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Archive for February, 2012

Feb 26

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Week 22: people who give a damn

All of my students have desktop computers now! On Saturday, Computers for Youth, a nonprofit organization, handed out desktop computers – fully equipped with Microsoft Office, education games and are Internet-ready – to all 6th grade students. All the students had to do was come with an adult to a 4.5 hour workshop and then take home the free computer. This is great news for our students because there’s a lack of technology in the classrooms at Markham; there’s only a set of computers in the library and a set of mini PC notebooks. My students type letter-per-letter and could really use the typing game all the computers have installed. If their families agree to buy an Internet service, they can even use the computer for research (and Facebook and YouTube… we ARE talking about middle school students here).

On Friday, I shadowed the eduction editor at good.is for a “Leadership After City Year” shadow day. good.is a social innovation website that highlights people, businesses and nonprofits doing “good” things and “moving the world forward.” We discussed technology in the classrooms because she had gone to a panel earlier that day that suggested giving students access to technology – like iPads – will solve some of the problems in education because it will encourage students to learn by giving them a more interactive way of learning. Does that really solve the root of the problem, though? Will giving a kid an iPad or computer teach them to read? It might help them, but in all honesty, they need one-on-one support from educators to motivate them. I’m still happy that my students received free computers, but the odds of them using it for education than social uses are slim to none.

My visit to good.is was amazing! The education editor, Liz, gave a tour to the City Year external relations project leader and myself. We got to meet at least one person from every department and learn about what all the departments do. Not surprisingly, most of the content that is not written by the editors comes from freelancers who freelance consecutively or once in a while with the website. The education section of the site is what I read on the regular (and write for once a month!)

People came to the company from literally everywhere, which gave me hope for my future career. Everyone was so welcoming and I absolutely loved the work environment (an office that’s dog friendly and the office dog travels from desk to desk to get pets and sits on a chair during a meeting? Now that’s my kind of workplace!) The company’s slogan, “for people who give a damn” says it all. I could really see myself working at a place like this later in life. I’m still deciding if I want to go into international diplomacy (public diplomacy), work for a social change company or work for the communications dept. of a nonprofit. I still have years to figure it out, but this service year has helped me figure out one thing: I need to be around people who feel the same about social issues and are actively trying to fight them.

I feel absolutely disconnected with the world outside of social activism. I feel that I can no longer connect with those who aren’t doing similar work that I’m doing (or at least understand it). I need to be around people who are passionate about social issues; people who get it. People who know exactly how I feel and the types of things I think about and see on a daily basis. People who want to see change.

I’ve also realized that even if social injustices like poverty, hunger and the civil right to an equal education aren’t ever going to go away, I at least want to be with the communities who are facing these challenges. I don’t feel like I belong anywhere else now. It’s hard to explain.

For example, the other day I went to USC to pick up my health record from the health center and I didn’t feel nostalgic, but rather depressed. Yet, I wasn’t depressed because I’m no longer a college student. I was depressed because I was surrounded by wealthy people, people who have nice designer things and likely walked down an easy road to get to USC (and yes, I understand this is a HUGE generalization, so I apologize in advance). I just couldn’t stop thinking about my kids. Why is it going to be so much harder for them in life? Just because they’re from Watts and are minorities? I see so much of middle school self in my students; my students do the same things my friends and I used to do, except they are far behind grade level and we weren’t. So why did it have to be so easy for my friends and I to go off to college and get a good education leading up to college? We went to a California public school, too! Why was I so privileged enough to live the USC dream and not worry about a damn thing but my grades, social life, my tan, haircut and what cute outfit I’d wear to class the next day? For the first time ever, as much as I love that school, I felt like I didn’t belong at USC.

The future for me holds a lot of options. I’m slowly figuring out myself and I think what I felt at USC the other day is a pivotal point in my life. It showed me that I won’t be happy in life if I’m not around other people who think like I do and are trying to make a difference; it at least gives me hope for the world.

