Visit from the Johnsons

Michelle and I had the privilege of having our great friends Logan and Caitlin coming to stay with us here in DC for a week. We finished our last day of school last Tuesday and picked them up at the airport that same day in the evening, so it was a great way to start our summer break. I think we crammed as much as humanly possible into five days with them. We did tons of touristy things all around the city but we also relaxed at the pool, cooked great meals, went bowling, and did things like that. It was so much fun having them in town that it made me realize how sad it is that we only get to see them and our other friends from out West so rarely. But asi es la vida I suppose, until we can make out West. In addition to all the monuments, we also went to the Newseum and several Smithsonians that we hadn't been to. While they were visiting the 'Big Three' Smithsonians that we had both been to several times (Air and Space, Natural History, American History), ventured into some of the lesser publicized Smithsonians that are pretty much right there on the mall as well. We went into the American Indian Museum, the Postal Museum, and the Hirshhorn Art Museum (one of the 'weird' art museums that I don't understand at all but some people live for this type of stuff so I respect it). Overall I would say the Newseum is the coolest museum I have been to so far in DC. It costs money but, there are coupons for 25% off and other deals like that floating around out there. It is definitely worth it with a discount, and probably even at full price as well. There is a whole section dedicated to Sept 11th which is very moving. I will have to write another blog post soon about the Newseum and some of the other museums we have visited lately. At any rate, these are some of the pictures of all four of us having a good time in the nation's capital.

Our Front Room is Complete

When Chad and I moved in last year we bought some brown couches, which we like, but they didn't add much color to the room. We have been feeling like our house definitely lacked some color and didn't feel very homey, so I finally bought some curtains, made some pillows, and found some decorations from Ross. With the help of Chad and some great friends here is the result:

The Most Important Law

I am currently taking a class for my masters degree on child development. For my masters class I had to choose a student in my first grade class to observe and interview and then I have had to write tons of papers on the child's physical, cognitive, social, emotional, and moral development. I am currently writing my social development paper. This is part of the interview I did for my paper with a student in my class:

me: What do you think the most important rule is?
Student: follow directions
me: What are the most important laws?
Student: don't go the wrong way on the escalator
me (trying to stifle my laughter): Are there any other important laws?
Student (after thinking for a while): Don't jump on other people's cars.
me: Anything else?
Student: no, just those two.

The way these first, almost second graders, think is pretty funny sometimes!

Michelle Wallace: Teacher Of The Year

I am writing this post to let everyone know that Michelle, in my unbiased opinion as her husband, was the Teacher Of The Year. We only have a little more than a week left in our first year of teaching and it has been an amazing experience! We have both grown so much and are really looking forward to implementing everything we have learned next year (after a relaxing and fun summer break of course, did I mention that we are going to Peru for two weeks in July?). I have broken down the reasons into several sections why I have awarded her the Teacher Of The Year award.

Results:
Michelle's class as a whole grew over 2 years worth of reading levels in the one year she has been teaching them. Although only going into second grade, some of her students are at a 4th grade reading level. In terms of math, the class as a whole mastered 81% of all first grade math standards. As a teacher, I can tell you that the feats she accomplished in reading and math are very impressive!

Going the Extra Mile:
As a teacher, Michelle consistently went the extra mile to come up with creative lessons to help her students comprehend difficult concepts. Just to name a few, she dressed up as a detective to teach her students how to 'investigate' math problems where you had to figure out the value of a variable. The kids loved the idea of being math detectives so much that Michelle made them each their own badge. This is hard stuff for first graders, but Michelle's creative idea paid off! Michelle happened to get observed the day of that lesson, and the person observing her applauded her excellent idea and told her that it was a fantastic lesson. To teach her kids about chemical reactions and baking, she brought in enough ingredients and supplies for every kid to make their own home made ice cream in class. The lesson went very well and one student even said to Michelle, "This is the best day of my life!" Also, Michelle has organized some very exciting field trips that have helped students synthesize first-hand the things they have learned in the classroom. On one occasion, to help a student who otherwise wouldn't have been able to afford to go, Michelle paid a student's fair on the field trip but only told the student's mother that she had 'arranged for the child to get in for free.' Let me tell you that these few examples are only the tip of the ice berg in regards to how Michelle has truly gone the extra mile as a teacher. What Michelle has done is above and beyond what would be required or even reasonably expected out of any teacher.

Dedication:
As her husband, I know first-hand how dedicated Michelle is to being a teacher. In addition to working full-time, she is attending grad school and earning a master's degree in teaching. She will earn her master's degree in only two years despite working full-time the entire time. She has grad school class two nights a week right now. She also puts in many hours planning, making phone calls to parents, grading quizzes and tests and homework assignments, creating worksheets and handouts, completing grad school assignments, fulfilling Teach For America responsibilities, coming up with her creative lessons, and so much more. On top of all this she still finds the time to be an amazing wife and spend time with me and her friends. I truly beleive there is nothing she can't do; in fact, I beleive she could be president someday if she wanted to! The last thing I will say about her dedication, even though I could write so much more, is that she does it all for the right reasons. There is no overtime pay for teachers. She does everything she does because her students deserve it. When I ask her why she is doing something that creates so much extra work for her, she responds that her students deserve it and that it is the right thing to do. She has often times stated how she wants to do everything possible to make her students ready for the next grade level. Michelle never cuts corners, she does what is right for her students each and every time and in every thing.

She Cares:
This last category is kind of an intangible or an 'X-Factor' type of thing. As described above, Michelle really cares about her students and does what she does because it is the right thing to do. This has paid off. Her students love her. I won't go into too many specifics on this one but I know that her students appreciate what she does and there have been many rewarding moments for Michelle as a teacher. Her students have all grown tremendously and they really love Michelle.

For these reasons, and many others that I cannot possibly list here, Michelle is awarded by me the Teacher of the Year award. Congratulations Michelle, you truly deserve it!

DC Teachers Ratify New Contract

For the past few months, Michelle and I have had been able to observe and participate in a unique aspect of local politics here in Washington, DC. As teachers in DCPS, we are automatically part of the Washington Teachers Union (WTU). For the past few months, our union has been in the final stages of ratifying a new contract. IT had been a couple years since we had got a new contract so this was good news. One of the finals steps of this incredibly long process was for the union members to vote on it and ratify it. The contract contains some significant raises and more money to buy startup materials at the beginning of the year, along with some optional revolutionary ideas like pay-for-performance that could earn effective teachers a lot of money. I could write a whole book about the politics that go on at the local level between teachers, their union, the chancellor (like a superintendent), the union president, and the mayor, but I will just say that the last few months have been a wild ride but now the contract has passed.

If you want to see some of the back and forth among teachers with opposing views, read the 70-some odd comments on this person's blog post:

http://deedoesdc.blogspot.com/2010/05/why-i-voted-yes-to-wtu-tentative.html


Here is a link to the Washington Post about the contract:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/06/02/AR2010060202762.html?hpid=sec-education