Duke

I've recently discovered that I haven't blogged about Duke Ellington. Sadly, my camera's battery decided to die soon after I moved out there, so the only pictures that I have are from when Tannis and my mom came to visit me. They came when I was through teaching for the day; therefore, no pictures of me with my students. Depressing. I miss them.

So the whole reason why I moved to Washington, D.C. was to do my student teaching. I was placed at Duke Ellington High School. Duke Ellington is a magnet school for the arts. Meaning, students came from all over DC and even parts of Maryland and Virginia to audition to get into one of the majors (dance, theater, visual arts, tech theater, museum studies, instrumental, voice....etc). They take their academic classes during the first 2/3ish part of the day and then devoted the rest of their day to their specific major classes. Some days...most days...it felt like the school in Step Up. Students would constantly be dancing and singing in the halls. LOVED IT. It was great to walk through the music hall...you could just hear the magic.

I taught 9th Grade World History and World Geography. At first I was a little bummed cause I really wanted to teach American History...but in the end I was so grateful for my placement. I was put exactly where I needed to be. The school was awesome. The students were so great and fun. I couldn't have asked for a greater mentor (Ms. Moore). And the other social studies teachers were amazing (Melanie, Natalie, Reggie, Alice)...LOVE THEM!

Did I mention that I was the total minority there? I had about 50 students. 3 were white, 1 was Hispanic, and the rest were black. I LOVED IT!!!! What a great experience it was to teach in such a diverse school, especially during the Presidential Election. I will never forget it. I hope to be back soon!

So here's how my day began every morning while in DC...

5:30 am...Went to the gym that was down the hall (yeah right!...I did this for about a week and then decided to go to the gym AFTER school)

7:25 am...Left my apartment


...walked by some awesome artwork on the way...


7:35 am...Got on the Metro at Crystal City


7:55 am...Got off the Metro at Foggy Bottom


8:00 am...Got on a bus (usually the Circulator cause it's cheaper and bigger and nicer) at George Washington Circle and rode down M Street and Wisconson Ave to my stop at R Street.


8:15 am...Got off the bus and walked down this cute street...

8:20 am...Enter Duke Ellington! (School starts at 8:30...Ms. Moore was never there before 8:30 so I was there "early" every morning to open her classroom for the 2 students that actually came to school ON TIME!)

Here it is in all it's glory. Not too long after we took this picture a fight broke out. Some seniors were picking on some freshmen. Welcome to Ellington.


On the outside it actually looks pretty cool. It's extremely old. It used to be a hospital during the Civil War. CRAZY!


This GIGANTIC GREEN chair sits on the front lawn of the school. It's a pretty popular place for tourists to take pictures. We don't look like tourists...do we?


Inside on one of the staircases. You can see some of their artwork behind us (or in front of us...whatev). Anyway, artwork was displayed all over the school. Some of it was by semi-famous artists and alumni of Duke, but the rest of it was done by the students that currently attend Duke. There are some seriously talented kids at that school.


My desk. Where I observed Ms. Moore's teaching. Planned. Ate lunch. Graded papers. Planned some more. Worked on my laptop. G-chatted on my laptop. Wrote countless lesson plans. It's also where my supervisor would sit while evaluating me. I learned to just ignore that area while I was teaching.


Ms. Moore, my mentor. Love her. Isn't she beautiful?

Well...I still haven't found a job. No one is accepting applications for substitutes. No one is in need of teachers. UGH!!! Why did I have to graduate NOW?!?! Maybe I should start looking for work elsewhere...like in the East Coast region. That sounds good.