On December 1, 2007, Brown University held its mid-year completion ceremony which recognizes students who complete their graduation requirements at the end of the Fall Semester. Many of these students have taken a semester to pursue learning opportunities outside of the classroom. The Brown Daily Herald covered the event. Some of speeches from the event are posted on the Venture blog:
The following entry is Emma Tai’s (Brown ‘07.5) speech given at Brown University’s Midyear Completion Ceremony. It is published with the permission of the author.
Thank you, Dean Bergeron, and thank you to all of the family and friends, mentors and teachers who have joined us for this celebration.
There are nearly a hundred point-fivers gathered here today, December 1, just shy of the middle of the school year. We have completed eight semesters—or possibly more—or possibly less—and quite possibly not all in a row—at Brown, and thus we converge today with a well-earned sense of achievement. Yet the foremost question on my mind is not where we are going to work after this, whether or not I will have health insurance, or even what the cheese platter will be like at the reception, but rather: what are we doing here? Read the rest of this entry »
The following entry is Caitie Whelan’s (Brown ‘07.5) speech given at Brown University’s Midyear Completion Ceremony. It is published with the permission of the author.
Hello, my friends! This is a downright remarkable day, for many reasons. One is that I am passionately in love with the sound of my own voice and for the next 15 minutes, that’s all anybody in this auditorium is going to hear. For your benefit, I’ve taken the liberty of videotaping the unabridged 90-minute version of this speech and posting it on YouTube under ‘Great Mid-Year Completion Ceremony Speeches of the 21st Century.’ But, another, dare I say more inclusive reason for today’s significance is that it celebrates one of the most beautiful human experiences: connection. And it’s a rare form of connection. I believe that a Brown education is rooted in connecting what does exist with what could and must exist. We are not simply loading our minds with the thoughts of others; we are actively, if not aggressively, encouraged to build our own bodies of knowledge. And there is a high and immediate demand for this form of connection. Read the rest of this entry »
During the Summer and Fall of 2007, Venture staff has researched the field of social entrepreneurism and added a new section to our exploring options website. If you are interested in the intersection of new ideas, business, and social change work, then check out the social entrepreneurism section. Feel free to send us feedback and ideas for other resources!
Recently I have been having a real balance in my placement. I lead a lot of whole class lessons but I also do a lot of small group work. I have really been taking advantage of the fact that I am a student teacher and can spend more time in small groups than with the whole class. It helps me to know the students more as individuals and help then in the most effective way for them.
I have one small group in math of the 5 kids who are really struggling with the material. We break it down and try to teach each other strategies that work for us. This group is really challenging because they all just hate math and so keeping them focused is a chore. But I am glad to work with them because they all really need that individual attention to push them to achieve more.
I also have one small group in social studies of the top 5 kids. It is so amazing to work with this group because it is almost like a college style discussion section. I propose a few questions about the text to help break it down and then they have a self-led discussion. They build off what the other people have said (I agree with, I disagree with, I want to add on, etc.) It is great because I know this group’s critical thinking will help them keep up their good reading skills and it also helps them break down difficult concepts (We are studying the American Revolution. They have a hard time with figuring out who is who. They didn’t realize that the English were a part of the British and that the loyalists were actually colonists. They also were confused by all the different ways you can refer to Native Americans such as First Americans and American Indians). It was particularly interesting to hear their opinions on how groups allied with each other.
It has also been helpful to be able to work with small groups/individuals because there have been lots of stressful things going on in their lives. Thursday was definitely a day of tears. It started off with one girl getting sent home because of pink eye. She didn’t want to miss school especially because she might be moving away sometime in November. She was bummed to say the least.
Next, another student started crying and came over to talk to me. Although my cooperating teachers and I assumed she was crying because she didn’t do her homework, that was not it at all. She chose not to do her homework because her dad was visiting and he hardly ever visits. She weighed the options and was willing to take on the consequence of detention because of it. But what she was upset about was that her dad told her that men had come to his store again and fired shots at him. He basically told her that the world is not safe and that it will probably happen again. She said that it makes her really nervous and upset because she loves her dad. I felt so bad because there wasn’t much I could say. I told her that it is tough being a kid because lots of things happen in your life that you have no control over and that it was okay to feel upset/nervous because it was a very difficult situation she was dealing with. But other than that what was I supposed to say. “Sorry kid. Life is unfair. Deal with it” would make this already anxious girl feel worse. Goodness. Tough stuff.
After that, “Justin” started tearing up because he was just so frustrated. Another student has been advancing levels on the computer program for our ELL kids and “Justin” is struggling. I told him that the levels were not important. The program was just to help him and make it fun. I also told him that his teacher and I have been SO PROUD of him and the amazing progress he is making. I think I was able to get through to him at the end but it was so hard with all the standardized tests and computer programs telling him otherwise.
These experiences made me worried about when I become a teacher. I want to be able to take time and talk about the tough life issues and frustrations. But how will I be able to do that if I have to teach 24 other kids at the same time. Will the kids feel forgotten if I don’t address their needs right away and wait till lunch? How do you help a crying kid without spotlighting/embarrassing them? So many questions to work out in my head.
~Yuka
My kids are achieving so much. It is just phenomenal. One of many examples is “Justin”. When “Justin” first came to PS 20 he was illiterate in both English and Spanish. But because of his motivation and the help of another classmate, “Maria”, he is now writing paragraphs that express his thoughts and feelings. The spelling may be wrong and the grammar less than perfect, but it is such a big achievement to be able to express yourself when you used to be without words. In the beginning of the semester I had a lot of time to work with him. However, last week I had to start putting him on computer programs and asking “Maria” to work with him so that I could equally focus on the other students. Taking this step back has allowed me to really see how much he has improved. But it has also been great because it has helped “Maria” tremendously. It has given her the confidence she lacked and helped her master skills. I could not think of a more fitting pair of motivated learners who are helping each other learn while pushing each other to keep growing.
Some of my kids are at 7th grade reading levels while some of my kids are beautiful writers. Every kid in the room has such amazing talents and I want them to really recognize that and be proud of themselves by the end of my time here.
But the ridiculous amount of pull-outs bothers me. We have such good classroom flow but then there will be 3 kids who miss all of that and fall behind. The pull-outs are meant to help the kids but I don’t think they are really helping them. I think it is more important for the kids to stay in our class, struggle a little, receive help from their community of classmates, and be an active participant. I think I would really like to observe the pull-outs and see how effective they are.
There are lots of kids in rough spots in my class and I worry that they are not getting the emotional support they truly deserve. I just wish I had more time to hear all their stories everyday. Because if there is anything I have learned, it is that the most important thing is to show a student that you genuinely believe they can achieve anything. The academics will come with time. But if they don’t get the love they deserve, they will just give up on the system and all will be lost. You have to show the child that you always have their best interest at heart.
~Yuka
Students wishing to apply to the Urban Education Semester for the Spring 2008 Semester should submit their application materials to their UES Coordinator by October 22, 2007.
Admission to the program is rolling; feel free to submit your applications early. If you have any questions, contact your campus’s coordinator or our central office.
Like students and staff at other Venture campuses, I find that early September is not short on things to do. This semester, I varied my usual routine by facilitating the orientation for Venture’s Urban Education Semester. This Fall, 11 students from all over the world descended on New York City to examine public education by spending three days a week in classrooms and two days studying education, public policy, and current issues that affect teachers, parents, students, and learning.
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