People don’t change; they just get a clearer understanding of who they are. So far this year had given me just that.

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I used to make these star-shaped bracelets all the time back in the day. I finally found the same beads and was so stoked to share them with the kiddies at lunch! Everyone made bracelets and keychains.

-Ms. Lizard

Feb 26

The Real Peace Corps

Reblogged from Waid's World:

I feel as though I’ve done somewhat of a disservice throughout this blog. I’ve painted a picture of my time here that isn’t precisely accurate. I’m an emotional person, romantic, optimistic to a fault. I like extremes and superlatives. I exaggerate in an attempt to draw the reader in, and to make sense of things I can’t make sense of.

Read more… 1,399 more words

I found this on a Facebook future Peace Corps volunteer group and think it's spot on. Oddly enough, it got me even more excited to face this two year challenge.

Feb 22

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Peace Corps update: medical forms ready to be sent!

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I am finally done with the medical process for the Peace Corps, which is the step applicants have to take after they are nominated by a recruiter. There’s about 30 or so pages of paperwork and lab results, but the more paper in the envelope, the more at ease I can be.

I’ll send this bulk of papers to headquarters in DC tomorrow then check my e-mail every 30 minutes and wait for the confirmation e-mail stating that I’ve been medically cleared. It usually takes headquarters 2-4 weeks to receive and process medical paperwork. I’m hoping, hoping, hoping it will be a short wait! Although the medical process is long, grueling and stressful, it’s better that potential PC volunteers are safe now than sorry later when they placed in a country with inadequate healthcare, ya heard?

After I’m medically cleared, I’ll be contacted by the Placement Office for a final placement interview. My Placement Officer will assess my skills and suitability for different regions of the world. Then, I’ll receive my invitation for a country and exact leave date!

As time is quickly sneaking up on me and summer is soon (when I’m supposed to leave), I can’t help but be anxious because I am so excited to find out where I’ll be serving! Lately, I’ve been getting really comfortable with the idea that I might be serving in Tunisia because that’s where the Peace Corps recently opened a new English teaching program. I was nominated for a “new English teaching program”, so it makes a little sense (although I know the Peace Corps is creating other English teaching positions all over because it received more funding to do so).

I’ve got to stay calm and collected, even though I daydream about the Peace Corps every single day!

-Ms. Warden, the soon-to-be secondary English teacher

Feb 19

Week 21: hey 6th graders, what do ya think love means?

I remember during my middle and high school days my fellow peers would flaunt everything they got on Valentine’s Day as if they were the most important person that day. This in no way is supposed to sound bitter – because I really didn’t care and still don’t care for Valentine’s Day – but I couldn’t help but think of my secondary school days on Tuesday because it was the same exact scene at Markham Middle School.

Valentine’s Day at a middle school is by far the most hilarious day of the year. Students carry around all the knick-knacks they get – teddy bears, flowers, roses, chocolates, etc. – to show off just how much they got. Moreover, classmates sneak Valentine presents to each other (like how one of my boys gave one of my girls a really neat necklace!)

I couldn’t help but bug my kids about their crushes all day, but that doesn’t mean they don’t pick on me as well! Rumor has it that I’m dating every one of the four guys on my team. Every time they call me out for “dating” someone on the Markham team, I start cracking up. If I laugh, it makes them think that I’m “blushing” and “giggling” because I am “dating” that person. Really, though, I’m cracking up because the thought of dating that person is one of the funniest things to run through my head that day (Disclaimer: my team is like a family, just think of dating a brother. No, no, thank you).

The materialistic nature of Valentine’s Day brought forth a good discussion in my English class – “What is love?” Is it defined by how much gifts you get on Valentine’s Day? What OTHER kinds of love can you have? Family? Friends? Love for yourself?

My students came up with some creative answers, including this:

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Some of them were a bit shy talking about the subject, but my English teacher made sure everybody understood that love could mean so many things. The take away message of the lecture was that love starts with having love for yourself before you can love other people and things. Amen to that.

