The sweaty, sleep-deprived, partially terrifying adventures of Miss Brite

I am very sorry that I promised I would post at least once a week, yet it has been two weeks since I have posted anything at all. But, as it turns out, TFA training is quite time-consuming. Who'd have thought?

My last two weeks have been spent waking up every morning between 4:30 and 5, taking a heat-stroke-inducing school bus from Queens on a very slow and agonizing drive along the BQE to southern Brooklyn to P.S. 001. That's when the day really starts.

The next 9.5-10 hours are the best of my day. That's when I get to eat breakfast and spend time in the classroom with Abel, Abiel, Gabriela, Anthony, Jonathan and Rinaldy, my six ESL 3rd and 4th graders. They are so far behind in math and reading, but they are also extremely astute and perceptive ... Like when I talked to Jonathan on the first week about how we have huge goals to accomplish by the end of the summer and he asks me for a detailed plan about how we're going to do all of these things at once. It's awesome, because they get it. They know they're behind and they know they have a lot of work to do to catch up. But that doesn't get them down. That only makes them want to work harder. Which makes me want to work harder.

So that's basically why I haven't posted like I promised. I've been up at 5, in bed at midnight, with no rest in between (except for the afternoon nap I attempt every day on the bumpy, sweat-soaked bus ride back to queens) just so I have a slight chance of not messing up those six incredible little people too badly the next day.