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Today half of the group taught intersession classes while the other half helped out at the local public high school.

Today I taught class for the first time (a day of first, with this being my first blog). The first class was ok. I guess I was not stern enough, and the kids kept talking and not showing much respect. After getting advice from a couple teachers and the rest of our group, I went in more prepared for round 2. I held my ground and would not let kids chat or sleep but they would nottt shut up. Angry Brian had to come out a couple times because of some of the kids shenanigans. My 3rd class was great though. They all participated and our discussions were so long I only got halfway through. By then, my lesson was much better. I had fun today, but did see how much the kids are not quite the most mature...I guess I expected the KIPP high school to have a similar feel to the middle school, but I didn't see as much of a difference in KIPP high compared to other public schools (like what the biggg difference I saw in the middle school). The car ride back was classic. Us cool teachers all gossiped about kids and discussed/complained/shared advice about our teaching adventures. Soooo, now I'm tired, and still not really sure about my lesson tomorrow. We'll see...

Today, I (Clare) spent the day at Northwest Halifax High School, which is the local public school. After getting a little bit lost on the drive to the school, I arrived with Christina, Elma, Sita, Kim, Lissett & Katie. Most of our time was spent with Mike Beebe, the Algebra II teacher at Northwest Halifax. He put us to work, cleaning desks, chalkboards and whiteboards. We put our artistic skills to the test, as we designed a new "Student Wall of Fame." At the end of the day, everyone was exhausted. Time for sleep, because we're all waking up bright & early again tomorrow :-)

- Brian & Clare(bear)