Ben Guest Assignment: Free Write
In 1974 Americans began celebrating Black History Month, a remembrance of the events in the history of the African diaspora, and in 2011 North Panola High School celebrated this commemorative month by making a mockery of it. Things got off to a rough start as the two hour long assembly opened with the singing of the national anthem, and they only got worse from there. Aside from the three girls on stage who were actually singing, no one took it seriously, and many refused to even stand.
Mr. Darnell's spanish class had put together a video of "I Have a Dream" being read in spanish. The audience was too amused to listen to the words or read the subtitles. They laughed and pointed, and the concept of the presentation was completely lost on them. They failed to see how important and relevant the words of Martin Luther King Jr. were to their lives. It was both visually pleasing and well executed, but our students just lacked the sophistication for it.
Following the video presentation, Mr. Jones got up to sing a rendition of "Precious Lord." Now, it takes a lot to perform solo in front of an audience; it takes a real something special to want to sing in front of our entire student body. Mr. Jones did an excellent job, both with the singing and ignoring the laughter. A slideshow of pictures from MLK's life played in the background, but once again our students were unmoved.
Both of the previous acts were actual efforts, efforts that would have gone over amazingly well had they been presented to a different audience, but the real crown jewel of the assembly was the skit involving the selling of slaves that the students had directed and performed. J.T. White played auctioneer, as Matt Holloway yelled a lot while purchasing his peers who were dressed in slave attire. The slaves each rebelled or tried to escape as they were being sold, but this was only met with more yelling and a belt-lashing. It was a crude depiction of slavery, and not in the way that makes you think about how awful slavery is. I was later informed that the skit was intended to be funny, and upon hearing the news, I realized that their depiction of slavery had actually been spot on for the artistic angle they were going for.
And just when you thought that it couldn't get any worse, the assembly drew to a close with Ms. Pam reading a poem about the creation of the black people. In her reading, she made sure to stress the word "God" each and every time it appeared in the poem. She then made all of the students stand up and shout, "When God created me, he made me beautiful!" I found the poem, the proclamation, and the singing of "Lean on Me" that followed to all be incredibly moving. It was a perfect way to waste half of the school day, and since it occurred during the morning half, it was also a perfect way to ensure that no learning would get done for the rest of the day.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Saturday, February 12, 2011
The Pros and Cons of MTC
Ben Guest Assignment: Why should and shouldn't you join MTC?
Mississippi Teacher Corps is both an incredibly rewarding program, as well as an unbelievably challenging program. There are numerous reasons as to why you should or shouldn't join MTC, but interestingly enough one could place many of the reasons on either list. Mississippi Teacher Corps offers many incredible incentives, aspects that could easily sell you on joining; however, one should also make sure that they are signing up for the right reasons, since the incentives alone will not be enough to get you through this experience.
Mississippi Teacher Corps is first rate when it comes to offering incredible incentives. Once accepted and committed to the program, you are provided with a free master's degree, a free macbook, free summer housing, and three different stipends, two for living expenditures during the summer and one for purchasing school supplies before the actual school year begins. All in all, by the end of your two year commitment, the incentives alone value to roughly $22,000. On paper it sounds like an incredible deal, and in truth it really is. But if the free stuff is the only reason that you are considering the program, you will not make it through your two years; the free stuff just isn't worth it if you don't have the dedication and drive needed to work in schools such as these, and most likely you will end up quitting before your commitment is up.
If you are lucky enough, as in, if you are qualified enough to have proven yourself an exceptional candidate, to get in, then Mississippi Teacher Corps guarantees you a job with a fully salary, and in these times, employment can be a very difficult thing to find. Teaching, all though not the most prestigious jobs in this country, is secure, provides health care and retirement benefits, and involves only working ten months out of the year. For many, having an entire summer off just like when they were children is a dream come true, but there is a reason these schools are failing and that our program places us in them. Teachers are treated awful; they are forced to work ten hour days, game duty, and after school duty. And that doesn't even include all the time spent planning and grading once you finally make it home.
