i feel very happy with how this week has gone.
betsy, penny, and patrice came to maple tree on tuesday for a site visit and meeting with myself and my two site supervisors. i was a little anxious at first for several reasons. first, they were coming to maple tree after visiting another school, and i wasn't sure how i would compare. would they share my disappointment in the lack of feedback from parent and staff surveys that i distributed? would they share my enthusiasm for my ideas?
i was so relieved to hear the kind words that maple tree's principal shared with the group. i was also told that given my circumstances, i've made a good amount of progress and should keep going in this direction. i was also reminded not to compare myself to other VISTAs and/or sites. it was exactly the encouragement i needed to press on with my ATP.
maple tree's principal sent me an email right before dismissal on tuesday to ask me if i could attend a meeting about school attendance for her the next morning, which i agreed to do. the meeting was pretty informative, though definitely pertained more to high schools and other large schools in the district. patrice happened to be at the meeting, too, which was kind of funny. i was given a date for ATP training for our cluster, which i was glad to have information on. we're scheduled for November 30th. i am pushing for the group to meet once beforehand, though, so we can have a solid group that fully understands the goals of the action team and what their role(s) will be.
after the meeting, i drove over to maple tree for a surprise good-bye party for two staff members that are transferring to different schools in the district. i made a couscous salad the night before and was looking forward to seeing how people liked it. of course, only three people tried it! i'm planning to bring the leftovers to parents plus tomorrow, especially because cara said she would try some. i also met with the principal to discuss updating my VAD (VISTA activity description) for the school. we agreed that all that we needed to change were a couple of minor things.
today was the Americorps Opening Ceremony in Green Lake. though it was optional for the Parents Plus VISTAs, i decided to go because my school was closed for conventions. i met some great people doing some wonderful projects in Wisconsin, which made me proud to be a member of the Americorps community. the drive to and from Green Lake was great, too: me, cara, mark, and lizzy...
i finally got a new camera, so i'm going to post some pictures of things soon!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Monday, October 26, 2009
I'm Not Going to Make Excuses...
but i do apologize for the lack of updates.
in my defense, i've been a busy bee with several things. two weeks ago, i had after school events at vincent high school and maple tree on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. my quarterly report was also due that week, so i was scrambling to compile information from the (lack of) surveys returned to be me by staff and parents.
that week wasn't all bad, though. kelly came here for mid-semester break. she came up on thursday night and left sunday afternoon. during her time here we ate a lot of yummy food, went to the milwaukee art museum, saw where the wild things are, went shopping, ate dinner at safehouse, and went to panera twice. i had a lot of first-time experiences during her visit, actually. on her first night here we went to an indian restaurant right around the corner from me that i never tried before (turned out to be great, and they deliver!). friday was the first time i've gone to the milwaukee art museum, too. we also went to the movies at fox bay cinema grill, which i've never been to before, either. it's a really cool theater, since they serve real food during the movie (sandwiches, pizza, etc). the first thing i said when we walked inside the lobby was an exclamation at the fact that they have a full bar in the lobby. we went to baker's square after the movie, which was not such a great experience. on saturday night we went to safehouse for dinner, which was quite an experience. we had to dance an irish jig to get inside, which we were applauded for. 'nuff said.
so now all the work i did last week and everything coming up this week seems mundane in comparison to the craziness of that week.
i was feeling a little sick this weekend, though. the sore throat came and went in no time, so i'm just feeling congestion right now. of course, i still went to the ingrid michaelson concert. i did leave after ten or so songs, but it was already 10:15, and I'm usually in bed by 10. it was a great concert, so i'm glad i went.
i'm really excited about going to green lake on thursday. it'll be a great way to reconnect with non-dpi vistas in the area.
in my defense, i've been a busy bee with several things. two weeks ago, i had after school events at vincent high school and maple tree on tuesday, wednesday, and thursday. my quarterly report was also due that week, so i was scrambling to compile information from the (lack of) surveys returned to be me by staff and parents.