My teammate Angela put together a Valentine’s Day celebration for the kids during our after-school program. The after-school students made candy Valentines for their family members and then we played a game called, “Baby I Love You.” The rules of this game are to place all players in a circle and one person is in the middle. The person in the middle has to go up to anyone in the circle – face-to-face – and say, “baby I love you.” If the person in the circle laughs, then he or she has to go inside the circle and do it all over again. The students (and City Year members!) got a kick out of this; we all couldn’t stop laughing.

Some of my teammates then put on a “Dating Show” skit for the students. Three of my teammates played contestants, one played the host and the other played the man-on-the-market.

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Dylan and Melanie – the two “nerds” from the “Dating Show” – running for each other after the students made the final vote.

As much as “love” (or should I say middle school lust?) spawned across our campus, it’s hard to not note the new security personnel on campus. Last Friday, a series of fights broke out between racial groups. This called for extra security from other schools to be brought to our school and even the discussion that possibly some of our extra funding will be used to hire more security, although Markham cut its security personnel in half from last year due to budget cuts.

My students have been a little more on edge lately, and my English teacher can usually tell when something’s going on in the neighborhood. There’s been a lot of fighting between gangs due to a disagreement and the tension is felt on school grounds.

Ironically, my latest GOOD article is about two of my teammates: Ricky, a Latino man, and Aaron, a black man. Ricky and Aaron’s friendship on campus demonstrates racial unity for these students, which the students rarely see. This story is by far my favorite to come from Markham this year and I’m very happy it was published!

Despite everything going on in Watts, my students got off campus on Thursday for a field trip to the Pan-African film festival in Baldwin Hills to celebrate Black History month! My teammates Chariya, Jeanny and Becky’s classes joined. All of our students attended a free screening of a documentary about an African-American man going back to Ghana to find his identity. The film featured a group of African-American men who traveled up and down the Ghana coast to revisit their ancestor’s footsteps before they were shipped off in the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

The director of the documentary, who was also a main character in the film, was there for a Q and A session after. I wish I was able to watch more of the documentary (it looked very interesting!), but I had my hands full. I spent the whole time escorting students to the restroom and telling my girls to “be quiet and listen to the movie” every 10 seconds.

My students will have to write a paragraph about the film this coming week, but when the ask me for help I’m just going to laugh and say, “I was telling you all to be quiet the whole time I didn’t get to listen to the movie!” Sucks to be them.

Afterwards, we split up into groups of ten students per chaperone to wander the Baldwin Hills mall, check out some African artwork on display and eat lunch. This was the first time I had to chaperone a large group of students in a public space. After my students each ate 20 chicken McNuggets at McDonalds (gross), my girls pestered me back and forth to go to different stores in the mall. Thankfully, I was really proud of them because they stayed in a group and stuck with me the whole time…until the last five minutes. One of my girls left one of the boys in a store. We found him five minutes later, but he was all shaken up because “we left him.” This student is known to be a drama queen, so even though my students called me a “bad mom,” I didn’t let it get to me. Hey, I don’t want kids anyways! Regardless of the five minute disaster, it was great to spend time with my students outside of school.

I’m prepping for next week because now it’s cracking down to three-five paragraph essays in English. The journalism unit is over. It was fun and exhilarating, but now it’s back to the reality of the LAUSD curriculum. Dear five paragraph common assessment, my English teacher and I are ready to put up a good fight. Sincerely, Room 48.

Peace Corps update: I flew back to the Bay Area on Thursday to get my wisdom teeth out on Friday. Luckily, I feel no pain at all and I am free rollin’. My lab tests are back at the doctors office and I NEED the results/forms signed from my physician so I can send it into the Peace Corps and move onto the placement process ASAP! My goal for this week: Call the doctor’s office everyday until they look over my lab reports and sign my forms. Sorry for being the annoying patient, but this is extremely time sensitive! Oh, and I was legally-cleared on Saturday morning. Hooray! One step closer.

