Basile Beaty’s Neighborhood

 Join MTC if…

- you like challenges. MTC is a challenge, and it is hard; however, it is completely worth it, if you’re up for it.

- you want to change. MTC will surely change you, for better or for worse.

- you’re up for living away from big cities and the metropolitan lifestyle. MTC places you in Mississippi (seems logical, right?), so if you’re up for living in Mississippi, join MTC.

- you want to be a part of something big.  Mississippi needs teachers; Mississippi needs good teachers. As a member of MTC, you have the opportunity to be a good teacher in Mississippi.

- you want to teach. MTC claims that if you can teach in the districts it places you in, you can teach anywhere. Talk about comforting- if you can survive this, you can go anywhere else and be okay.

- you don’t want to teach. MTC is incredible work experience in a difficult environment; I’m convinced that if I can survive (and thrive!) this, that I can do well just about anywhere. Although if you don’t want to teach, you should probably at least really like people- MTC is tough if you’re anti-people.

- you wanted to do Teach for America but weren’t accepted. MTC is better: FREE MASTERS (no strings attached- it is truly free, books and all!), full teaching salary with benefits, a support system that is second to none- from the summer interns to the faculty to the second years, MTC is there for its participants- in good times and in bad, connections and resources in every possible placement site. Enough said.

- you want an adventure. No, MTC is not the wild west; however, it sure provides one crazy experience for all participants.

- you are flexible/ are okay with learning how to be flexible. You have to be as a part of MTC. Your school will probably not be organized, and because of their lack of organization (among other things), you will need to be flexible. Even when you really, really do not want to be.

- you prefer the SEC to the Ivy League. Only kidding. However, SEC football is king in Mississippi, and as a part of MTC, you will be enrolled as a graduate student at the University of Mississippi. Love your alma mater, but embrace your new school and Mississippians will start to see you as one of their own rather than an outsider.

Don't join MTC if...
- you don't like challenges. MTC is an incredible challenge. From the students you will teach to the administration you will work under and the people you will work with, everything will test you and try you. MTC is HARD.

- you have other plans. In order to enjoy the work you do with MTC, your job has to be your main focus, although it should never, ever be your only focus. If you'd rather be doing something else, do it. Your students need you to be all there, and they can tell if you're not.

- you think you can change the state of education in Mississippi. You can't, and you won't. You might have a positive impact on the lives of a handful of students, but you certainly will not change the state of education in Mississippi. The system has been messed up for far too long, and just like Kofi Annan learned with the instability in Kenya, peace will only come if those directly involved, rather than outsiders, want it to come.

- you hate the South. Mississippi is a different world, and those who know that who live there tend to be okay with that. Yes, red meat is a staple in many diets. Yes, people talk with accents that are sometimes impossible to understand. Yes, there are A LOT of really crappy drivers in Mississippi. Yes, rain can add a lot of extra time to your daily commute. Yes, the logic in Mississippi might seem illogical. to you. To them, it makes plenty of sense- accept that fact.

- you'd prefer to live  a cosmopolitan lifestyle in a big city. Mississippi doesn't have any of that. The largest "city" is the capital, Jackson, and if you include the tri-county area, the city's population doesn't even top half a million people. Culture exists in Mississippi; however, you must keep your eyes open in order to find it.

 

- you’re unorganized. I know there are plenty of people in MTC who will tell you that they are not organized. Do not believe them. As a participant in MTC, you must be able to balance teaching in  a critical needs school district with your own coursework. The courses, while not as demanding as undergraduate coursework, still require you to work on your own time. In addition to balancing teaching with studying, you also need to be able to make time for you, time away from school, MTC, and all things teacher related. You won’t survive if you don’t make time for you.

I was going to write about a situation at my school today that upset many of the MTC teachers, but I think Brent  did it better than I ever could...

This reminds me of the "We are the Fighting Irish" ads they play during ND football games.  Danielle Hall, Notre Dame and MTC alum, is featured in this recruitment/information video about the Mississippi Teacher Corps:

Como Elem.

           Overall, this semester has been good. Things were rocky for about the first month and a half, which was expected, but the whole time I was telling myself things would get better and they did. Getting my bearings in the school and with the students was a process, but I finally feel comfortable where I am, and according to Ben, I have made it through the toughest time of my entire teaching career! That really is a comforting thought–I have made it through the hardest part of the hardest thing I'll probably ever do. One of the biggest reasons I decided to come down here was to challenge myself, and to know that I have been able to get through it is an encouraging feeling.

            One thing I started at the beginning of the semester and have recently kind of slacked up on is planning. I used to spend the entire day on Sunday planning out the whole week, but I've started planning up until about Wednesday and then getting tired and stopping. My lessons are always really good until Thursday, in which they're usually half-put together because I was too tired to put something good together. Come Thursday I'm usually exhausted and have no energy; Thursdays and Fridays are usually the days where "Ms. Levine in a bad mood." That's one thing I want to get better at for the upcoming semester, getting complete plans done ahead of time and making sure I'm getting enough rest all throughout the week.

            As far as my placement goes I feel very fortunate. My school and the students are great, my administration is overall very supportive, especially compared to others I have heard about, and Panola county is right in the middle of two big cities. I'm lucky to have as many teacher corps as there are in my school, it's made this experience a lot more enjoyable. 

 

though i think arne duncan's speech on "teacher colleges" was pretty well-crafted, i don't know if i truly still understand the concept of a teacher's college.  before i get into explaining why perhaps the most important thing could be to fund these institutions, i think i need to see if i actually believe in what they are aimed at doing.

