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Saturday, September 15, 2012

Last Stand for Children First: Teacher Calls Out CTU

Last Stand for Children First: Teacher Calls Out CTU:


Teacher Calls Out CTU

My name is Alyssa Crown and I am a Teaching America fellow.  When I entered teaching, I made a very serious commitment to put my career in the financial services industry on hold for two years while I changed a generation by teaching.  Teaching America training was an intense five week boot camp, but I suffered it gladly knowing that my own classroom was my prize at the end.

In the four days, I have been teaching I have had some low points like when my lap top was stolen or when the students playfully locked me out of my classroom for two hours or when I called Pedro Cabrera's parents and talked with them on the phone for 15 minutes before I realized they didn't speak English.  However, I've also had tremendous highs.  I've counseled 7 of my students into quitting the gang lifestyle and even my most challenging students have started to come around to my mix of tough love and high expectations.