Onto a new week with no wisdom teeth,

Liz

Feb 17

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Just another day at Markham: flash mobs never looked so fly

My teammate Dylan, who is in charge of morning activities at Markham, decided that we were going to bust out and perform a flash mob. Dylan mimicked a flash mob dance that First Lady Michelle Obama is bringing to schools across the country as part of her Let’s Move campaign.

Oh, it’s just another day at Markham Middle School.

Feb 12

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Week 20: time to play musical classrooms

The second semester started last Monday. Usually, that just means students switch elective classes. However, just like everything else is at Markham, it’s a whole different story.

I still don’t really understand why this happens other than to balance class sizes, but a lot of students from every grade level get switched to new academic classes. The first time this happened a couple of weeks into the first semester was due to placing students in classes based on skill level. Now, I think it has to do with academic level and behavior. I know a new sixth grade teacher was added to the staff, which opened up another class for teachers to request students to move into. Some of my students, who are the misbehaving angels, were candidates for this class, but weren’t switched. Instead, three of my focus list students were switched out of my math class and into my teammate Charlotte’s math class. It’s pretty much like the kids playing musical classrooms, not musical chairs, every couple of months.

Many of my teammate’s students were also switched. Some of us got lucky and another teammate inherited our students, but others, not so much. Some of the students my teammates have been working with are out of City Year classrooms for good. Now what? All I know is everyone’s focus list (the list of ten students we work with and track our time with) have to change.

Yet, things could be worse. My students that got switched are still in my English class (where I do the most work with them) and at least one of them admitted to “actually having to do work” in her new math class. But that’s not always the case; I wish there was more consistency at this school because when these kids are switched it gives them more of a reason to not do anything in school because the new class might be ahead or behind their old class in subject matter.

Last week’s post discussed my hatred toward data and my student’s common assessment scores. I finally got to see my student’s math scores and I was pleased with them; the scores stayed constant, but at least they didn’t go down (and one student who only speaks Spanish scored basic! Pretty good if ya ask me).

Now that the last common assessment is out of the way, my English teacher wanted to do about a month-long journalism unit. YES, A JOURNALISM UNIT. Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh. MY LIFE IS COMPLETE. As awesome as that sounded, my teacher and I spoke too soon. The district and school threw a new challenge at her: The next periodic assessment for 6th grade English is in three weeks. Although she knows what the topics of every assessment will be, it’s up to the school to decide when the test will be administered. Painfully, the journalism unit has to be condensed into a week and we have to move quickly onto writing five paragraph essays. When my students still don’t write paragraphs with topic sentences or complete sentences (even though they blatantly know how to), I wonder how it’s going to be to get them to write five paragraphs. I honestly don’t even want to think about it right now. I still have my complete sentence challenge going on in the class and students get mad when I don’t give them a point. Hmm? I wonder why. Because a sentence is like this. And sentences are started like this. Sentences with no subject. Is not good. Alright, time to stop thinking about that looming challenge and time to reward myself by being in journalism bliss for the next week or so.

On Tuesday, my English teacher introduced the journalism unit to the students and I was given the opportunity to lead a discussion. I brought a copy of USC’s student newspaper the Daily Trojan, which I reported for back in the good ol’ days. To kick off the discussion, we asked the students what the difference between broadcast and print journalism was. Most of the students I called on said newspaper is “boring” and broadcast is “exciting” and that newspapers are “for old people.” The comment that threw me back the most was when one student said that “print journalism doesn’t tell you the details and doesn’t give as much information as broadcast.” I had to swallow my print journalism pride at this comment, because any print journalist knows that we are allowed to do so much more with a story than broadcast is (length-wise and detail-wise). I found this cute excerpt from a 3rd grade textbook on stuffjournalistslike.com and got my teacher and the class to read it popcorn style.

