20th Anniversary Summit

This past weekend was Teach For America's 20th Anniversary Summit, so I (along with 11,000 of my fellow corps members, alumni, staff and supporters) headed to DC! I was very curious what type of building could even fit 11,000 people in it, and it turns out the Walter E. Washington Convention Center can. It is also the type of building that is for fancy business people, who are so fancy they have to wear ties and bring briefcases into the bathroom:

I am not sure what the second picture means.

In case you were curious, this is what 11,000 people eating breakfast looks like:

And this is what (part of) 11,000 people listening to a speaker looks like:

It was extremely awesome to see people I taught with in NYC, including my very favorite teacher ever, Ms. L! She caught me up on all my students from last year (they are now her eighth graders!), as well as all the gossip from our school, which actually may be shut down at the end of this year if its ELA scores don't stop their nosedive (although apparently our science scores are good, which I think we can take some credit for).

There were a lot of cool things over the course of the weekend, like a YouTube upload booth (in the Google-sponsored lounge, which had a bunch of power outlets and free WiFi):

Because sometimes uploading your thoughts to YouTube is an emergency.

A mobile made out of bicycles:

Its neighbors are made out of kayaks and tennis rackets.

A piano island in our hotel lobby:

I never saw anyone play the piano, so I don't know how they get on the island.

And even customized, TFA 20th anniversary drink tickets for the evening receptions:

But really, the best part of all was being in a place that was practically vibrating with the energy of 11,000 people all working on the same enormous problem. I sometimes lose sight of the magnitude and moral reprehensibility of the achievement gap now that I am not confronted with it in the classroom every day, but this weekend really re-inspired me about my work and the movement I am a part of.

The above and beyond best part was an amazing short speech given by Kaya Henderson (TFA alumna and interim chancellor of DC public schools), but so far I've been unable to find a copy of it online. I know there were cameras there so I'm optimistic that one will surface, and as soon as it does I am going to transcribe it and post it in my cube so I can read it every day.

In the meantime, if you have some free time and are curious about what I do and why, the opening and closing sessions are already up (the closing one is probably better if you only have time for one, it includes President Obama addressing us and John Legend - one of our national board members - performing). And until I can find Kaya Henderson's amazing speech, I highly recommend what was probably the second most inspiring moment of the summit, Michael Johnston (alum and now CO senator) speaking about his pioneering ed reform law:



I have watched it five times already, and I still tear up at the end every time: "We do, Tiffany. We do."

Skirt!

I had my final sewing class today, and look what I made:

You can totally tell what it is just by looking at it! Here is a list of its exciting features:

• You can totally tell what it is just by looking at it!
• It is made of a pretty fabric (which I had nothing to do with creating, but I did pick out).

• I had to use a pattern to make it, and an iron and something called a seam gauge. I felt like I was on Project Runway.
• It has a zipper! And it opens and closes!

• As you can also see in the above picture, it is lined. Just like real clothes!
• Best of all... it fits me!

Yay!

Robots!

Ben volunteered to be the head referee for this year's Philadelphia FIRST Lego League robotics competition.

He also volunteered me to be a referee. The competition was this past Saturday, and I wasn't sure which part I was more nervous about: once more being up to my ears in middle schoolers, or having Ben be my "boss." Fortunately, both things turned out fine. Just look how well we worked together:

Ben looks like I'm trying to convince him that robots aren't actually cool.

I didn't anticipate how fun it would be to hang out with a bunch of nerdy kids all day; they were all just so excited to be there it was hard not to want to squeeze them. Multiple kids were so excited/nervous that their hands were literally shaking as they set up their robots at the beginning of their round. It was the first time since I left teaching that I had a tiny yearning to be back in a classroom.

If only there was a school where I could just teach nerds. I was so impressed with these kids, they came up with all kinds of ingenious methods of getting their robots to complete the challenges - I would think a particular challenge could only be solved one way, only to see five different and extremely clever approaches. It never ceases to impress me how creative and smart kids can be when given the chance.

Like everything at the competition, the trophies were made of Legos.

I wonder if my job would give me the summer off so I could go work at CTY* again...



* Middle school nerd camp

Dollar Pledge for MIT

This will mostly only be interesting to my MIT friends, but I thought I would post the letter I sent to the Alumni Association and assorted others when I made my dollar pledge (which all you MIT people better do if you haven't already!).

Dear MIT,

I am disappointed to learn of this year's decision to limit the Residence Exploration period to a single day of freshmen orientation. My residence hall formed the core of my MIT experience, and after I graduated and joined Teach For America, it was my residence hall that for two years in a row banded together to help me raise the money to bring my students from the Bronx to MIT for a day to experience college life. It was students at my residence hall that offered up their time to take my students on tours of the campus and of their laboratories, to do experiments with them, and to cook them a delicious barbecue dinner with liquid nitrogen ice cream for dessert. These two visits were absolutely life-changing for my students, and are what I am proudest of as an MIT alum. They would not have happened without support from my residence hall, including from students I never even lived with while I was an undergraduate. That support would not have existed without the strong emphasis on residential community and culture that was in place when I was an undergraduate, and it saddens me to learn that this vital component of MIT is being deprioritized for future generations of students.

