Why I Teach for America

As of August 2009, the graduation for students with special needs in New York State is 26.6%.  

And the graduation statistics for students with special needs (the "exceptional students," as I like to call them) in low-income NYC neighborhoods are even more depressing.  Teach For America refers to this as the "gap within the gap." As a first year teacher and a 2010 TFA corps member, my mission is to not only close the achievement gap between my exceptional students and the students in the general education program in the Brooklyn high school that I will be working at for at least the next two years, but between my students and general education students in high-performing, high-income schools like the suburban high school I was fortunate enough to attend.

They can have a future.  But what we are providing is the opportunity to fail.  
(http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/03/education/03dropout.html)

The first day of school is one week from tomorrow.  I will be teaching two 9th and 10th grade "SETTS" classes (formerly known as resource room), and pushing into two 10th grade Integrated Algebra classes to support students who are struggling most in preparing for the Regents exam. I started this blog as a way to reflect on my classroom and my students' progress, which I am hoping will help me constantly improve my teaching so that I can better serve my students.

My concerns going into the school year:

• Making sure my SETTS classes are more than just glorified study halls
• Investing my students in the importance of what we will be doing (while avoiding a repeat of  the classroom-management-nightmare that was my summer school class)
• Trying to figure what exactly Integrated Algebra is

To be perfectly honest, I'm terrified.