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My teacher explained to the students that this is what I went to college for, so I got to do a short Q and A with the kids. I thought not many would ask questions, but they were genuinely interested in what I did – even though they think journalism is boring – because it makes a topic so much more interesting when you can associate a human face with it, especially their Ms. Liz! They were asking adorable questions like, “so all your classes were about this? How hard is it? Isn’t it boring? Who do you interview? Why are you here if you did that in college?”

20120212-230343.jpgA mess of a desk after a newspaper scavenger hunt

I told them about all about the different people I’ve interviewed, how hard it can be to make deadline and how I would stay in the newsroom from 6pm-11pm every night for the brief time I was an editor. The best question, however, was when a student asked how I still enjoy journalism. I told him it’s a passion of mine I found in middle school and sooner or later all of them will find passions of their own. I hope one day my students will find something in their lives that makes them feel as good as I do after I finish an article or the euphoric feeling I get after completing a bomb interview or finding a good story.

Due the classroom changes and the next periodic assessment surprising us from under our teacher’s desks, the CY academic data is still hard to produce at a school like Markham. But, that doesn’t mean we’re not making a difference. It was overheard at the therapist’s office that Markham students who attend therapy are mentioning CY, which snows we really are having an impact. That’s what’s up!

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One of my students always makes these paper puppets in class. I stole it from him and went around math class and attacked my students who weren’t doing work with it.

My students gave me the “are you serious” death stare, but all I said back was “sorry I embarrass you; sorry I’m not sorry you’re stuck with me everyday.” I’ve come accustomed to embarrass my students and make fun of them (as they do with me). Now that one of my boys and one of my girls got into a scuffle last week in class the resulted in a slap on the face and the girl crying, I call out the boys and girls who are fighting by saying “ewww stop flirting.” Although they come back at me with the, “well your dating so and so from City Year!” it affects them way more than it affects me (obviously because I’m not dating anyone from my team, contrary to student rumors about all of my teammates).

Peace Corps update: Medical process is whooping my butt. So many forms to get signed, so many appointments and so many needles. Next step: Lab work is returned and my wisdom teeth will be yanked out this coming Friday.

Soon-to-be chipmunk cheeks,

Liz

Feb 7

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Ubuntu: why adults must model racial unity for students

“Mister, why do you hang out with him?” a Latino seventh-grader student asked my teammate Ricky at lunch.

Ricky knew exactly what the student was trying to get at: Why is Ricky, a Latino man, buddies with our teammate Aaron, a black man?

Ricky grew up here in Los Angeles and went to a school similar to Markham Middle School, where we serve. Markham is located in Watts, a historically black neighborhood in South Los Angeles. In the early 1990s blacks began moving out of the area, and immigrants from Mexico and Central America moved in. Cultural differences and poverty ignited frustration and led to the growth of racially segregated gangs.

Now Markham’s student population is 73 percent Latino and 27 percent black, and racial tension leads to a lot of fights and little interaction between the two groups. Given the tension on campus and in the community, Ricky and Aaron’s friendship stands out. A black and a Latino man always hanging out and laughing together is something the students rarely see.

“Why does it even matter what Aaron is?” Ricky asked the student.

The student explained that blacks have different cultural values from Latinos and they’re from different gangs. He said he didn’t have any black friends and he fights with blacks a lot.

“So do you listen to hip-hop?” Ricky asked.

“Yeah, doesn’t everyone?”

“Who do you think sings that?”

“I don’t know.”

“It’s a black guy!” Ricky laughed.

The student claimed that hip-hop is different, but couldn’t back up his argument.

Ricky asked the student who annoys him other than his classmates. The student replied that his little brother is annoying.

“Do you think the way he acts is special to him and your race, or do you think all kids do it?” Ricky asked.

Stumped again, the student didn’t have a comeback. Ricky was able to give the student a perspective about black people—from one Latino man to another—that he had never heard before.

