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Matt at the blackboard. |
Spray-paint art adorns a wall |
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The Venice Beach boardwalk. |
Los Angeles Unified School District
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Matt graduated in 2005 with degrees in history and religious studies. He is moving to Los Angeles to begin training with Teach For America in the L.A. Unified School District.
November 1, 2005
Well you think Halloween is fun when you are a kid... Try Halloween as a teacher! Halloween came and went but the sugar high hasn't passed yet and my kids are bouncing off the walls. I do have to say I had a great time the Friday before when we had a carnival and haunted house, but Halloween day and the day after have been insane. Besides the sugar driven children everything is going pretty good.
School is going well and my students are really progressing as they seem to be quite interested in our current topics. We are doing a lot of work with real life uses of ratios and proportions, and in science we are learning all about earthquakes. Tomorrow I will be having my last observation for my Masters program for the fall and I gotta get back to work!
October 18, 2005
After more than six weeks of teaching, I have seen and learned a lot. While teaching at my middle school since the start of September, I have been able to see the inner workings of working in a school, and an underprivileged one at that.
At Gompers, we have so far faced the threat of losing teachers due to low enrollment, as well as the establishment of a concrete discipline system, to name a few things. It is unbelievable how little I knew about teachers and their jobs before I actually became one. Teaching seemed like some magic job to me as a kid, and I never thought about all the hard work that went into the job. I never realized that I would be showing up at school most days before the sun comes up in order to make photocopies, or actually have to pay for all of those fun supplies that teacher’s always seemed to have.
I remember being in college and thinking about how much it sucked to have to pay to print copies in the libraries, well think about that but on a larger scale. I find myself coming up with creative ways to budget on this sweet teacher’s salary that I am making by shrinking and double siding work on copies, and at home eating ramen noodles and crackers for dinner on some nights. After this rant I just went on, maybe I should point out some of the unbelievable things that are going on.
In my classroom I have students who are not just intelligent, but they have the desire to learn, and learn a lot. My students for the most part are very well behaved, and the really show how much they are invested in their own educations. While some teachers must beg their students to pay attention I feel that this is something that comes naturally with my students.
My students have shown me that they want to be there, and they want me to be there with them pushing them along and advancing their knowledge. Every day I work I am thankful for the experience I am having, which I know is not how everyone after less than two months in a classroom feels. I know that I am not the best teacher yet, but every day I am learning and growing along with my students and I truly can’t imagine myself doing anything else after my four years in Dallas.
Matt
August 30, 2005
Well I got less than one week to go before the school year begins. Too bad I started my own classes this week at Loyola Marymount University.
As part of being a teacher I must receive a credential and, in addition to that, I am pursuing my Masters in Elementary Education at LMU. So for the next two years I will be teaching full school days and then every Monday squeezing in class from 4:30 to 9:45 p.m..
Classes seem like they will be tough, but they also are quite relevant to what I am doing and experiencing everyday in my school and as a part of the education system.This week is quite hectic, and a bit overwhelming, but I am confident things will get easier with time. I am currently in optional professional development days at my school site, and then going home and working busily at preparing classroom management plans, procedures for the classroom, daily lesson plans, and long term (unit) plans, just to name a few. Things have been crazy, but I have definitely found a bit of time to go to the beach, and explore the LA area.
I will try and get on the ball and update a bit more often in the next few weeks, but until then take care.
Matt
August 2, 2005
So I am entering my final day of training at the Los Angeles Teach for America Institute and I cannot express in words how happy I am right now. I found out today where my classroom is going to be, and the exact classes I will be teaching, and once again found out how teaching at Gompers will be different than anywhere else. In learning about my classes I found that my class size will average about 49 people, and I have two classes with more than 55 students. I have been told these numbers will drop, but they will be quite high for the first few weeks, and I will almost for sure not have enough seats for all of my students.
Now that I know more of the details of my classroom and what I will be teaching, it is time for me to take what I learned during Institute and use it in my class. I will be working over the next few weeks at planning my semester with units of study, creating lesson plans, and establishing a Big Goal for my students to attain during the course of the year.
Before all of this work begins though, I am going to take a little time for myself. I will be heading to Washington state this weekend for a good friend from SMU's wedding (congratulations Mike and Jen), and then returning to L.A. for a some rest and relaxation at the beach. Until the school year begins I do have many commitments such as an L.A. Unified School District Orientation, and starting the process of getting my credential from California State University Dominguez Hills' accelerated program.