Finally, Mississippi Teacher Corps allows those who "want to make a difference" an incredible opportunity to do so. These students are in desperate need of qualified, dedicated teachers, and although not all of us are the best teachers right out of the gate, in most cases, we are better than what they would've gotten otherwise. Despite being immensely difficult, this can be an astoundingly rewarding experience. However, just like with my previous points, there is a catch. If you are considering Teacher Corps, you must not only be an incredibly driven optimist, but you must also be a realist. The challenges you will face are not insurmountable, but they are far greater than any previous challenges you may have faced in academics or during some other form of employment. You can not come here expecting to make a huge difference. The students are unmotivated, disrespectful, and several grade levels behind, while the schools are old, underfunded, and improperly run. If you are signing up to be the great savior of impoverished, disarrayed Mississippi education, you will undoubtedly fail. In actuality you must be willing to fight the good fight every single day, not for the benefit of the entirety of your students, but for the small handful who are willing to work up to their ability and who are destined for better things.
In short, Mississippi Teacher Corps offers so many different incentives, both materialistic and intrinsic, and these are all great reasons for considering joining the program. However, these alone can not be your sole reasons for joining. Whether or not you should join Teacher Corps is entirely dependent on the type of person you are. Are you able to remain dedicated to a seemly impossible task and endure relentless struggles? Are you willing to combat a legacy of racism that has continued to plague this area since the end of slavery and segregation? And are you the type of person that can sustain yourself off the tiniest of successes amongst an overwhelming amount of failure? If you can answer yes to all of these question, go right ahead and sign on up.
Mississippi Teacher Corps is both an incredibly rewarding program, as well as an unbelievably challenging program. There are numerous reasons as to why you should or shouldn't join MTC, but interestingly enough one could place many of the reasons on either list. Mississippi Teacher Corps offers many incredible incentives, aspects that could easily sell you on joining; however, one should also make sure that they are signing up for the right reasons, since the incentives alone will not be enough to get you through this experience.
Mississippi Teacher Corps is first rate when it comes to offering incredible incentives. Once accepted and committed to the program, you are provided with a free master's degree, a free macbook, free summer housing, and three different stipends, two for living expenditures during the summer and one for purchasing school supplies before the actual school year begins. All in all, by the end of your two year commitment, the incentives alone value to roughly $22,000. On paper it sounds like an incredible deal, and in truth it really is. But if the free stuff is the only reason that you are considering the program, you will not make it through your two years; the free stuff just isn't worth it if you don't have the dedication and drive needed to work in schools such as these, and most likely you will end up quitting before your commitment is up.
If you are lucky enough, as in, if you are qualified enough to have proven yourself an exceptional candidate, to get in, then Mississippi Teacher Corps guarantees you a job with a fully salary, and in these times, employment can be a very difficult thing to find. Teaching, all though not the most prestigious jobs in this country, is secure, provides health care and retirement benefits, and involves only working ten months out of the year. For many, having an entire summer off just like when they were children is a dream come true, but there is a reason these schools are failing and that our program places us in them. Teachers are treated awful; they are forced to work ten hour days, game duty, and after school duty. And that doesn't even include all the time spent planning and grading once you finally make it home.
Finally, Mississippi Teacher Corps allows those who "want to make a difference" an incredible opportunity to do so. These students are in desperate need of qualified, dedicated teachers, and although not all of us are the best teachers right out of the gate, in most cases, we are better than what they would've gotten otherwise. Despite being immensely difficult, this can be an astoundingly rewarding experience. However, just like with my previous points, there is a catch. If you are considering Teacher Corps, you must not only be an incredibly driven optimist, but you must also be a realist. The challenges you will face are not insurmountable, but they are far greater than any previous challenges you may have faced in academics or during some other form of employment. You can not come here expecting to make a huge difference. The students are unmotivated, disrespectful, and several grade levels behind, while the schools are old, underfunded, and improperly run. If you are signing up to be the great savior of impoverished, disarrayed Mississippi education, you will undoubtedly fail. In actuality you must be willing to fight the good fight every single day, not for the benefit of the entirety of your students, but for the small handful who are willing to work up to their ability and who are destined for better things.
In short, Mississippi Teacher Corps offers so many different incentives, both materialistic and intrinsic, and these are all great reasons for considering joining the program. However, these alone can not be your sole reasons for joining. Whether or not you should join Teacher Corps is entirely dependent on the type of person you are. Are you able to remain dedicated to a seemly impossible task and endure relentless struggles? Are you willing to combat a legacy of racism that has continued to plague this area since the end of slavery and segregation? And are you the type of person that can sustain yourself off the tiniest of successes amongst an overwhelming amount of failure? If you can answer yes to all of these question, go right ahead and sign on up.
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