Of course, as City Year corps members, our focus is on boosting academics, but having a diverse team of young people matters. The 16 of us at Markham include biracial, black, white, Latino, Cambodian, and Korean people. Despite our racial or ethnic differences, our students see us getting along, and we’re setting an example for how to befriend people who are different.

Realistically, it’s hard to teach our students something that isn’t also taught at home—and reaching every student at a 1,223-pupil school isn’t doable. But, those students we haven’t directly connected with can’t avoid seeing the positive, fun, loving, and caring way we interact with each other.

At City Year, we stress a philosophy called Ubuntu: “My humanity is tied to your humanity.” If my teammates are able to help students think about race in a different light—and help them understand that we share more similarities than differences with each other—that’s a step forward to bringing peace to this school.

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Aaron and Ricky set an example of a bi-racial friendship

This article was originally published on good.is, and it is by far one of my favorite service stories

Feb 7

Just another day at Markham: roller skating fail

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My team leader Lauren enjoys roller skating around our City Year room and campus (yes, there’s been a few times when I’ve been tutoring kids and Lauren just casually skates by to get something from the CY room).

On Monday, Lauren had a little fall and ripped her uniform pants. I’m sad I did not get to witness this glory.

Oh, it’s just another day at Markham Middle School.

Feb 5

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Week 19: data struggles and fighting on for next year’s CYLA corps

The sixth graders at Markham Middle School received their common assessment scores for math and English this week. After our teachers shared the data with us, I could sense frustration across the board. From what I’ve heard, not many student’s scores went up significantly; some had minimal gains (a few of my students did). Sadly, my co-teammate (who works with the same teachers as me, just different periods) compared her student’s math scores with the first assessment they took and the students either went down or stayed the same. I haven’t seen my student’s math scores yet, which makes me nervous. I have a feeling they’ll be very similar to my teammate Chariya’s students.

However, I was happy to see that some of my English students scored 4-6 out of 6 on the written portion of the assessment. The written portion of the assessment asked them to write a factual assertion and then provide one direct quote from the text that supports the assertion and a paraphrased detail that supports the assertion. My English teacher and I tried to drill this concept into our students for about two months. About a week before the exam, most students still could not explain what an assertion was. Yet, they pulled through! I think the written portion is more reflective of my students skills because they rush through multiple choice tests and guess because they’re too hyperactive. One of my top English students scored significantly lower than the teacher and I know he is capable of. I’m assuming it’s because he rushed through it.

I could go off on a tangent about how much I hate standardized tests and don’t think they reflect intelligence at all (especially because I attempted to start studying for the GRE this weekend; shoot me in the face), but I’ll save that for my mind that questions everything.

These scores don’t reflect the amazingly-well-taught English lessons my teacher has given the students or the one-on-one time I’ve spent with students in-class and out of class. I think a lot of it has to do with student motivation. Also, the students do not listen in math class. I lack a lot on the behavior management spectrum because my kids tend to boss me around and see me more as a friend than an authority figure, which is my fault (but I can’t say I don’t enjoy gossiping with my students/making fun of them!) They don’t have the passion to listen, regardless of how many times you try to drive home the point that education is important.

The weight LAUSD puts on standardized tests really makes me wonder. These scores are used in a value-added model the district and LA Times has used to evaluate teachers. Is that really fair? I’m in my English teacher’s classroom everyday and everyday see how great of a teacher she is. So, because all of her students scored far below basic, below basic or basic, does that say she’s a bad teacher? I’d hope not! Education reform is interesting and there’s a lot I don’t agree with, but it’s so hard to find other alternatives that will work. It’s seriously like a 1,000 piece puzzle, which is why it’s so riveting to discuss and think about. I just signed up to attend an event on Wednesday, Feb.15 hosted by Michelle Rhee’s organization StudentsFirst and Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. I’ll get to hear all about education reform in Los Angeles. Oh so exciting.