I will keep up with updates as much as I can and keep everyone informed, but if anyone wants to contact me regarding my experience you can reach me by email at mbragman at gmail.com.
Matt
July 29, 2005
I just finished week four of the L.A. Institute and I only have one more week to go. This week was a real tough one, which consisted of a change of schedule and one full day of teaching rather than short periods like most days.
While at school I found a great way of connecting to my students and others on campus, which is through their love of football. I spend my mornings on the playground and every break with a group of students ranging from sixth graders to soon-to-be freshman playing football in the yard, which seems to be a great way of interacting on a much more friendly basis with the kids. As I go observe other classes on our campus I hear the kids rumbling about me being the teacher who throws the perfect spiral (or what they think is a perfect spiral).
As I enter my last week of teaching summer school it's time for me to really adapt what have I learned thus far to how my classroom is going to look in the fall. I am confident in my skills as a teacher and I can't wait to get my own set of keys to a classroom and have complete control.
Well, it's Friday afternoon right now and it's time for me and my fellow teachers to go live a little, so I am outta here and I will try and be back in touch soon.
Matt (Mr. Bragman/Mr. B)
July 14, 2005
Well my second week of Institute is about to come to an end. After my first full week of teaching at Gompers I have learned and experienced more than I had ever imagined. At my school I rotate between teaching class, going to workshops, observing other teachers, and numerous other activities. In my first week I have learned so much about my students that I never would have experienced anywhere else. It is crazy to imagine less than two months ago I was still sitting in Dallas taking finals and already I am being called Mr. Bragman and teaching 6th grade students how to do functions I couldn't even imagine doing when I was their age. Once again I am back to work....
Tonight I am doing rough lesson plans for all of next week, and I have finally become accustomed to the whole sleeping three to four hours per night thing. Get some sleep for me and I'll catch up with y'all soon.
Matt
July 5, 2005
The Institute is well underway and I am already beat. This is the third day of our training and I will begin teaching after only three more days in a math summer school class at Gompers Middle School in South Los Angeles. I also have found out that I will be teaching math and science to sixth graders at the same school in the fall. Our days are busy with classes, training, workshops, and making lesson plans from about 5:30 AM to at least 8:30 PM every day, so sleep is not so much of an option right now, and I am trying to learn how to think while very tired. I would keep going, but I will miss the bus to my school if I do. I will try and let y'all know more as I have time, and get some sleep for me, because I am jealous.
Matt
June 27, 2005
Well, Teach for America has actually begun and we are thrown right into the mix of things. I have been at our Induction for less than 24 hours and I have already been to numerous meetings, have learned that tomorrow morning at 6:45 I will be on a bus to go to interviews with principals, and will follow that with meetings regarding credentialing programs. So far Induction has been a bit hectic, a little like the first day of summer camp meets first day of college. I did have a chance to go to the Venice Beach Pier for a few hours of free time today, where I perfected my tan and worked on getting into some sort of shape by paddling out on my board so that I can go surfing while I am down in sunny southern California. I am still working on posting some pictures, but until then I will do my best through my vivid story telling.
Until next time...
--Matt
June 22, 2005
So what's up everyone. My name is Matt and I just graduated from SMU with a Bachelor of Arts in History and Religious Studies. Since graduating I have been at home in the San Francisco Bay Area just bumming around before I have to become an adult. My days have been filled with going to the beach, golfing, watching tv, and oh did I mention watching tv. Besides the utter laziness, I have also gone on visits to middle school classes so that I can observe teachers. Why am I going to middle school classes after graduating from college? Am I a reincarnation of Billy Madison? Actually there is a good reason why I have been going to school lately.
For the next two years I will be a part of a program called Teach for America (TFA), which places students fresh out of college into inner city and rural communities to teach and close the growing gap between students in these areas and more privileged ones.
This coming Saturday is my first big move toward becoming a teacher as I head to Loyola Marymount where I will take part in Teach for America's Induction. During the course of Induction I will become accustomed with the LA area, interview with principals at potential teaching sites, look at credentialing programs, and meet the more than one hundred and fifty other TFA Corps member who are going to be in LA with me. After this first week of Induction I will begin what is called the Institute (which is called "Teacher Boot Camp" by past participants), which is an intense training program that has us up every morning at 5:30 AM and working deep into the nights transforming us recent graduates into teachers. I will begin teaching summer school courses only a week after arriving at the Institute which has us living at Long Beach State for the month, but I will try and keep everyone updated on what's going on in my life.
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