Welcome to Lyfe Plot Podcast

My name is Jacqui Diggs; I am a middle school SPED RELA co-Teacher. I wanted to be a teacher for quite some time and decided to make the leap about three years ago. So I went back to school, got a second bachelor’s degree in English while working at Costco to help pay for my education.

While researching teaching jobs in Prince George’s County, Maryland, I came across the Notre Dame of Maryland University Resident Teaching Program. The program pays for you to get a Master’s Degree in Leadership in Teaching. So you are a full-time grad student while doing your teaching residency working as a full-time conditional teacher with Prince George’s County Schools. In one year, I completed a second bachelor’s degree, passed the secondary English PRAXIS exam, and became selected as a resident teacher for the upcoming Cohort XI.

My first year was exciting, and teaching was everything I knew it would be. I remember thinking I was made for this job, and I love it. Then came the COVID pandemic; however, I was still able to rise to the occasion, working from 9 am till 7 pm on most days. I kept my Zoom open all day so that students needing help with their general education work could drop in. I also held intervention classes 6 times per week with my students to help remediate their English skills.

Then came 2021, and that is when the frustration came in as things were different. Teachers were required to hold live classes every day, all day. Kids in front of a computer screen all day is just not natural. It was like pulling teeth trying to get them to open a camera or just participate in the general education classroom. Despite the challenges, my intervention classes continued to be lively, and the kids had to be kicked out most of the time to go to their next class.

During the pandemic, teacher’s got the worst of it as we were the fall guys for everything. First, students told lies, saying they were doing their work when in reality, they were watching YouTube, only to get busted later on when grades fell. Then the administration (outside the school) would say teachers are doing a great job. Then add something else onto our plate because we were not teaching the whole curriculum. (I don’t know what schools they were visiting, but all the teachers I know were teaching the curriculum as if the school was still in person).

Anyway, we made it through the year with vaccinations, a paperless environment, Zoom, Nearpod, and every other tool under the sun. Many teachers decided to leave the profession; some school districts did not have enough teachers for summer school, but we survived, and so will the kids. Students are a lot more resilient than adults give them credit.

It was while teaching that I developed the format for this blog/ podcast. In teaching my students, I realized that they had no connection to the past, and they did not want to be connected to the past because they did not want to feel like failures or victims. As a result, I began to highlight and focus on black accomplishments in the present and throughout history. I began to paint a picture for my students to understand and relate to their black forefathers. The result was students that became proud of their black heritage and began to take charge of their education and pursue knowledge with a passion. Realizing that if those who came before could become great with so little, they can become more. As many of them come from the middle class and affluent homes. Even those whose families had some financial struggles still gained self-efficacy and pride in themselves and their work. These characteristics are essential for all students but make a huge difference for students with disabilities. General education teachers noted that many of my SPED students outperformed the students who did not have disabilities in the classroom. The SPED students began participating more in class and having confidence in their thought processes.

Seeing their reaction to learning positive things about successful African Americans; led me to develop the idea of a podcast that emphasized back achievement throughout history using historical fiction. This podcast will talk about black achievement and accomplishment through stories that tie into historical achievements. Stories that give background information that may have happened to provide the reader with a flavor for the time and culture in which these accomplishments took place. I hope you enjoy the ride. Please feel free to suggest various events you would like for me to create a fictional piece on.

Finally, the pandemic also showed deficits in the health of black Americans. So I am going to take you on my journey to get healthy. Debunking the food pyramid and learning how to eat for life. In closing, I will leave you with this:

Young Gifted and Black by Weldon Irvine

Young, gifted and black
Oh what a lovely precious dream
To be young, gifted and black
Open your heart to what I mean

In the whole world you know
There's a million boys and girls
Who are young, gifted and black
And that's a fact

"You are young, gifted and black"
We must begin to tell our young
There's a world waiting for you
Yours is the quest that's just begun

When you feelin' really low
Yeah, there's a great truth that you should know
When you're young, gifted and black
Your soul's intact

How to be young, gifted and black?
Oh, how I long to know the truth
There are times when I look back
And I am haunted by my youth

Oh, but my joy of today
Is that we can all be proud to say
"To be young, gifted and black
Is where it's at"