Note: This is on the private forum and I need this info to not be broadcasted to the world.
As most of you know I quit teaching school a year ago. After the year off I decided to get back in the game. I accepted a position in Venus, TX teaching 5th grade science.
Venus, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In education circles, this is not the place to teach. Their major industry in the area is a prison. Most of the people live in mobile homes and over 70% of these kids get their meals paid for by you and me. Venus' big claim to fame is that Bonnie and Clyde once robbed a bank there. The kids in Venus have the label of not being able to learn and not being competitive in athletics. They are your normal whipping boys when you want an easy win.
When I got there I was assigned a class with about 70% Hispanics. 5 of my kids are big boys. They have a lot of street influence in them. Every year we usually have a tug of war between classes as an activity on field day. Most elementary schools in our area do this. I saw these boys and said I was going to win the tug of war this year. We had the beef and strength. The other kids told me "No way, Saul will quit." Saul is the ring leader and he's known as a quitter. If he quits they all quit. I told the other teachers that I was going to get Saul to pull that rope and we would win the tug of war. Good luck.
I worked with Saul all year. When he would get into a fight I would talk to him about staying focused, out of trouble, and in school. He told me once that he wanted to be a lawyer. Alright, a break... I called a local Latino attorney and explained the situation. The lawyer agreed to meet with Saul and share his story. I arranged the meeting and it went great. After the meeting Saul told me he would pull the rope.
Field Day came and we dominated. It was so cool to show those kids they could win. They were accused of cheating, being lucky, and anything else under the sun. No problem, we talked it out and Saul and his buds celebrated their win with cupcakes. There were several coach/dad's watching the tug of war and were amazed at what they saw. I told them you have to find their button. There is the future offensive line for the football team.
I just got my standardized science test scores today and these kids, that couldn't learn, did better than any group I have ever had. 84% passed and I had a bunch of perfect scores. Our Hispanic performance was around 80% passing and our Economic Disadvantaged Performance was also around 80% passing.
I have been talking to these kids all year about goal setting, hard work, and not listening to nay sayers. Every time they would tell me about the hard times I would point out that they passed by businesses and people making money on the way to school. I had them looking out for new cars on the way to and from school to show them someone was doing OK. I showed them MJ's lambo and proved that success is possible. This has been my message to them for 10 months.
I have had parents tell me that no one has talked to these kids like this. No one has been trying to light a fire under their butts and get them moving. No one has tried to get them to believe in themselves at this magnitude.
This is why I teach. This is why I get out of bed each day. This is exactly what I was missing last year when I wasn't teaching. I have even more tricks planned for next year. Can you say 90% passing?
Success smells good!:cheers:
As most of you know I quit teaching school a year ago. After the year off I decided to get back in the game. I accepted a position in Venus, TX teaching 5th grade science.
Venus, Texas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In education circles, this is not the place to teach. Their major industry in the area is a prison. Most of the people live in mobile homes and over 70% of these kids get their meals paid for by you and me. Venus' big claim to fame is that Bonnie and Clyde once robbed a bank there. The kids in Venus have the label of not being able to learn and not being competitive in athletics. They are your normal whipping boys when you want an easy win.
When I got there I was assigned a class with about 70% Hispanics. 5 of my kids are big boys. They have a lot of street influence in them. Every year we usually have a tug of war between classes as an activity on field day. Most elementary schools in our area do this. I saw these boys and said I was going to win the tug of war this year. We had the beef and strength. The other kids told me "No way, Saul will quit." Saul is the ring leader and he's known as a quitter. If he quits they all quit. I told the other teachers that I was going to get Saul to pull that rope and we would win the tug of war. Good luck.
I worked with Saul all year. When he would get into a fight I would talk to him about staying focused, out of trouble, and in school. He told me once that he wanted to be a lawyer. Alright, a break... I called a local Latino attorney and explained the situation. The lawyer agreed to meet with Saul and share his story. I arranged the meeting and it went great. After the meeting Saul told me he would pull the rope.
Field Day came and we dominated. It was so cool to show those kids they could win. They were accused of cheating, being lucky, and anything else under the sun. No problem, we talked it out and Saul and his buds celebrated their win with cupcakes. There were several coach/dad's watching the tug of war and were amazed at what they saw. I told them you have to find their button. There is the future offensive line for the football team.
I just got my standardized science test scores today and these kids, that couldn't learn, did better than any group I have ever had. 84% passed and I had a bunch of perfect scores. Our Hispanic performance was around 80% passing and our Economic Disadvantaged Performance was also around 80% passing.
I have been talking to these kids all year about goal setting, hard work, and not listening to nay sayers. Every time they would tell me about the hard times I would point out that they passed by businesses and people making money on the way to school. I had them looking out for new cars on the way to and from school to show them someone was doing OK. I showed them MJ's lambo and proved that success is possible. This has been my message to them for 10 months.
I have had parents tell me that no one has talked to these kids like this. No one has been trying to light a fire under their butts and get them moving. No one has tried to get them to believe in themselves at this magnitude.
This is why I teach. This is why I get out of bed each day. This is exactly what I was missing last year when I wasn't teaching. I have even more tricks planned for next year. Can you say 90% passing?
Success smells good!:cheers:
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