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Its funny to me that the background theme for my Padlet presentation is called 'Blueprint', because in a way that's what this semester was for me. It served as a blueprint of sorts for my career as a teacher. I have a tendency to think about my future as being very far down the road, yet as I finish up the first half of my Junior year, my Senior year is not far down the road. This semester put that in perspective. Numerous times I felt as if I really was an adult, and I loved it. It was one of the first moments of being able to do something that I knew I wanted to do for the rest of my life. While I may not have agreed with everything I saw at Murray, I am still appreciative of the school and Mrs. Thrasher for teaching me everything that they did. I had a lot of doubts. Doubts about kids, doubts about school, and even doubts about where we were heading as a nation in regards to education. As a Political Sciene major, I'm always the first person my friends and family ask about the election. How could this happen? What does this mean? What happens next? My answer to them is that I don't know. I have no idea what happens next. One thing I do know is that we will need education. We need intelligent kids. Intelligent kids who understand that hate and discrimination will not bring any prosperity. And I know that the key to these kids are great teachers.

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I grew up in a city that was dominantly white. My mom woke me up every morning to go to school. I never missed school without a very good reason. I came to Murray with a very privileged and sheltered view of how public schools operate. Murray flipped this idea on it's head. I was able to open my eyes to how so many other people live. Kids who have no desire to be in school. Kids who's parents didn't care about their academic career. One of the things I'm most grateful of from my time at Murray is the perspective it gave me. The students at Murray did what the authors of "To Teach" wanted. As I was helping them and teaching them, they were simultaneously teaching me.

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Chapter 3 of the book was the chapter that stuck with me the most. The author talked about the spaces he wanted to create. Obviously in class we talked about the physical space of a classroom, but here he talks about the metaphorical space. Spaces he wants to create include spaces "where knowledge and power are shared, and not hoarded". Spaces where "students are nurtured and challenged in the same gesture". Spaces that "nourish our imagination". And finally the one that struck me greatest, spaces where "there's lots of room to ask questions of the world". The education system is flawed, that much is obvious. As a Political Science major I have learned about NCLB and it's failures in the past. Yet there was so much more about the education system I did not know. I never liked standardized tests, yet I never knew the actual trouble with them. I have a history of sitting in the back of a class so I can zone out, but I never knew the over 100 year old history of the structure of our classroom that we discussed in class. It's easy to change the layout of a classroom, but it's hard to change the framework of the school system. That's why I really enjoyed this chapter. Punishing failure isn't as successful as rewarding positive achievements. The world has changed, but our school system hasn't. Yet with spaces like the ones described above, we can create school systems we want to see and achieve the real learning we want students to have.

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It is easy to believe at any given moment that teaching is right for you. Yet you might re-evaluate your decision once you're thrown into the thick of it. Thankfully this semester confirmed what I've know, which is that I want to be a teacher. I genuinely feel that amongst a lot of people, the profession of teaching is looked down upon. This view is frustrating to me. Teaching is what creates our future. Professions like doctors and lawyers may be held in greater regard, but without teachers there wouldn't be doctors or lawyers. As we learned, teaching is harder than ever. While countries like Finland are finding great success with their national education, our political landscape is changing more than it ever has before, and teaching is something that is in a crucial state right now. Similarly, we are learning more and more things about how students think and how their brain works. I think back to the TED talk for class where the presenter discussed PTSD in kids in Oakland. His kids had to bury their classmate, and then the next day they had to go to school. I also think back to our final panel from class. The female teacher from Maple Grove spoke about how the day after the election she made sure to let her students know that they are loved and that she loves all of them equally. This is also why I want to teach.  For some kids, school might be the only place all day where they feel safe. To be the person in a kids life to let them know they have potential and that they are loved is truly incredible to me. Yes I have coached sports and I have found I enjoy teaching and passing on my knowledge, but to me being there for kids is a truly special thing you cannot find in many other professions.