I still care about MIT and its mission, but I cannot support the way that decisions are being made, or the way that student life policy is being set. I have donated $1 to the MIT Marching Band fund, and the rest of my donation, $60, is being given to StudentsFirst instead.

Sincerely,

Caroline Rubin '08

Updated: I got this form letter response from Julie Norman, Director of the Office of Undergraduate Advising and Academic Programming:

Dear Ms. Rubin,

Thank you for your feedback. Though we are looking at orientation, as a
whole, no decision have been made on the final schedule. While we are
reviewing our options, there is no plan to shorten the REX period in the
coming year.

We appreciate your support of MIT and hope that, with the correct
information in hand, you will continue your commitment to the Institute.

My best,

Julie

Basically, what she said is not actually true, so I replied with:

Hi Julie,

Thank you for your response. My understanding is that while REX will not technically be shortened, it will overlap significantly with FPOP's and ASE's, and that students who are not participating in an FPOP will not be able to arrive on campus early (when REX officially begins). These changes do in effect shorten REX, even if on paper it appears to be the same length.

I cannot continue to support the Institute until I know that fully participating in the entirety of REX is possible for all incoming freshman, and that it remains that way not just "in the coming year," but in all the coming years.

Caroline

So if you did the pledge and got the auto-reply, I definitely encourage you to reply back and call her on trying to fudge the truth!

Martha Stewart Living

I had a very 1950s housewife kind of day today. I spent three hours at my new sewing class learning how to make a skirt - it turns out clothes are really complicated. I'm quite proud of myself so far, because by the end of the day I did manage to correctly install a functional zipper (although I had to pick out the stitches attaching it and try again a few times before I got it right). I'll theoretically finish the whole thing next weekend, and once I can make a skirt it's only a matter of time before I'm making all of our clothes.

On my way back from sewing class I stopped at the grocery store for the week's food, and inspired by Sam's visit a few weeks ago I decided to try something outside my typical culinary comfort zone:

Vegetable risotto!

It turned out great, despite violating all my typical cooking limitations:

• It took more than 20 minutes.
• It had more than three distinct ingredients.
• It involved cooking multiple components separately from each other, then combining them in a time- and temperature-sensitive manner.

Since I knew the risotto would take a long time to cook, I decided to do the laundry in parallel for maximum efficiency. Now it isn't even seven o'clock and I have sewn (half a) garment, cooked a fancy dinner, and done the week's laundry, and I am exhausted. And I had access to machines to sew, wash and dry the clothes, and do the dishes for me; I can't imagine how anyone got all this stuff done by hand back in the day. It's tiring just thinking about it... I'm going to take a nap.

PANIC!

Last night TFA hosted a really big event at the University of Pennsylvania, and the entire staff was on hand to help run it. I was one of the people who sat in the box office and took people's tickets as they arrived, and it was very exciting to sit behind glass in the special box office room and talk to people through the little microphone, just like I worked at Disney World or some other cool place that you need a ticket to get into.

Anyway, right under the counter where I was sitting there was a little piece of white plastic that you could flick back and forth. It seemed like it was just a partially broken piece of the counter itself, and since I like to fidget I sat there and flicked it in between people arriving. After I'd been there for about 15 minutes, a squad car with flashing lights pulled up and a policeman came running in yelling, "where's the box office?!" It turns out that little plastic switch was the "Call 911 Someone Is Holding Us Hostage" signal. Oops.

The policeman was actually pretty nice about it, since the switches (there was one at each seat) were totally unlabeled and actually at exactly the right height to get bumped by a knee. I was too mortified to fess up that I had been sitting there flicking mine the whole time, so I just played dumb and went along with the theory that someone (impossible to tell who!) had accidentally hit theirs.

In conclusion, if you are ever designing a box office or bank teller station, the emergency 911 button should be clearly labeled, and it should probably have some sort of plastic cover protecting it from fidgety idiots.

I am the Valedictorian of Sewing Class!

Several of my work friends know how to sew, and I do not. They invited me to take a sewing class with them at this really neat Philly fabric store, and since I didn't want my domestic incompetence to interfere with my friendships I said yes. But first, since the class we are taking together involves making actual clothes, I figured I should take the Beginner's Sewing class to prevent embarrassing myself.

I was nervous going into it, since the last time I used a sewing machine was in my sixth grade "Life Skills" class (I made a misshapen lunch sack!). But it turns out the fact that I can follow directions and am not afraid of touching electronics was enough to put me at the front of the class, and today I triumphantly walked home with my very own handmade tote bag!

Things I am proud of about my creation:

1. It looks like a bag.
2. When I put something in it for the first time, it did not fall apart.
3. Even up close, it looks pretty decent.

4. It is lined, and reversible!

I am going to take it grocery shopping next weekend, so that will be the true test of its durability!