Jackson Middle School Teacher

Well, Miss Osterman is in the building. I am an 8th Grade Writing Teacher at Jackson Middle School in inner city Houston this summer. Despite the many challenges I am facing, I am loving Teach for America, my students, my school, my CMA (Corps Member Advising) Group, and my Collaborative Group! My day begins at 5:15 a.m. when I wake up and prepare for the day. My school bus leaves at 6:52 a.m. and takes myself and the rest of the Jackson Middle School teachers to school. I haven't rode a school bus in years, but it definitely gets me in the scholastic mood! Once we arrive at the school we have until 8:00 a.m. to sign in, turn in our homework, and set-up our classrooms for the day. Then it's off to our curriculum, literacy, and diversity sessions. These classes teach us everything we need to know in order to be the best teachers we can be! I am in those classes until 11:00 a.m. At that time I go off to my prep period and get ready to teach! At 11:45 a.m. 9 students enter my classroom and challenge me mentally, emotionally, physically, spiritually, and socially each day! I LOVE my students! They put me through the wringer during the first two days of teaching, but now we are BFFs (Best Friends Forever)! Most of my students face some pretty big obstacles both inside and outside of the classroom. We often have to have talks about respect, good and bad choices, and futuristic thinking. They all really want to go to Stephen F. Austin High School as 9th graders in the fall so that is a pretty good motivator! I am learning a lot about a variety of subjects from teaching, to working as a team, to parenting, to counseling, to balancing personal and professional lives, etc. My teachers, mentors, and advisers are AMAZING! I could not have asked for better role models! I am super pumped to finish institute and prepare for the fall!

Houston Teach for America Institute

I have had my first two days of institute and can't believe how tired, yet excited I am to be here in Houston! I have learned so much already about Teach for America and about the teaching mission that we have. I am so excited to start my summer teaching assignment at Jackson Middle School in inner city Houston teaching 8th grade Writing. We have a summer theme of "weather" so I am busy searching for weather related writing activities. I have my first day with my students on Monday, June 9th! I am super excited! We have some big goals set up for these students and we only have them for 20 days! Last night we had our Welcoming Ceremony with all of the other Teach for America sites that are at our Institute in Houston over the summer. Those regions are Denver, Colorado; South Dakota Indian Reservations; St. Louis, Missouri; Hawaii; and the Mississippi Delta. And, guess what? Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach for America, came and spoke to all of us during our Welcoming Ceremony! It was awesome to be in her presence! Keep me in your thoughts! Oh, and P.S., Congratulations to my Cousin Jessica Steege, her husband, Nathan, and their son William. They welcomed their 2nd baby boy into their family today! They are still deciding on a name!

Teach for America Induction

On Thursday, June 5th I started my Teach for America Induction in Houston, Texas. The purpose of the Induction is to meet the rest of the 2008 Houston Teach for America Corps Members and learn a little bit more about Teach for America and Houston, Texas. We were given Transitional Team Leaders (TTLs) that were 2007 Houston Teach for America Corps Members that helped a group of 10 of us feel welcome and get acclimated to our new situation. My TTL, Jennifer Greene, is awesome! She even was asked to speak about the significant gains that she made in her classroom during her first year of teaching at our Welcome Dinner on Thursday night. Two other 2007 Corps Members also shared their classroom experiences. They were all very inspirational and motivated! During Induction we got to take a bus tour of Houston, have a traditional Texas BBQ in Herman Park, and authentic TexMex at a local outdoor restaurant/bar/concert space. I have met a lot of great people from all over the United States who have come together in the hopes of providing equal educational opportunities to all of the inner city youth of Houston! I am so proud to be a part of this movement!

Road Trip to Houston, Texas

My Mom and I road tripped together to Houston, Texas from my former residence in Blue Springs, Missouri, a suburb of Kansas City. We left on Monday, June 2nd and arrived in Houston on Wednesday, June 4th. We had a blast driving along and just hanging out before I made my next big step in my career. First, we went to Fort Scott, Kansas and stayed at the Lyons Twin Mansions Bed and Breakfast. It was so beautiful inside the mansion and the breakfast was fabulous! Miss Pat, the owner was very nice as well, sharing a wealth of knowledge on her bed and breakfast experiences! While there we treated ourselves to some spa treatments also provided by the bed and breakfast. If you are ever looking for a weekend getaway don't cross out Fort Scott, Kansas. We were extremely disappointed though because we tried to eat at the famous Chicken Annie's and Chicken Mary's diners in Pittsburg, Kansas. They have been listed as great places for fried chicken in the Midwest Living magazine. Unfortunately, they are not open on Mondays and therefore, my Mom and I did not get to partake in the wonderful mystery of which diner has the best fried chicken. They are literally one block away from each other! There is a whole history about these two diners that you should definitely Google to find out more! We were elated though when we found some old little Golden books that we have been searching for that I used to read as a young girl to give to some of my young cousins as they prepare for transitional times in their lives, such as, new sibling, going to Kindergarden, etc. After Fort Scott, we ventured to Norman, Oklahoma and stayed at the Hampton Inn. Then we finally finished our last leg of the journey by going to Houston, Texas and staying at the Sheraton Inn near the airport so my Mom could fly home on Thursday, June 5th while I continued my adventure to the Crowne Plaza downtown Houston to begin my Teach for America Induction. It was a great trip!