Last semester at SC, I got to approve and edit comments for the LATimes value-added teacher evaluation project. Therefore, I got to read most of the teacher comments before they were published and also sent e-mails to teachers that allowed them to look at the data and respond to it before the Times published it. Most of the comments mentioned how the data did not measure behavioral problems in class, a student’s home life, the student’s other teachers beforehand, etc. I couldn’t argue against these comments or argue for them; I could only sit there perplexed to what in the hell are the solutions to education reform.

I could discuss for hours and hours the struggles of the public education system, but instead I’ll just still be a small solution to a bigger problem. I have finally hashed out a better schedule for student interventions. My higher students are going to start reading Esperanza Rising with me popcorn style and then I’ll throw in reading compression techniques as we go. Other than that, my students will also be working on grammar worksheets (especially verb tenses!) My other students that need more help in reading and spelling will continue doing my team leader Lauren’s English language intervention system and a phonetics reading system my team just got ahold of called Great Leaps.

Point blank: I hate data. I’m scared the Markham team isn’t going to produce high student data for City Year and the school administration, which could influence if City Year comes back to Markham next year. We’re definitely having an impact on this school, but it might not show with student scores. It’s just a whole other world at Markham, which should also be taken into consideration when our end of the year student data is released. I can’t help but worry; our students need City Year. Data, data, data, blah, blah, blah…

This week, my team also had to sit through a speed-dating type of team intervention called feedback 360. Every team member had to meet face-to-face for about three minutes and discuss the negatives and positives about each other’s behaviors and tips on how we can improve ourselves to make our team stronger. Apparently our program director was a little worried about having the Markham team go through this because we already have a very, very strong dynamic, but we killed it, took into consideration everything everyone said to us, and acted exactly as we always act with each other right after. Our team just keeps getting better and better! Guess what everyone told me? Stop stressing out, stop being hard on yourself, give yourself more credit and that they appreciate all the blog work I do for our team (that one made me pretty happy because honestly I didn’t even think my teammates read my GOOD articles). I’ll stop stressing out for my team, I promise!

On Friday, City Year hosted a “recruitment blitz day”, which means our corps members were deployed to UCLA, Cal State LA and USC. All alumni went to their former colleges, so I got to spend the day at USC with other alumni and most of my team! I enjoyed getting to show some of my teammates the campus and getting to share college stories.

The communications team shot a CY/USC promo video with alumni to encourage current students to apply to CY for next year’s corps (2012). I wasn’t in the video, but watched the production side of it (thank God. Me on camera = awkward mess).

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Alumna Angelica Juarez, corps member at Stevenson Middle School in Boyle Heights, fights on for the camera

I answered a Q and A bio for the flyers CY put in envelopes for the sororities and fraternities. I never saw the final product of it, but I’m sure it was funny…

I’m starting to get all my medical work done for the Peace Corps this week so I can turn it in as soon as possible! I am also going to run every night now to get in shape because I might have to bike three or more miles to work (or perform other physical extremes) in the Peace Corps.

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My students just finished their Ancient Egypt projects. This student used green Jell-O and blue tissue paper, pretty creative, huh?

From the porch of Woodcraft Manor,

Liz

Feb 5

Just another day at Markham: we’re still kids at heart

Instead of doing work during our break time, sometimes we just need to decompress, laugh and make fun of each other. Working with kids all day makes us act like kids (no sarcasm intended). This is a game from our New Year carnival; it’s supposed to be a math game, but honestly, is math really THAT fun? Nah.

I am going to start posting random photos and videos under the “Just Another Day at Markham” blog category.

I’m sad I didn’t think of this earlier because no matter how wacky and crazy my team is or the school day is, we always look at the day as “just another day at Markham.” Being a corps member at Markham really forces you to expect the unexpected and be ready for literally anything. That’s why no matter how crazy or hilarious a day has been, it’s just another day because I can assure you that an even crazier or funnier day will happen in the future.

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