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Mrs. Tess Alfonsin
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Christian Acad of San Antonio
Hometown:
Cookeville, TN
Class Information:
Room Number: 104
Students per Class: 40
Class Description:
I teach a unique group of highly underserved minority kids: my school's kids have an unprecedented record of academic success in high school and college entry. Though they come from troubled homes, their parents know that education is the only avenue up and out of their current socio-economic level. Parents and students alike sign a covenant agreeing to homework completion and parental support in school meetings and trainings. Our kids arrive thirsty for knowledge and are literal sponges. I have had the great fortune to teach in all socio-economic levels in my fourteen year career, and by far see my current school to be far superior in terms of motivation and discipline. In short, my kids come ready. They will catch what you pitch them. I just need to be able to pitch them using today's tools.
Position:
4th Grade Teacher
My Philosophy:
As a former campus teacher of the year and district digital star teacher in a booming public school district in Houston prior to coming to the private school I am currently employed with, I learned the why's and how's of successful technology integration. When I began dabbling in technology integration five years ago, I tried everything. This spirit, though great for me as a student of technology integration, wasn't always great for my kids. In other words, just because the technology tool I tried to introduce was the "latest and greatest," it didn't always jive with what my kids NEEDED. Because I learned, in many ways, the hard way, I have been better able to guide my students in recent years using best practices AND common sense. This, coupled with my extensive training at Columbia Teachers College Reading Institute, interning at Nancie Atwell's school in Maine, as well as learning Visual Thinking Strategies while integrating with technology at Smithsonian American Art National Teachers Institute in Washington, DC have set up the perfect storm for me and my kids this year. We have been successful in utilizing blogs, VoiceThread, book trailers, and PowerPoints (to name just a few tools) into our ELA classroom this year. As a new teacher to my campus, a campus typically unused to utilizing technology regularly, I am emerging as a colleague-leader-oneto go to for advice when attempting to dip a toe into the water of technology. My philosophy, then, is this: Teachers should be fluid. They should be eager to learn, and even more eager to change as they learn more. They then have an obligation to share that newfound knowledge with others. Why ask students to do something that a teacher doesn't first model? I am a student AND a teacher, just as my students are students AND teachers. We are a learning community. You learn to outgrow yourself, after all.
Personal Information:
College and Degrees:
University of St. Thomas, Houston B.A. Education
Activities:
I enjoy supporting my boys in their after school activities of sports and band, reading, writing, and watching movies.
Favorite Books:
Where the Red Fern Grows (thank you, Mrs. Wolford, my fourth grade teacher, for introducing me to this cornerstone book!) The Nancy Drew series (which I gobbled in its entirety the summer before I entered fifth grade.) The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane (this is a skinny book with big ideas!)
Interests:
I can be found blogging, reading, or writing for pleasure and for publication.
Employment History:
Katy ISD: 1st grade Austin ISD: 1st and 3rd grade San Antonio ISD: 1st and 3rd grade Katy ISD: 3rd, 4th, 5th (looping all three years), 7th grade ELA stianAcademy of San Antonio: 4th grade
Why Do I Teach?:
I married my college sweetheart. Nearly twenty years into our union, I have seen firsthand the positives and negatives of hailing from an Hispanic family. Much love, loyalty, and joy naturally flows from the culture. I have never experienced more generosity or tenderness than I have from my in-laws or my students. But as with most things in life, there is a downside. Most of my kids come from single parent households. All are on either free tuition or partial tuition. All are on free breakfast and lunch. Most arrive already riddled with troubles: money worries, empty bellies, family squabbles cloud their mind. For most, I am one constant in their lives whom they know they can count on. Out of the chaos, I, and indeed all of my colleagues who find themselves teaching in similar circumstances, struggle to forge forward. In a world that is ever-changing, in a world where most of our kids will be employed in positions we have yet to even dream up, we must prepare our kids. And so I begin with the basics. They are what is so seemingly obvious, but is sometimes glaringly absent. They are skills for the 21st century. Criticalthinking, problem solving, the ability to read and write WELL, positive peer interactions, and digital integration all find a place at our school tables each and every day. In our classroom, divergent thinking is embraced and heralded as the best approach. Although I am responsible for preparing my kids for a standardized test in April, I do not let it run our classroom. In fact, I believe these types of tests to work against what I am trying to do with my students: to think outside of the box. Why do I teach? Because I believe it to be my calling, a gift, and a duty to prepare my students (many who will ultimately become the first in their families to graduate from high school and/or begin a higher education) for an uncertain future in an uncertain world. I do this in the only way I know how employing my extensive training as a partner---to think, create, troubleshoot, express and ultimately decide---for themselves.
Percent of Students are:
     At-risk: 99 %
     Average: 70 %
     High-achiever: 25 %
     Special Needs: 5 %
Percent of Students are:
     Hispanic: 95 %
     African American: 5 %
Free/Reduced Lunch Program Enrollment:: 100 %
ESL Enrollment:: 100 %
Average number of students in class:: 20 students
Number of students I teach:: 40 students