that week wasn't all bad, though. kelly came here for mid-semester break. she came up on thursday night and left sunday afternoon. during her time here we ate a lot of yummy food, went to the milwaukee art museum, saw where the wild things are, went shopping, ate dinner at safehouse, and went to panera twice. i had a lot of first-time experiences during her visit, actually. on her first night here we went to an indian restaurant right around the corner from me that i never tried before (turned out to be great, and they deliver!). friday was the first time i've gone to the milwaukee art museum, too. we also went to the movies at fox bay cinema grill, which i've never been to before, either. it's a really cool theater, since they serve real food during the movie (sandwiches, pizza, etc). the first thing i said when we walked inside the lobby was an exclamation at the fact that they have a full bar in the lobby. we went to baker's square after the movie, which was not such a great experience. on saturday night we went to safehouse for dinner, which was quite an experience. we had to dance an irish jig to get inside, which we were applauded for. 'nuff said.
so now all the work i did last week and everything coming up this week seems mundane in comparison to the craziness of that week.
i was feeling a little sick this weekend, though. the sore throat came and went in no time, so i'm just feeling congestion right now. of course, i still went to the ingrid michaelson concert. i did leave after ten or so songs, but it was already 10:15, and I'm usually in bed by 10. it was a great concert, so i'm glad i went.
i'm really excited about going to green lake on thursday. it'll be a great way to reconnect with non-dpi vistas in the area.
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Thinking, Waiting, Wishing
i'm starting to think i should pay more attention to the news.
last night was the fall open house for prospective students of vincent high school. i went to distribute information from parents plus. earlier that day, i learned that five students had been arrested during a fight in the school's cafeteria the day before, which may be the reason why only sixteen families showed up.
what i did not find out until this morning was that an additional six students had been arrested the day of the open house, as well as the fact that a student had been tasered during the fight in the cafeteria. two assistant educators had been attacked during the events that led to the arrests, too.
i don't know if i would have gone to the open house if i knew about this.
as easy as it will be for the media to point fingers at the families of these students, i cant help but wonder how involved their teachers are in their lives. it's easy for students to feel like their teachers don't care, especially in a school as large as vincent. teachers tend to only have an individual relationship with the students that excel in class or fall behind. what happens to the average students? they slip through the cracks...
last night was the fall open house for prospective students of vincent high school. i went to distribute information from parents plus. earlier that day, i learned that five students had been arrested during a fight in the school's cafeteria the day before, which may be the reason why only sixteen families showed up.
what i did not find out until this morning was that an additional six students had been arrested the day of the open house, as well as the fact that a student had been tasered during the fight in the cafeteria. two assistant educators had been attacked during the events that led to the arrests, too.
i don't know if i would have gone to the open house if i knew about this.
as easy as it will be for the media to point fingers at the families of these students, i cant help but wonder how involved their teachers are in their lives. it's easy for students to feel like their teachers don't care, especially in a school as large as vincent. teachers tend to only have an individual relationship with the students that excel in class or fall behind. what happens to the average students? they slip through the cracks...
Sunday, October 11, 2009
all i can do is keep breathing...
this past week has been pretty stressful on me. i've been dealing with the task of putting an ATP (the acronym for action team) together for my school, and i'm getting very little support from the teachers. i'm going to continue to press on with putting my atp together, with or without their support, though. after making that decision, i got in contact with ms. christie (the only full-time specialist in the school who they somehow managed to keep on staff after a short scare) and a third grade teacher who want to be involved. i know that two of the early childhood teachers active with the school governance council will be involved, too, along with the principal. this all the staff support i need for a school as small as maple tree, so i'm satisfied with this outcome.
i'm still trying to get in touch with two parents who i've left voicemails for. they both have email addresses, so i'm going to email them tomorrow. i also want to get one more community member involved and am hoping that either the granville society or west granville presbyterian will find someone to represent them.
i was feeling pretty stressed over this on wednesday evening. it was my last day at the school for the week, and i was pressing for my atp to meet by the end of the month. i headed to my workshop with joyce epstein on thursday morning a good deal of skepticism weighing me down. i lost the sparkle in my eye. i hadnt felt this way since the end of my first full day of pso, when all we did was eat and talk about poverty.
things changed by the end of our two-day workshop, though. i feel like i have a better idea of what's going on. i also know that i am not alone. in fact, mps will be scheduling a one-day training for my school's atp in december or january, which means i can take a deep breath and not push the idea of meeting by the end of the month. it also gives me time to recruit more people to get involved. mark told me that im pretty far ahead of everyone else in terms of recruitment, though, so i think i should take some time to focus on everything else that needs to be done.
