It's Official

While this blog's inception was due to my upcoming trip to South East Asia, before I leave I am spending 5 days alone in San Francisco. Therefore, I felt that this trip is a good place to start my story of the long distance traveler.

I have been interested in teaching in the inner city for a long time now, however violence and administrative backing have always been the two issues of contention. I found this program called the Oakland City Teaching Corps. I like this program because it takes away the major issues that I worry about with teaching in the innercity. First, they are attempting to rectify the tremendous academic lag by creating whats called the small school movement. They are taking a school that innitially had 600 students in a graduating class for example, and splitting it into three and housing them in three completely different buildings. I have been speaking to a few of the teachers already teaching in Oakland and they said its been incredibly effective in cutting down the violence. This works because a smaller number of teachers are seeing a smaller number of students and even within a few weeks, are getting to know all the students in the school. Therefore it is harder for a student to "get away with something". Second, the fact that the teaching corp program is in existence means that they want to change what they are doing and try to make a difference. Administrative backup in a program like this does not seem to be a big problem.


So I decided to apply. Two weeks later I recieved an email saying that I got the interview. It's a group and individual interview, where I'm flying out there to participate in at the end of February. I somehow found plane tickets for $169, I'm staying in a hostel for about $100 and I'm "renting a wreck" for about $135. How amazing is a trip for 5 days to the bay area from Albany around $400. I spoke with one of the teachers who were there, and while she has mixed feelings and says "its the hardest job she has ever had to do", she is planning on returning next year and seems to enjoy it. She constantly described the experience as exciting. She like me is a little white girl born in the suburbs with a silver spoon in her mouth, but wanted to do something different. That's exactly how I feel. I probably could get a job at Shen or in one of the surrounding areas if I really wanted to, but I really wanna try this. I really wanna see if I can make a difference.

So in about 3 weeks I head off to California on my own to check out my potential future.

Oh, and if Oakland doesn't work out, I'm looking into the UK, as they have a current shortage of teachers, or North/South Carolina. Either way, I'm ready for whatever comes next!!