My Job
Since many of you don't have the specifics of what I'm doing here in New York, I figure since I'm doing nothing, I would write a little about it.
I came here as a member of hte NYC Teaching Fellows, an organization to bring teachers to NYC. Every year, they hire around 3,000 new teachers, only a dent in the approximately 12,000 vacancies a year. Of those 3,000, a third were math teachers.
Last year I taught at Grace H. Dodge Career and Technical High School. It wasn't as bad as a lot of schools in the Bronx, but it wasn't easy. To answer the question that I am asked the most often, I was never scared of my students, nor did I ever have any reason to be. On the other hand, after seeing someone get jumped at the bus stop a block from my school in the middle of the day, there are times when I was scared of the other students.
Next year, I will be at a different school though (my choice). I will be teaching math still, but at the Frank Sinatra School of Arts. It is still a public school, but of a much different caliber. In NYC, at the end of 8th grade, the students all have to apply to high school. If they are not accepted into any schools of their choice, they go to a "zoned school" which is just the closest high school, and usually the really scary schools. Almost every high school here has a theme, from music, to cosmetology, to aviation or boat making. The emphasis at Frank Sinatra is dance, music, and drama.
I am excited for many reasons. First, there will be air conditioning. Second, it is only 15 minutes away. And third, I will be able to relate more to the students. I loved my students at Dodge, but I will never understand them. To compare the two schools, look at each of the school report card links to the right. Especially look at the number of suspensions, police department incidents (which is VERY underreported), and the precent meeting grade level in mathematics, all on page two of each report. Frank Sinatra is only 4 years old though, so its data will vary a lot more, but admissions are based on an audition and previous academic records.
Also, instead of teaching Freshmen, I will be teaching Sophomores and Seniors.. YAY! I am just all around excited. I will leave it at this for now, since in September every blog entry will be something about my work, Im sure.
I came here as a member of hte NYC Teaching Fellows, an organization to bring teachers to NYC. Every year, they hire around 3,000 new teachers, only a dent in the approximately 12,000 vacancies a year. Of those 3,000, a third were math teachers.
Last year I taught at Grace H. Dodge Career and Technical High School. It wasn't as bad as a lot of schools in the Bronx, but it wasn't easy. To answer the question that I am asked the most often, I was never scared of my students, nor did I ever have any reason to be. On the other hand, after seeing someone get jumped at the bus stop a block from my school in the middle of the day, there are times when I was scared of the other students.
Next year, I will be at a different school though (my choice). I will be teaching math still, but at the Frank Sinatra School of Arts. It is still a public school, but of a much different caliber. In NYC, at the end of 8th grade, the students all have to apply to high school. If they are not accepted into any schools of their choice, they go to a "zoned school" which is just the closest high school, and usually the really scary schools. Almost every high school here has a theme, from music, to cosmetology, to aviation or boat making. The emphasis at Frank Sinatra is dance, music, and drama.
I am excited for many reasons. First, there will be air conditioning. Second, it is only 15 minutes away. And third, I will be able to relate more to the students. I loved my students at Dodge, but I will never understand them. To compare the two schools, look at each of the school report card links to the right. Especially look at the number of suspensions, police department incidents (which is VERY underreported), and the precent meeting grade level in mathematics, all on page two of each report. Frank Sinatra is only 4 years old though, so its data will vary a lot more, but admissions are based on an audition and previous academic records.
Also, instead of teaching Freshmen, I will be teaching Sophomores and Seniors.. YAY! I am just all around excited. I will leave it at this for now, since in September every blog entry will be something about my work, Im sure.
posted by Jennifer Q @ 4:47 PM
1 Comments:
At 8:00 PM,
Jennifer Q said…
The zoned schools are like the ones you see on movies - desks thrown out the windows, you have to keep the classroom locked so that gangs dont come in to beat kids up, kids having sex in obscure hallways... those sorts of things. There is a list of the "Dirty DOzen" schools in new york that have more security, but as far as resources, they probably get less. A lot of the schools are huge too - some around 4,000 students. there is a big push right now to split them all into small schools of about 400-500 students, but then they have a lot of rivalry because they all still share the same building, and you get a mix of high achieving kids at one small school mixed with rough kids from another. Its tough.
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