because of all this pent-up stress, i decided i needed a vacation from the world for the weekend. i closed my blinds, made some tea, and watched arrested development on dvd. today i did back-to-back fitness classes at the gym (powerflex followed by yoga...not my best idea). i have not left my apartment since then. as of now, i only plan to leave when i walk over to blockbuster to return some movies.
i've also taken this time to catch up on my housework, especially because kelly's coming to visit me on thursday! this is perfect timing, because i think it'll be good for me to see/interact with someone who isn't a VISTA right now. especially considering that tomorrow is my only normal day before her arrival, too...i'm working the open house at vincent high school from 6-8 on tuesday and parent-teacher conferences at maple tree on wednesday 4:30-7:30 (only 30 minutes after the learning team meeting ends) and thursday 2:45-5:50.
i think i need to work on being practical about how much i can commit to without burning out. i worked 92 hours in my last pay period and worked extra hours this week so i can take friday off. from now on, i'm going to try harder to stick to 40 hour work weeks.
i'm still trying to get in touch with two parents who i've left voicemails for. they both have email addresses, so i'm going to email them tomorrow. i also want to get one more community member involved and am hoping that either the granville society or west granville presbyterian will find someone to represent them.
i was feeling pretty stressed over this on wednesday evening. it was my last day at the school for the week, and i was pressing for my atp to meet by the end of the month. i headed to my workshop with joyce epstein on thursday morning a good deal of skepticism weighing me down. i lost the sparkle in my eye. i hadnt felt this way since the end of my first full day of pso, when all we did was eat and talk about poverty.
things changed by the end of our two-day workshop, though. i feel like i have a better idea of what's going on. i also know that i am not alone. in fact, mps will be scheduling a one-day training for my school's atp in december or january, which means i can take a deep breath and not push the idea of meeting by the end of the month. it also gives me time to recruit more people to get involved. mark told me that im pretty far ahead of everyone else in terms of recruitment, though, so i think i should take some time to focus on everything else that needs to be done.
because of all this pent-up stress, i decided i needed a vacation from the world for the weekend. i closed my blinds, made some tea, and watched arrested development on dvd. today i did back-to-back fitness classes at the gym (powerflex followed by yoga...not my best idea). i have not left my apartment since then. as of now, i only plan to leave when i walk over to blockbuster to return some movies.
i've also taken this time to catch up on my housework, especially because kelly's coming to visit me on thursday! this is perfect timing, because i think it'll be good for me to see/interact with someone who isn't a VISTA right now. especially considering that tomorrow is my only normal day before her arrival, too...i'm working the open house at vincent high school from 6-8 on tuesday and parent-teacher conferences at maple tree on wednesday 4:30-7:30 (only 30 minutes after the learning team meeting ends) and thursday 2:45-5:50.
i think i need to work on being practical about how much i can commit to without burning out. i worked 92 hours in my last pay period and worked extra hours this week so i can take friday off. from now on, i'm going to try harder to stick to 40 hour work weeks.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
We're Captive on the Carousel of Time
yesterday was interesting, to say the least.
i have been struggling with getting in contact with vincent high school. i need to be present at their open house and parent-teacher conferences to distribute information from parents plus, since they are a seyfey school. tomorrow is their open house. i was frustrated by the fact that they were not responding to my calls and emails, so i decided to just show up and talk to the principal. when i got there, i was told in a cold manner by a school secretary that the principal was unavailable and that i needed to schedule a meeting. when i asked her if i could schedule one while i was there, she did not respond. i brought my copy of Beyond the Bake Sale and was prepared to wait, but the harsh glance i received from the secretary gave me the vibe that i wasn't welcome to wait there. i plan on calling to schedule an appointment today after i grab my phone from my car, since their area code is 262 and i cannot dial long distance on the school phone.
despite this setback, i was very happy with the turnout for this month's governance council meeting. we had six parents show up, which is a vast improvement from the two that came last month. we planned some future fundraisers for parent-teacher conferences and discussed homeroom changes. i did get some harshness about the fact that the ATP will be a separate entity from the SGC, though. several teachers were under the impression that everything would be under the umbrella of SGC now, which is not the case for my ATP. luckily, we settled the situation before things got out of hand.
lesson of the day from yesterday: always stretch thoroughly before running. otherwise, you will regret it in the morning...
