Breakthrough Collaborative
Sacramento, CA
My time at Breakthrough Collaborative Sacramento was a huge learning experience for me. I grew not only as a teacher but also as a person. I have come from a comfortable background and grew up attending the same school my entire life. I had not run into much diversity in my every day life, thus Breakthrough was a big change. One of my students changed my life my first summer. I was 16 years old and we grew very close because we were pretty close in age and got along quite well. Once she became comfortable with me, she opened up a lot. Since I was her advisor, when she fell behind in work I was the one who had to call her dad to ask the pre-written questions. Things escalated from there when her dad threatened physical abuse. For her sake, I shall not go into details; however, she taught me a lot through that experience and her strength has continually put my life in perspective. These learning experiences happen every day at schools, especially in schools in urban areas. Her story helps drive me everyday to keep pushing and keep mentoring these students when they feel comfortable to talk.
Also at Breakthrough I learned a lot about creating a curriculum and about writing engaging daily lesson plans. Breakthrough focused a lot on the "Say, See, Do" method, which emphasizes student engagement, active participation, and clearly breaking down steps to learn each topic. I still use a lot of these methods because as my teaching philosophy points out, I am very focused on extending student-engaged learning time in the classroom.
Below are links to my first lesson plan that I have ever written and also a lesson plan from my second summer that shows my growth over the two summers of student teaching.