In response to: this speech.

I am really happy I chose an alternate-route program. I can’t help but think how horrible it would be to spend four years learning what we learned in a couple classes over the summer. I have learned to teach the way I learn best: being thrown into something and having to play guess and check until I get it right. I still haven’t gotten it right, but I don’t feel like the things I’ve gotten wrong are things I could have picked up in a classroom setting where I wasn’t at the front of the room.

This speech claims that education programs aren’t adequately preparing their students for real-world teaching positions. A society where the most needy students are taught by either the worst or most un-prepared teachers is only perpetuating our country’s public education problems,  and it is embarrassing and pathetic. A realization of this as a national concern is a crucial step that many have not taken. The idea of education as “the civil rights issue of our generation” is why I became so passionate about teaching in a critical need district. The status of public education is a problem that a) no one knows about, and b) no one is fixing. I would forever feel guilty if I was given the opportunity to make a change and passed it up.

That being said, I can’t help but question my own performance as a teacher. I am doing the best I can, but what I have seen is that the students in our schools don’t need first-year teachers that barely know what they’re doing, despite the enthusiasm and creativity that the baby boomer generation teachers may lack, they need the best of the best to come in here and lead a major reformation in our small schools. These students need more than they are given; I think this everyday.

At the same time, this speech evokes a sense of urgency and a sense of possibility; this is step one. Step two–action, a bit more difficult, but it can happen. Despite how deep in the mud so many of our communities are, people like us-recognizing the problem and working toward a solution- is a step in the right direction.  I may not be great now, but I want to be. 

...once again, mixed feelings toward EVERTHING down here. This has been a reoccurring theme. (see below post)

 On another note, I like the quote this speech ended on: "A teacher affects eternity—he can never tell where his influence stops."

 I think I will post this on my desk. 

In response to: this!

I have days where I feel really good about teaching. I feel like I’m good at it, I feel like my kids have learned something, and I feel like I’m making the impact I came down here to make. This feeling is usually on a Monday or a Tuesday.

Early in the week I’m always fully-planned: I have the most energy, my lessons are the most creative, and the kids aren’t too tired of the week yet. By Friday, I don’t know why I’m here. By Friday, my class has failed the quiz I have just given them and made me feel that I wasted my whole week because they didn’t learn anything. By Friday, I don't want to be at school and I count down the minutes more than my kids do; I feel useless. It happens every week. 

Much of Pete’s speech is about the impact we make in the classroom, and the fact that we’re making an impact even when we don’t feel like we are. This is something I have had to continuously remind myself in order to not get discouraged in this job. Pete talks about how one of the most challenging aspects of teaching is coming from a background where if you work hard enough you will get want you want, but realizing that there is no formula for getting what you want out of teaching. Sounds like a Friday. 

He speaks of the frustrations unique to our situation. One frustration I didn't expect–the ambiguity that comes with everything; specifically measuring my progress.  If my kids fail, then I’m not sure whether I failing them for not teaching them well enough, or doing a good job for pushing them. If the students say I’m an “excellent” teacher, even though they don't have "excellent" grades, does it mean that they really think I’m a good teacher or are they confusing “excellent” with “easy” “fun” or “cool?” Is it even a compliment for a kid to tell you you’re in excellent teacher? I almost feel like I'm clueless at how to gauge things. If my principal never talks to me does that mean I'm in the clear or that he doesn't like me? These unexpected concerns are weird things I feel I only have in common with other people in the program.

            Pete speaks highly about the high caliber of people that join the teacher corps. My experience has been similar. My class is made up of some of the most diverse yet most impressive people I have known. They are kind, quirky, and have made me love a state that I never thought I could enjoy in the least. 

           I really like it though. I like the state, I like the school, I like the program and I like the people. These annoying obstacles and the challenge behind everything is the reason I came down here. I am very appreciative to be where I am right now, so I can’t say Pete’s speech was the eye-opener I needed or anything, but it was definitely a nice reminder.

 

 

Terrance Buckner is a teenager from Brooklyn and a graduate of the mothshop which seems to be some sort of creativity workshop where people get together and tell stories and read poems and the like. Anyway Terrance decided to share with an audience at the moth shop his experience of persecution when he first admitted he was gay to his family and classmates. Terrance tells a story where he admits to his mother that he is gay(because he feels she needs to know) and his brother finds out. His brother pronounces this the next day at school and people start questioning Terrance on his sexuality, to which Terrance admits he is homosexual. He then faces ridicule from friends and classmates and gets jumped after school. The next day Terrance decides to stand up to the bullies symbolically by wearing his "skinny" pants, sending the message that the bullying was not going to defeat him. In the end, Terrance feels he has won because he didn't let the bullying change who he was.
The story as a whole was a pretty stereotypical gay bullying story and its too bad that it happened. Unfortunately apart of being homosexual is being different(in terms of sexuality) from most of the population and kids pick on other kids who they deem as "different" or "wierd". Even though homosexuality is far more accepted now than it was in the past, the very nature that homosexuals make up a relatively small percentage of the population means that gay kids will always receive some ridicule or persecution from the peers, although this decreases with age.
As far as the story's relationship to teaching and education I suppose the moral of the story is to know who to trust, don't gossip, don't ruffle feathers, and always be yourself. Don't ever let others' negativity prevent you from being who you are and becoming the best person you can be.