I'm Back!

Wow it has been so long since I posted but I am back! Since I last posted I have worked in Douglas County Schools as a severe special needs paraprofessional. Don't get me started on this experience. I loved working with the kids and learned a lot but it was a toxic enviornment. The special ed teacher did so many illegal things and treated the staff and kids with disrepsect. I am greatful for the friendships I made at Rock Ridge Elementary School but a year in that position was enough for me. Next I found myself looking for a summer position to hold me over until the next school year. I ended up emailing an old contact from the Bridge Project where I volunteered as a college student. They were in need of a summer teacher. I accepted the job on a Friday and started on a Monday. Since I had volunteered at the program before I know what I was getting myself into. The Bridge Project is a non-profit after school program that serves kids living in Denver Housing. They offer literacy classes, social emotional classes, technology classes, tutoring, and homework help. The goal is to keep kids in the program, engaged in school, and eventually into to college. If kids stick with the program, the Bridge Project will help them pay for college. It is an amazing program and it has always been my dream to come back and work there someday. Just my luck, at the end of the summer they were looking for a new education specialist at the South Lincoln site. This is the site I had been working at most of the summer. I LOVED the kids and the staff at this site. The day I was offered they job I cried. I was so excited and felt that my dream had come full circle. I was right where I belonged, helping kids that truly appreciated everything they received. Majority of the students at this site are Somalian refugees. I had no idea we had such a large population in Denver and it has truly been amazing learning about their culture and what they have been through in their lives. Now don't get me wrong, not everything at work is a walk in the park. When I first started I had to prove myself to the kids. There was a lot of butting heads and challenging authority until I proved I was in it for the long haul and would love them unconditionally no matter what they did. The other challenges include what every school in this country is facing. Large classes with students on a wide spectrum of levels. I had kiddos in my k-1 class who had never seen written language before or held a pencil to kids that were advanced in their grade. Add on top of that limited resources and not enough books for each student. Luckily I am thrifty and creative. I am now coming up on my two year anniversary of working with the Bridge Project and I could not be happier. I have seen kids grow so much in their maturity level and reading levels. There is no better felling than raising a kid from below grade level to ON! This year we were faced with a very challenging situation. Our old site was torn down due to redevelopment in the neighborhood. We are now located in two tiny trailers with even less resources. I happen to be teaching more classes and I have decided to look at the glass half full and make my lessons even more engaging and exciting for students. The are not required to come everyday to Bridge but yet at 3:05 each day the kiddos come busting through the door. I plan on posting some of the things I have done in the classroom. If I can do them in a tiny trailer with a bunch of crazy kiddos after school, anyone can do it in their classroom.