Argyle & Polka Dots: Teacher Week '13: Meet the Teacher!

Hey y'all! Oh dear. It has been some time. I figured Teacher Week '13 is a good time to get back into the blogging game. Blog Hoppin' is hosting this week, so check out all the blogs linked on that site!

Here are the topics for the week (so play along!):

Let's get down to this!

Probably the most important thing you should know about me is that I bleed purple. I am a proud Horned Frog from the Texas Christian University class of '11. My family has had season tickets to the football games for over 19 years. Consequently, I was dreaming of one day being a Horned Frog since kindergarten and I am so glad my hard work paid off.
Speaking of dreams in kindergarten, I have wanted to be a teacher since then. Except in kindergarten, I wanted to be a kindergarten teacher, in first grade I wanted to be a first grade teacher, and so on and so forth. In middle school I realized I really liked language arts, social studies, and theatre and went between those three subjects as possible careers. High school was when I narrowed it down to getting a double certification in theatre and social studies. However, majoring in theatre for two years in college made me realize I didn't want to actually teach theatre (I'm awful at design) and I finally settled down with high school social studies.
I spent two summers during and immediately after college working for a wonderful program called Breakthrough Collaborative. High school and college students spend the summer teaching rising 7th-9th graders in literature, writing, math, and science. The students are under-served, highly motivated kids who want to get ahead in school. They take the content courses they'll be taking the next year so that way they get the material twice! The students pledge to complete all three summers, participate in the academic year programs throughout middle and high school, and attend college. Those kiddos inspired me to also become certified in middle school and I hope to one day teach middle school! Such a powerful program. I cannot even begin to describe how much it means to me (it doesn't hurt I met some of my closest friends while teaching there).
I have my composite in social studies which is awesome for hiring and terrifying for getting my assignment each year. Last year I taught on-level and basic geography (9th grade) and on-level economics (12th grade). This year I was told I would have all PAP geography but I've been surprised with two sections of PAP world history. The joys of being composite. While I'm slightly apprehensive about taking on these (somewhat unexpected) challenges, I am nevertheless excited for the new adventures and am so grateful to my friends and colleagues who have sent me resources, material, and tips.
Last spring, I joined my campus' AVID site team and attended the AVID Summer Institute. I AM SO EXCITED ABOUT AVID. I definitely drank the Kool-Aid. AVID provides students who are in the academic middle with support, tools, and strategies so that they can excel in their classes (including PAP/AP/IB/honors). I have learned so many strategies to use in my everyday classroom and am completely rejuvenated for the new school year. I am most excited about creating a college-going atmosphere, helped largely by generous donations from friends, family, and strangers. People from all over the country have sent me their extra college swag. So, if you have any extra college shirts, waterbottles, flags, pennants, keychains, etc. that you just don't know what to do with, please contact me (argyleandpolkadots@gmail.com) and I will gladly take them off your hands!
How did I get donations from people I don't even know? Well, I was VERY involved in residence life in college. I started out on Hall Council, became an RA and Assistant Hall Director, joined the National Residence Hall Honorary, and ended with serving as my region's Associate Director of NRHH. That meant I went to conferences all over the country, met people from all over, and have stayed connected with the organizations. I posted all over various Facebook groups that I was looking for college swag (I knew NACURH and SWACURH would have plenty of leftover college swag) and was overwhelmed by strangers' generosity. The National Association of College and University Residence Halls obviously supports students going to college :)
Reading is absolutely one of my favorite things to do, but I don't always make enough time to do it (I'm trying to be honest and say I'm not making time versus not having time). This year I set my GoodReads reading challenge goal at 25 books (I failed miserably at 50 last year) and I was so excited this summer to get ahead on my pacing! I'm trying really hard to make time to read every day because I really do want to get back to reading more. Plus, I'm making reading a priority for my students this year. I'm going to implement DEAR once a week and I'll update my currently reading list so my students can see what I'm reading. I hope that will also keep me honest and on track with my reading goals.
One of the first things people notice about me is that I love to laugh and I laugh LOUD. I once had a friend call me while I was walking to class in college. She asked if I was over by the fine arts buildings and when I told her I was, she informed me she could hear me laughing across the main road that cuts through our campus. When my kids make me laugh (which is basically all the time), they're always afraid they "broke" me. "Y'all broke Ms. Poe! Look!"
I like to pretend I'm super artsy craftsy, but projects either never get completed or end up looking WAY better in my head. But that doesn't stop me from pinning and hoarding materials. So that's why I could never teach elementary- I'm not genuinely craftsy enough.
Little known fact- I have become way more introverted over the years. I think it's because res life and education require you to be "on" AT ALL TIMES. I used to rejuvenate by interacting with people, but because that has been the majority of my life for the past few years, I now just need to hide out on my own for a while before I'm ready to face the world. Like, I have definitely made up excuses to not hang out with friends just so I can not talk to people for a few hours. But don't worry, friends, I am still a strong Blue/Gold (the True Colors personality assessment is how I relate to the world. You should take it) and still enjoy nurturing!