Life After Bowdoin...

I’m sure many of you know Ashley Fischer, a bubbly, vivacious, animated, and admirable person, who sadly graduated from Bowdoin last spring. To no one’s surprise, Ashley was accepted into the highly competitive Teach for America program. For many years now I have looked up to Ashley, and our history together goes way back. Coincidentally, out of the millions of buildings in New York City, not only do we live in the same one, but are a mere eleven floors apart. It was to my great surprise (and delight!) that when I came to visit Bowdoin my senior year of High School, Ashley, out of all the possible students, happened to be my tour guide. To this day, I tell people that one of the main reasons I chose Bowdoin over any other small, liberal arts college is because of her tour of the school. Due to her cheerful and lively personality, she differentiated Bowdoin from other schools. I have no doubt in my mind that for this same reason, she is making all the difference in the lives of children at her school. As we all know, Teach for America is an extremely selective program and one that many graduating college students desire to be accepted into. I decided to ask Ashley a couple of questions regarding her experience so far… 1. What is it like participating in Teach for America? Teach for America has been an invaluable experience. While it is completely exhausting, I feel that each day I contribute in some small way toward improving America's public education system. I often see the stressors and troubles that my students face in Newark, NJ. Many of them come from single-family homes, some of them have been abused, and most of my students deal with the reality of poverty. That said, most of my students have had success stories and it is the story of Mubarrick getting his first 80 on a Spanish quiz, Caressa understanding "ser" after coming in for extra help, and Etreace behaving after multiple outbursts that make each teaching day worthwhile. 2. What is your schedule on a day-to-day basis? The day starts at 7:15 a.m., when I take some time to review my lessons for the day. At 8:00 I take my 2nd graders to breakfast, and then at 8:30, there is no way to tell what direction that day will take. After teaching five periods of Spanish to the various grade levels, I either have night class for my certification, give extra help to struggling students, make copies for the upcoming week, or grade the ever-present stack of 120 tests. Then, I take a little time for myself and go to bed only to wake up at 6:00 the next morning. 3. What do you teach? What grades? I teach Spanish, 2nd-7th grade. 4. How do you prepare for your lessons? I usually prepare my lessons on Sunday afternoons. Since I have had my distance from school since Friday, I find Sunday a relaxing day to lesson plan. We send our lesson plans to the school's principal bi-weekly, and it usually takes me around 2-3 hours to do the full two weeks. I use a number of different resources to teach my students (e.g. computers, textbooks, worksheets, music, even food). My course for the 5th-7th grades is divided into three categories: vocabulary, grammar, and culture. The students seem to enjoy the culture section most. They particularly like learning about the history and oppression that has existed in many Latin American countries. 5. Do you find the students are responsive to you? It depends. Many factors come into play, such as whether the students are eager, whether the parents are there for support, and whether my lesson is engaging. In the beginning of the year I struggled with how to get my students to study for Spanish class. Many of them did not regard Spanish as an important class, I think primarily because we do not meet every day. Having been their Spanish teacher for over 100 days, however, I see that my students are beginning to see the importance of my class. In fact, in one of my fifth grade classes our average increased from 45% to 71%! 6. Did Bowdoin prepare you for this experience? There is only so much you can learn in college for an experience like teaching in an inner city school. However, and it may sound trite, but Bowdoin prepared me for life. Of course academically my Spanish classes helped me for the content that I teach. Additionally, my psychology classes helped me deal with some of the emotional challenges I face with my students, particularly Professor Quimby's Abnormal Psychology class, which included a section on childhood disorders. Not only did we learn about the characteristics of these disorders (ADHD, autism, etc.), but we also learned how to handle the issues these children had. Undoubtedly, I have used the interventions we discussed. Academics aside, Bowdoin also helped prepare me to become a more competent - and confident - individual generally. As head tour guide, director of the “The Vagina Monologues” and an organizer of Relay for Life, I had to learn how to balance many activities. This work-life balance is so crucial to have as an inner-city teacher, and I am ever grateful for my Bowdoin experience. 7. Do you think being a woman in any way affects how you are viewed at the school/as a teacher? I do not think being a woman affects how I am viewed as a teacher. Practically everyone in my school is a woman. In fact, only three male teachers work in the whole school! However, I do think that as a woman I have to earn my students’ respect more than if I was a male teacher. This is especially true for my seventh grade boys who seem more responsive to male role models in their lives. 8. What are your reflections on life after Bowdoin? Life after Bowdoin is different. I cannot say that it is better or worse. There are times when I really get nostalgic and crave those dinners at Thorne with all my girlfriends or the spirit that emerges during a Bowdoin-Colby hockey game. However, I do feel that I am taking my degree and doing something worthwhile. My four years at Bowdoin have been some of the best of my life, and now it is my turn to take that education and give back to others.