superman toys now packed in boxes buried somewhere. I filled my life with comic book heroes because I wanted to protect people from harm; I wanted to be selfless. I was about to enter the fourth grade when my brother was born: one of the happiest days of my life. I remember I was sleeping over at a friend’s place while my mom and dad were in the hospital. When my brother and I first met, I promised myself to be his friend, mentor and father figure – everything I wanted and needed, I would give to him. I loved having pictures taken of him and me together. I wanted to carry him, play with him and teach him the alphabet when he was only a year old. I remember I wanted him to eat a lot of baby food with spinach because I watched Pop...

I teach at a transfer high school that wants to push students to pursue some form of secondary education (I say "wants" because it's our first year and building a culture of success is tough). Our dedicated staff of teachers and advisers talk about the benefits of college on an everyday basis it seems. And obviously, since college isn't for everyone we also talk about trade schools or any other sort of post-high school institution. I really think higher education is a major factor in breaking the cycle my students are in. As a result, the SAT comes up quite a bit. The SAT is arguably one of the most important exams a high school student will take. I would argue that as long as you have decent grades and a solid application (explaining why your grades were just "decent"), a good SAT score can carry you into any school. It's a number that follows you everywhere. In my opinion, you're either a good test taker or you're not. The SAT doesn't...