I have spent the last 18 months teaching in Baltimore City public schools under the guidance of Teach For America. To those who denounce the program as ineffective and those who choose not to apply for fear of losing their optimism and idealism -- please consider the journey my students and I took in a small classroom in West Baltimore.
My development as a teacher has not been an easy process. As an easygoing person, I found it very difficult to provide my students with structure and discipline in the classroom. The results were chaotic days and a growing fear that I wasn't providing my students with the education they subtly -- and not so subtly -- told me they deserved.
My students during my first year were in a unique position: They were part of the first class of students in Maryland required to pass state tests in my subject, 10th grade social studies, in order to graduate from high school. Their anxiety in September was probably not assuaged by a teacher who stepped into the classroom with a perceptible lack of confidence. As the year progressed, I realized that confidence was the first step in establishing my authority in the classroom. I am now a stronger leader in all aspects of my life because of it.
My experiences in the classroom not only transformed and empowered me, but my students as well. At the beginning of the year, most of my students lacked the basic skill sets that they needed to pass the end of year high school assessments. I realized that one of the biggest obstacles to my students' success on the tests was their response to essay questions. The vast majority of students would simply leave essay spaces blank; some lacked the background knowledge to answer adequately, while others wrote essays that were nearly incomprehensible.
One at a time, our class targeted each of the problems that seemed to crop up for many students. We focused on current events for a month, and I taught students how to use real life examples to strengthen their writing. We worked on the organization and structure of the basic essay for several weeks to make sure that my students wouldn't lose sight of the essay question while writing. Slowly, I began to see progress in my students' writing. By March, very few students would leave essay questions blank and the quality of written responses had increased dramatically.
The moment of truth came in May when my students sat for their High School Assessment. Over 90 percent of my students passed the test; that year, the school recorded the highest pass rates in school history. My students were performing at higher levels than their peers from more affluent areas.
There is no one keystone moment defining when I finally "became" a teacher, nor is there a crucial scene where my students opened up and accepted me as a positive force in their lives. Instead, interactions here and there -- sometimes a dozen a day -- molded me into a far more patient and focused person than I thought I could be, and in return, pushed my students to reflect on how much they value their education.
In October, as I began to publicly acknowledge student successes in class, I watched my kids' grades and moods improve. Right before Christmas, when one student was driving me crazy, I received a note of appreciation from another student that I have kept on my desk ever since. In January, my class reenacted a Supreme Court case, and I learned what creative thinkers they were. In March, when my most sensitive, brilliant student was expelled, I sat with him as he wrote an appeal to the principal. When my seniors graduated in June, I cried.
My first year was difficult -- I cannot emphasize that enough. Had I not had the support of other Teach For America teachers across the city, the mentor teachers in my school and the parents of my students, I would not be able to look back on such a successful year.
That first year exists in my mind as a blur of hard work, but through it all I remember certain constants: students who took class debates so seriously I was afraid things would get out of control, students who worked constantly and let me know that they were making progress and students who helped make me the teacher I am today.