i have been struggling with getting in contact with vincent high school. i need to be present at their open house and parent-teacher conferences to distribute information from parents plus, since they are a seyfey school. tomorrow is their open house. i was frustrated by the fact that they were not responding to my calls and emails, so i decided to just show up and talk to the principal. when i got there, i was told in a cold manner by a school secretary that the principal was unavailable and that i needed to schedule a meeting. when i asked her if i could schedule one while i was there, she did not respond. i brought my copy of Beyond the Bake Sale and was prepared to wait, but the harsh glance i received from the secretary gave me the vibe that i wasn't welcome to wait there. i plan on calling to schedule an appointment today after i grab my phone from my car, since their area code is 262 and i cannot dial long distance on the school phone.
despite this setback, i was very happy with the turnout for this month's governance council meeting. we had six parents show up, which is a vast improvement from the two that came last month. we planned some future fundraisers for parent-teacher conferences and discussed homeroom changes. i did get some harshness about the fact that the ATP will be a separate entity from the SGC, though. several teachers were under the impression that everything would be under the umbrella of SGC now, which is not the case for my ATP. luckily, we settled the situation before things got out of hand.
lesson of the day from yesterday: always stretch thoroughly before running. otherwise, you will regret it in the morning...
Saturday, October 3, 2009
More Than a Feeling
i'm completely in love with milwaukee in the fall. today was the fall harvest festival on brady street, and it was so much fun to walk around and enjoy the beauty of the season.
the meet and greet at maple tree was very successful for us! i now have connections with the pastor of west granville presbyterian, a society for community members in granville, and growing power, and they all want to be involved in maple tree's Action Team! i'm getting very little enthusiasm from teachers, though. having discussed this at friday's team meeting at parents plus, i'm deciding to schedule our first meeting for October 22nd. this will give me time to talk to teachers about getting involved, even though i plan on holding the meeting either way. if no teachers join by then, my hope is that they will express interest once they learn more about what the Action Team will do.
things are really picking up right now schedule-wise. last night i went to a resource fair for latino families at south division high school with cara after we finished work at parents plus. im attending two days worth of workshops by joyce epstein this coming week (SO excited!!!). maple tree has parent-teacher conferences on next friday and saturday, which will coincide with kelly's visit. Of course, there's also the governance council meeting on this coming monday and vincent high school's open house on the 13th, which i have to attend so i can pass out ses materials.
i'm getting a lot of positive responses from parents about attending the governance council meeting, which im very happy about! well, except from the one parent who yelled at me about the PTO's decision to give treats to students who come to school in uniform. i'm still amazed that i kept my cool during that conversation.
and now for the good news...MY QUEST CARD CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
of course, it came after i went food shopping
my concern is that yesterday i received a letter from foodshare that they need proof of citizenship and a copy of my lease, both of which i faxed to them in august. im going to call them on monday to see whats going on with that.
anyway, im baking brownies in celebration, so im going to get started on that!
the meet and greet at maple tree was very successful for us! i now have connections with the pastor of west granville presbyterian, a society for community members in granville, and growing power, and they all want to be involved in maple tree's Action Team! i'm getting very little enthusiasm from teachers, though. having discussed this at friday's team meeting at parents plus, i'm deciding to schedule our first meeting for October 22nd. this will give me time to talk to teachers about getting involved, even though i plan on holding the meeting either way. if no teachers join by then, my hope is that they will express interest once they learn more about what the Action Team will do.
things are really picking up right now schedule-wise. last night i went to a resource fair for latino families at south division high school with cara after we finished work at parents plus. im attending two days worth of workshops by joyce epstein this coming week (SO excited!!!). maple tree has parent-teacher conferences on next friday and saturday, which will coincide with kelly's visit. Of course, there's also the governance council meeting on this coming monday and vincent high school's open house on the 13th, which i have to attend so i can pass out ses materials.
i'm getting a lot of positive responses from parents about attending the governance council meeting, which im very happy about! well, except from the one parent who yelled at me about the PTO's decision to give treats to students who come to school in uniform. i'm still amazed that i kept my cool during that conversation.
and now for the good news...MY QUEST CARD CAME IN THE MAIL TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!
of course, it came after i went food shopping
my concern is that yesterday i received a letter from foodshare that they need proof of citizenship and a copy of my lease, both of which i faxed to them in august. im going to call them on monday to see whats going on with that.
anyway, im baking brownies in celebration, so im going to get started on that!
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