Yes, I haven’t written since the first month of school. My delay in posting can be explained in a variety of ways but mostly I’ve realized that many people have much to say about education, yet they don’t do anything. I spent my year doing. Quite frankly, as a first year teacher, it’s all I had time for.

I wish I could have better chronicled my experiences, but I felt a strange maternal desire to keep them private. I’m not sure who I felt I was protecting, but my children are real to me and the blog felt distant and disconnected.

In response to comments about my status: Yes, I’m tired, but yes, I’m still here. In fact, I have not missed a single day of work. And I plan on returning next year.

In response to the comments on sharing a campus with the charter school: Unfortunately it is difficult to share a campus with any school for logistical reasons like sharing the gym and cafeteria. (My major issue with charter schools in general is that they don’t seem to keep the students who are more difficult. My class size has grown to include at least 7 students who were asked to leave other Oakland charter schools. That trend alone deserves some attention.)

However, there are so many benefits to being a part of a small school. It’s hard to explain, but as the year went on, we focused less and less on what we didn’t have and more and more on what we did have. The staff that is still here is incredible and we consider ourselves a family, so in many ways we have been able to accomplish more than what others expected, (as measured in basic skill levels, behavioral expectations, and test scores.) We will be included in the hiring process for next year, so we are hoping to avoid the frustration of lacking a teacher. There are some facility resources that we miss, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. We will be moving into a newly renovated Cole campus in August of 2009.

I realize that my answers to your questions may be vague. In the summer I look forward to taking more time to analyze and evaluate these questions and some of my own more closely.

Then, I’m going to the beach.

Nicole A. Pierce is a sixth-grade teacher at West Oakland Middle School.