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One thing stuck with me after I had been with the kids for awhile and we had met a handful of times for class. That thought I had was, "Is this really helping them?'. Mrs. Thrasher tries very hard to get these kids to succeed, I try, all the tutors try, but it doesn't always work. These kids have issues in their homes, in their neighborhoods, amongst their peers, that a lot of us cannot understand or start to help. Yet when they leave their hour of tutoring, they go back to their classic graveyard style seating in a classic public school system. Murray is also a very traditional school, one that does not try and use modern or experimental types of teaching. I couldn't help but wonder if these kids would see greater rates of success in a charter school. Or would even something as simple as changing the layout of the classrooms help these kids? Layouts that keep them engaged and attentive and encourages them to participate.

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I had a truly eye opening semester, yet it came with some lowlights. The biggest frustration that came with tutoring was with Mrs. Thrasher, the creator of the One to One program. She ran a program that went her way or the highway, with no questions asked. I understand the need for order and being strict with these kids. Yet a lot of times her policy lead to discouragement and negativity amongst the students. It was feelings that my fellow Murray tutors also expressed. We all agreed it wasn't our place to step into a program she created and criticize her ways. Another lowlight was my 6th hour class. My main student was James, yet I only had him 50% of the time. 6th hour I was always bouncing around a lot and working with different kids. I was more than happy to help where I was needed, yet a lot of times I would be a bit bummed out when it would be a Friday I didn't get to work with him.

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Through all of the chaos of teaching at a middle school, there were a lot of highlights. As mentioned above, I was very much attracted to Murray thanks to the One to One program, and this proved to be quite the amazing program for me. I worked with four awesome kids throughout the semester (we'll call them John, Jake, Jack, and James). My time with Jake was always the highlight of my tutoring. He was a funny kid who really had the drive to improve his academic standing. I had him for half the semester, then one week I came to class and he was gone. I was told his grades had improved so much that he no longer needed tutoring help. I was sad because I like him a lot and I enjoyed our time together, yet happy to see him succeed. It reminded me of that quote form "Good Will Hunting" in a corny kind of way. The quote where he says he always hopes that when he goes to pick him up he won't be there. I always thought that quote was mean, yet I began to understood it. The happiness I saw from him reaching his potential was so large. Not only did he get out of the tutoring class, but he stayed out of it for the whole class. This was probably the biggest highlight of the semester for me in a weird way. It was bitter sweet, but my sadness for seeing Jake find success was far greater than my sadness from not seeing him anymore.

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The semester as a whole was full of numerous trials and tribulations. A lot of learning on the fly. A lot of not knowing what I was doing. All in all though, it was a great semester.

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Who would have thought, but despite our different backgrounds , these kids were not that different than me and my friends. I will be honest, the first hour or so, I was trying too hard to be a relatable. I was not being myself, and the kids were able to sniff it out from the start. The second hour was a fresh start for me. As the hour was beginning, my student pulled out his iPad and I noticed his background was Russell Westbrook. Russell Westbrook is an NBA player, and he's my favorite NBA player at that. When I asked my student about him, it turned out Westbrook was also his favorite player. From here I found out these kids, depite different backgrounds, aren't all that different from me. We enjoy the same video games, music, and many other things.

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Going into tutoring I had mixed expectations. I knew that Murray was a very diverse school, as kids are bussed in from all over St. Paul. I grew up in a very homogenous town in Minnesota, which is a homogenous state as it is. Even coming to the University, obviously I was exposed to many different points of view, yet the majority of the U is still filled with intelligent and educated people. The children at Murray are incredible, yet a lot of them come from different backgrounds as me in every sense. So to be honest, I had no idea what to expect. I was worried I might not be able to fully relate to these kids.

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The main thing that attracted me to Murray was their One to One program. I would spend every Friday at Murray for three hours. There was always variation in who I was tutoring, but for the most part I was with the same three kids all semester.

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The Pilot One to One program had me working with seventh and eight graders at the school. My job was to help them in whatever classes they needed help in. Students were enrolled in English Language Arts (ELA), Global Studies, Math, Science, and other core classes. Math was usually the class kids needed the most help in though, and easily the subject I worked the most with this semester.

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My semester of tutoring began at Murray Middle School in St. Paul, Minnesota. According to their website, Murray offers an inclusive environment to strengthen students academic, social, and emotional development. Murray Middle School students are challenged and inspired to reach their full potential in preparation for success in High School and beyond.