My First Year in Fifth Grade: A Teach for America Diary

Cole Farnum left Commonwealth Avenue for Brownsville, Tex., when he joined Teach for America after graduating from BU. In this series, taken from letters to his family and friends, Farnum (CAS’06) recounts his first year in the classroom, with its beginnings, endings, and ups and downs in between. This year’s Teach for America application deadline is November 2; e-mail TFAatBU@gmail.com. Click here to read part one. Click here to read part two. Click here to read part three. Click here to read part five.

Testing period has started in Texas, and that means stress and anxiety for teachers and students alike. This is a waste of time when it comes down to it — smart teachers who like to look good will do nothing but test preparation and strategies, which changes reading from a thoughtful, engaging activity to a monotonous and regimented experience. It has no positive effect on my children and is hard to channel into a productive activity.

I have one gifted and talented student, and he has been quite a handful. He is never disrespectful, but is often distracted and distracting to others. When he’s off his medication, I turn into a broken record. He has severe to moderate ADHD, and combined with his tendencies to think outside of the box, he has quite a carnival of stuff swirling in his mind at any given point. He has gotten used to various types of drugs so he is continually going through stages of adjustment and breakdown. Now, he’s got another sort of emotion running through him: sadness. His uncle just died of cancer. I learned this on Friday when I got a call on my cell from a Brownsville number I didn’t recognize.

“It happened today,” a voice told me.

It was my student. He needed someone to talk to, and out of all the numbers in his mother’s phone, he chose mine. I am still flattered. He cried here and there, kept his discussion short, but needed to talk to someone he knew well. This was the first time that I had experienced what I envisioned when applying to Teach for America: being there for the children outside of the classroom and supporting them through hardships. I guess I forgot this desire over the past few months. It was amazing.

Another memorable event recently took place: I had written so many referrals for a student’s behavior problems this year that he was actually sent to court. I was given the option of having him removed from my class, and in front of the principal, the student, and his mother, I refused. He and I were going to make this work. I needed to be the one to make it happen rather than foist it off on another teacher. This 10-year-old was sentenced to community service, and since he missed a tutorial to do it, I drove to his “weed and seed” at a local park and went over what we had done that day. He still gets angry with me now, but only when I can’t make it to see him.

The Valentine’s Day dance just passed, and I had to refuse many girls’ requests to go to the bathroom, because they wanted to talk with their friends. Fifth-graders can be very sneaky. At the end of the day, a student in fourth grade approached my classroom. (Many students, in various grades, say hi to me even if I don’t know them — I’m one of just two male teachers in the school.) I had never seen this fourth-grader, but he said, “Mr. Farnum, can you show me how to tie my tie?” This was a family affair, with his mother and sisters near the doorway smiling in appreciation. He was dressed up for the dance with his tie hanging in his hand.

“I remember when my dad taught me how to tie my tie,” I told him. “I was in eighth grade!” We did a couple of practice loops, and after a few minutes I ended up taking it from him, having him watch as I tied this tiny tie around my neck, and then giving him the final product. With his family smiling, I sent him on his way to the dance.