Lessons Learned. Great Lessons.

I taught my first lesson yesterday morning, and it was such an awesome experience!  I learned so much throughout this process—much of it from what I had not anticipated.  To start from the beginning, I’ll go back to last week when we turned in our lesson plan drafts.  After getting feedback, I started to think about how I could make changes to the lesson plan. 

This is where the learning began for me. 

The suggestions and feedback (although some specific to the content), was more about getting me to think.  What did I want the students to learn? How was I going to assess them? What was I going to do the get there?  Now these were all things we had talked about in C2C a few weeks earlier when Audra, Scot, and Ariela had talked about creating lesson plans—but this was a reality check.  I need to continuously ask myself these questions.

Ah, the power of discussion.  It was through conversations, emails, and phone calls with Michael, as well as, sitting down to talk with fellow C2Cers (shout out to Erin Keyes!) where I could bounce around some ideas.  This is when everything started to come together.  I had made the assumption that as soon as I got feedback on my lesson plan, I knew exactly what I needed to change, and that I’d be told what to do. No, no.  That’s too easy—now where’s the fun in that? Instead, they asked me questions. Questions that I didn’t know how to answer off the top of my head.  So I had to really give myself some time. Time to think. 

Can I just say? Props to teachers! It takes so long to make lessons, and you do this every day J 

Now I find myself the morning of the lesson.  I’m nervous and pumped (blasted some tunes on the drive down)!  Michael has reassured me that the students are excited for me to teach—little did they know that I was sweating bullets!  But honestly, as soon as I got up there and saw all of their faces, the nervousness (not the sweating) went away. It was so much fun, and oh boy, did I have my hands full! I had to field questions from students, keep them engaged, anticipate when their comments may go off track, pace the class, check to make sure that they were learning the concepts, and keep time!  I managed to do some of those more easily than others, but I had some challenges.  There’s so much I can (and want) to work on.

I look forward to debriefing with Michael, and learning more about what I can work on for next time in order to make a better experience for the students.  Self-reflection and feedback are key motivators for me, and this was the perfect opportunity.  Nothing beats experience.  It certainly put to rest any concerns and assumptions I had before I walked in that day.

I’d love to hear from fellow C2Cers and TFA CMs! How did the first lesson go? What worked? What were some of the challenges? How did the students respond?

- Sahar Salek, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University

Vision in Classrooms

Last week at the School Health Symposium, Michael touched on some of the health issues his students face.  The first two being vision and oral health.  During my observations, I've noticed some students who are squinting to look at the projector screen. Seeing this in Michael’s class hit home for me. I thought of this one time during the 2nd grade, I was sitting in the back of the classroom and the lights were off because my teacher was using the overhead projector.  She called on me to read something she had written on the overhead, and I remember I sat there in silence as she waited for me to answer.  Well at eight years old, I had no idea why I couldn’t read what she had written, and it was incredibly frustrating.  I was able to read what was on the paper in front of me, but I couldn’t understand why I couldn’t read what was on the board.  Little did I know, it was because of my eyesight.  I remember I turned to my friend and whispered to him to help me answer the question.  I think it was a few weeks before I felt comfortable in telling my parents that something was wrong—something that wasn’t in my control.  I think kids don't often realize that something is wrong with their eyes, and instead think that something may be wrong with them as a person (and are too embarrassed to tell someone about it).  It is interesting to think about the mental health impact something like this can have, even when the issue (in this case, vision) is fixable. Two areas where preventive efforts can be made are in schools with 1) having annual vision screenings to identify the problem, and 2) raising students' awareness about the problem, and letting them know that it can be fixed.  Of course, the next component of this is access to an eye doctor, and affordability of eyeglasses.


TFA corps members-- which of your schools have annual vision screenings? How is vision a health issue in your classroom? What resources/health education regarding vision are available for students in your school?


- Sahar Salek, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Emory University

Have health. Have hope. Have everything.

This past week, we had a fantastic guest speaker in our class—Dr. Veda Johnson from Emory University School of Medicine.  Dr. Johnson gave a great talk on health, education, and the effectiveness and benefits of school based healthcenters (SBHCs).  By definition, SBHCs are comprehensive school based health clinics that provide a variety of medical, preventive, and mental health services.  SBHCs are located in schools and work with the school and community in order to become part of the school’s infrastructure.  SBHCs are critical as they offer students with health services they may not have access to otherwise. 

As a graduate student in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, I am always interested in the piece about community.  How can individuals make a collective effort to be involved in the health of their community?   When Dr. Johnson was discussing the planning and implementation of the SBHCs she’s been involved with, she emphasized the importance of listening—identifying the community you’re working with, prioritizing efforts based on the community’s needs, and getting the community involved.  She stressed that by listening, SBHCs can build on the strengths of what already exists in communities—there is value in that, she said.  SBHCs aren’t limited to just providing medical services, they also encourage parents to participate in the health of their child as the clinics are housed within the schools. 

During undergrad, I used to volunteer as a dental assistant in the UC-San Diego Student-Run Free Clinic Project, specifically in the dental clinic at Baker Elementary School in south San Diego (which also offered mental and medical care).  The clinic is run by pre-dental students under the supervision of licensed dentists (who volunteer their time and services), and it offers many of the same benefits as SBHCs. This particular clinic is in a permanent mobile right in the center of the school’s blacktop.  Students weren’t the only patients at the clinic, many other family and community members would come to the clinic, as well.  It was such an amazing effort from families within the community, the school, and the university.  

Back then, I didn’t always make the clear and direct link between health and academic success—it’s only been in the years since I’ve been in the public health program, and had opportunities like being involved in C2C, that I’ve learned more about the many social determinants of health and all of the impacts that it can have on children, students, families, and communities. 

Dr. Johnson’s talk emphasized that there are numerous links between health and academic success for students.  But one thing she shared that particularly resonated with me, and I would like to share with others outside of C2C, is that “students learn best when there is hope.”


- Sahar Salek, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education

Hats Off to the Kick-off!

From left: Audra, Michael, me (Sahar), and Lolly

What an awesome kick-off event to get us started for the Classroom to Community seminar this coming semester! This past Wednesday evening, Atlanta Teach for America (TFA) teachers and Emory graduate students were brought together at Carpe Diem in Decatur to have the opportunity to meet one another, face-to-face, over some food and drinks.

It was such a wonderful experience to see everyone and acknowledge all of the effort and energy that has gone into this initiative so far. Each of us was introduced to the TFA teacher that we had been paired with—giving us a chance to further discuss our shared interests in health and education. There’s nothing more empowering and exciting than having a group of people together who are all interested in making a change—in this case, a change in our communities and schools.

Erica, Alvin, Sarah, Shawn, and Nina

At the kick-off event, Ariela had put together an activity that was designed for us to talk about ourselves and our respective fields. Some questions prompted us to share our “craziest” classroom/public health experiences, which individual inspires us, and our personal definitions of Teach for America and public health.

What I enjoyed most about meeting everyone that evening was simply listening to what it was that brought each of us to join this effort, and our specific interests in the Classroom to Community course. This is what had the most lasting impression on me.

Gaelle, Amy, Kathleen, Scot, and Jenny

I am very excited to be able to apply my public health knowledge in a classroom setting, and to learn first-hand from TFA teachers and students about the health and educational needs of our local Atlanta schools. After Wednesday’s kick-off event, it’s evident that this is just the beginning of something very big and very amazing!

- Sahar Salek, MPH Candidate, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education