Finally, my long overdue video blog! Here I talk about the poetry club I started at Homestead Senior High and how it has been such an amazing platform on which students can stand and be heard. Towards the end, there is a video link to watch the spoken word piece my students inspired me to write!
read more »As I returned to my classroom today, after a long day of testing, I noticed for the first time in a long time, “Our Big Goal” bulletin board that I put up on the very first day of school. It says “100% of students will pass the EOC exam”. I meant to add 2 more…
read more »I’m sitting here in the Miami-Dade Campus Library maybe an hour away from Homestead. Why am I here? Well the past few days I’ve been driving up here to take one of my students to her Piano Slam rehearsal. Her poem was chosen out of 500 other poems all across Miami-Dade. She will be performing…
read more »My poetry club students decided to do something special last week. After the incident where I started crying, they all pretty much got into their feelings. After our meeting, they went up to City Year (and anyone who crossed their path) and just gave them hugs. The next day, M, our club president came up…
read more »you know that feeling of being so tired that you just want to cry? and no matter how hard you try, you can’t pinpoint why? well, that happened today after school as my poetry club was walking into my classroom. They saw it coming, so they starting cleaning my classroom for me. Then it came. I…
read more »In my class, I have 2 pregnant girls. One recently gave birth and the other is due in May. I’ve never thought much of it, teenage pregnancy. I guess I just didn’t know how to react. I mean I let them go pee the 10 times they need, I ask how they’re feeling, and I…
read more »“Wow! Look at that airplane!” “What? You’ve never seen a plane take off before?” “Not like that, only in the movies” Last Thursday, I went up north to Miami (about an hour and a half away) with some students from the poetry club. We were going to an informational session for a competition that is…
read more »About a little over a month ago, some students came to me to start a poetry club. Shortly after, “Raison d’etre” (Reason for existing) was created. We started meeting everyday until 4pm after school. It’s been so amazing being around these students. They are inspiring, courageous, and talented, all at the same time. And for…
read more »J is a student of mine. He is 18 years old, a sophomore, has a 2 year old son, and is currently in jail. I found out one morning through a student who showed me his mugshot which was posted onto facebook. There was a huge fight between 2 rival gangs at my school. 11…
read more »Last week, our school held it’s first slam poetry night. To say the least, I was blown away. For the very first time, I got to hear students’ voices through art. And though there is no arts program here, these students were nothing less than creative, dramatic, and inspiring. Though not many people went to…
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