Fellows

Giovanni Bui
Special Education Teacher, Hoover Middle School

Jennifer Long Bauer
Core teacher, Language Arts and Social Studies, Burnett Academy

Giovanni Bui
Special Education Teacher, Hoover Middle School

What I Did Before Becoming a San José Teaching Fellow 

Before San Jose Teaching Fellows, I was a full-time student at UCLA.  I received my MA in Public Policy in June 2001.  My long-term goal is to work on educational policy at the district or state level.  With my degree in Public Policy, I am able to dissect policy problems from an economic and statistical perspective.  In order to become a responsible and respected educational policy maker, I needed to become teacher to gain the experience I need to make sound policy for our youth in the future.

What Inspired Me to Apply to the San José Teaching Fellows Program

I have always had a passion for working with our youth. The best way for us to move forward as a society is to properly educate ALL of our youth equally.  We all recognize that there is an educational achievement gap between socio-economic and ethnic groups, I decided for myself that teaching was the way that I would help bridge that gap.  

The San Jose Teaching Fellows was the quickest and most efficient way for me to achieve this goal.  It allowed me teach and work toward earning my teaching credential at night.  As a full-time student for the past seven years, I could no longer afford to live off of student loans.  In addition, I believe that teaching is the type of profession which you just have to try and that no amount of training could prepare you for 30 bored students. 

The Rewards of Being a Teacher 

The greatest reward as a teacher in SJUSD has been working with the students and their families.  I told my students and parents at ourHouse that I was going to learn ten times from the students than they would learn from me, I was wrong.  It's probably closer to 100 times.

The Challenges of Being a New Teacher

The greatest challenge that I have met inside and outside the classroom is time management.  Inside the classroom, it is very tough to manage your time in order to maximize students' learning.  There are so many things that can disrupt the flow of the classroom.  Some things are controllable and most other things are not. 

It is even tougher to manage your time outside of the classroom.  The life of a first year teacher is already tough enough as it is but it is extraordinarily tough as a Fellow.  Although we have a tremendous amount of support from the program, it is not easy to balance your personal life, teaching and attending graduate level courses.  I feel like I am constantly multi-tasking. This is the most challenging and rewarding time of my life.           

A Final Note  

I came into the profession believing that teaching would be a cinch.   Boy, was I wrong!  This has got to be the most challenging endeavor that I have encountered.  If I had some spare time on my hands, I would personally visit all of my teachers to thank them for their efforts and apologize for being so difficult.  Teaching is not for everyone and it takes a patient, meticulous, energetic, intelligent, and most of all caring individual to succeed.

***

Jennifer Long Bauer
Core Teacher, Language Arts and Social Studies, Burnett Academy

What I Did Before Becoming a San José Teaching Fellow 

I graduated from UW-Milwaukee with a degree in Health Care Administration and Business. I followed mostly a business career path, focusing on technology, as that was a strong point for me. I relocated to the Silicon Valley to find my own gold in the Tech Gold Rush. My first dot.com job was fun, challenging and we really thought we had found success. I was the Manager of Necessary Evils, which included office management, venture capitalist relations, and working closely with the CEO and Vice Presidents.  However, as 2000 drew to a close, we could not find funds for Second Round Funding and the company laid off most of the staff in January of 2001.  I found another great position at Bravanta, Inc., a software company. I was the office manager for about 75 employees. Most of my position was focused around supporting the CEO, President and other Senior Leadership Team members. 

The Rewards of Being a Teacher 

I never have a bad day. I may have bad moments, but something always comes along that over rides that feeling and I remember why I love my job. I never wake up dreading going to class. I may be nervous or tired or even cranky, but just one student can make my whole day.  When a student finally grasps a concept that you know is especially difficult for them, I think I am more excited than they are.  

My job is challenging every day. I am never bored. For me, this is a big deal. I have often left positions in the past due to boredom or a feeling that I wasn't making a big enough impact. I never feel that way here. 

The Challenges I Face as a New Teacher 

My challenges have included concerns about quality of lessons being presented difficulty with discipline of students, and lack of time for planning or homework.  I feel the SJSU classes and District workshops have helped immensely with lessons in regard to standards and helping me be prepared to teach, but in the beginning, I often felt lost as to what exactly is important that I should be teaching to my students; how do I align my lesson plans with standards.  I have also been struggling with discipline. However, this has been getting better as the year progresses and with words of advice from coworkers.  Finally, lack of time has contributed to most of the stress I feel about teaching. Being a full time teacher and a student doesn't leave much time for planning, correcting papers, being creative with lesson plans, spending time with family or having much of a social life.   

A Sample Day in My Classroom

Monday 

I get to school around 8:15 a.m.  I have until 9:20 when the first tardy bell rings. I usually need this time to prepare for the day (not lesson planning) I need to make copies, put the daily agenda's up for my class, write spelling and vocabulary on the board and straighten up my desk. 

9:25 a.m. - First period is Language Arts for the eighth grade. We need to do daily oral language and then move on to working in our novel. This month, we are reading The Diary of Anne Frank. Activities include discussion questions, vocabulary, and brief history lessons about the time period of the book. Homework needs to be collected and tomorrow's homework is entered in their student planners. This class is 52 minutes long.

10:23 a.m. - Second period is Social Studies, and because I teach Core, this is the same group of students as First Period. We are currently studying the colonial period of American History. Sometimes, when we have a big project, we will do a whole day of Social Studies, and sometimes, a whole day of Language Arts.  I also lose 2-6 minutes of this class due to morning announcements.

11:13 a.m. - 10 minute Brunch break for students and teachers. I usually leave my room to check my staff mail box and use the restroom.

11:24 a.m. - Period Three is another eighth grade Language Arts class, but now with a different group of students.

12:23 p.m. -  Period Four is Social Studies for this group of Core. The students start to get anxious for lunch at about ten minutes to one.

1:15 p.m. -  Lunch! We get 30 minutes. I only make it to the teacher's lounge maybe twice a week, as I am often holding detention or giving re-take exams for students who were absent.

1:49 p.m. - Fifth period is seventh grade language arts. This is my largest class, which has been reduced over the course of the year from 35 to 28 students. This is also my most difficult class, mostly due to behavior issues. The kids are usually hyper and talkative after lunch.  I am often frustrated, irritated, and tired after this class. However, it has been getting better as the year progresses, mostly due to support I've received from co-workers.

2:45-3:37p.m.  - This is my prep period. I have 52 minutes to plan, correct papers, enter grades into the grading system, check email, do my SJSU homework, and straighten up my room. This is also the best time to use the copy machine, as there very few other teachers with 6th period prep.

3:37p.m. - The last bell rings and I have at least 30 minutes to take care of loose ends and get ready for tomorrow. I sometimes sub for a seventh period special reading class that lasts until 4:35 p.m. If not, I try to leave no later than 6:30 p.m. every night.

On Mondays and Wednesdays, I go to another school nearby to meet with the Fellowship for our SJSU classes. These classes last until about 9:30 or 10 p.m. Somewhere in there, I grab dinner, usually a microwaved burrito.

Then I drive home and collapse in bed. Sometimes I remember to kiss my husband good night and thank him for being so understanding about my lack of presence at home. We make it a priority to spend quality time together on the weekends and holidays.  He knows how important this is to me and is thrilled I have found a career that I love.