As the title of this entry suggests, tomorrow is the last real day of teaching I have left of training this summer.
Wednesday we are going on a field trip to the Prospect Park Zoo, which I am more excited about than my kids are. Then Thursday all we are doing is administering our end-of-summer assessments for math and reading, and, of course, having a pizza party. (Our rad class won the perfect-attendance pepperoni party! yeah what!)
In between debriefing with my adviser, making posters for tomorrow's math lesson, trying to sort out last-minute apartment details (who needs electricity, anyway?) and trying to stay un-sick, I've done a bit of reflecting of what I've learned the past several weeks.
I think my biggest take-away is, still, something a speaker said on the first day of training: You have to forgive yourself every night and recommit every morning.
After days like today, it's harder than it seems to forgive yourself. But after a month like the past one, I think it's even harder not to recommit.
Monday, July 28, 2008
Sunday, July 27, 2008
A New NYC First!
I saw my first rat in the subway yesterday, waiting for the E train on 51st and Lex.
I can't wait to tell Rinaldy.
I can't wait to tell Rinaldy.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
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.
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.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Work hard. Get smart.
I'm almost finished with my first week of TFA Institute. These past four days of waking up at 4 a.m. and going to bed between 12 and 1 have been insane. I've never worked so hard in my life. But at the same time, I don't know if I've ever had more fun.
Here are this week's highlights. Unfortunately, I don't have any picture yet.
Monday: My first 6 a.m. bus ride to the school in south Brooklyn where I'm teaching summer school 3rd and 4th grade ESL. My first impression? This place is incredible. From my classroom I have a clear view of the Statue of Liberty. With a little leaning, I can see the Manhattan skyline. I wish they were hiring for the school year.
Tuesday: The work is really starting to get tough. I took a seminar on administering reading assessments. It's not just theoretical knowledge. I have to administer them to my new students tomorrow. I took another seminar on backwards planning. Not theoretical either. I have to create a plan of all the summer's objectives now, so I can start lesson planning later this week. Thank god for my collaboration group, the three other new TFA teachers who I am working with this summer. I really lucked out getting them (Allison, Patrick and Chana) as teammates. I think we'll work really well together.
Wednesday: We learned how to write lesson plans today. I have to write two tonight for next Monday and Tuesday's writing lessons. I have no idea what I'm doing, but at least I don't have to teach math ... yet.
Thursday: Even though this week has seemed like two months, the work I am doing feels so rewarding already. I was in the resource lab in my dorm at St. John's, where TFA has provided thousands of books that we can check out and utilize in our classroom, and I came across so many of the books that I loved when I was in the third and fourth grades. A Wrinkle in Time. Matilda. Shiloh. Then I realized that there's no way, based on my students' reading diagnostics, that they would be able to get through even a chapter of one of those books. The most advanced of them (some of whom are entering the fifth grade in the fall) are reading at best on a third grade reading level. But most of them are barely on a first or second grade level.
We have so much work to do.
Here are this week's highlights. Unfortunately, I don't have any picture yet.
Monday: My first 6 a.m. bus ride to the school in south Brooklyn where I'm teaching summer school 3rd and 4th grade ESL. My first impression? This place is incredible. From my classroom I have a clear view of the Statue of Liberty. With a little leaning, I can see the Manhattan skyline. I wish they were hiring for the school year.
Tuesday: The work is really starting to get tough. I took a seminar on administering reading assessments. It's not just theoretical knowledge. I have to administer them to my new students tomorrow. I took another seminar on backwards planning. Not theoretical either. I have to create a plan of all the summer's objectives now, so I can start lesson planning later this week. Thank god for my collaboration group, the three other new TFA teachers who I am working with this summer. I really lucked out getting them (Allison, Patrick and Chana) as teammates. I think we'll work really well together.
Wednesday: We learned how to write lesson plans today. I have to write two tonight for next Monday and Tuesday's writing lessons. I have no idea what I'm doing, but at least I don't have to teach math ... yet.
Thursday: Even though this week has seemed like two months, the work I am doing feels so rewarding already. I was in the resource lab in my dorm at St. John's, where TFA has provided thousands of books that we can check out and utilize in our classroom, and I came across so many of the books that I loved when I was in the third and fourth grades. A Wrinkle in Time. Matilda. Shiloh. Then I realized that there's no way, based on my students' reading diagnostics, that they would be able to get through even a chapter of one of those books. The most advanced of them (some of whom are entering the fifth grade in the fall) are reading at best on a third grade reading level. But most of them are barely on a first or second grade level.
We have so much work to do.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
One week done, five more to go!
Teach For America induction week is over, and boy was it a good one! We heard from so many different speakers all week who were so inspiring. And we also heard from so many people who were very real. So all in all, I'm scared, but very inspired to get going.
Institute begins tomorrow, and I find out today where I'll be teaching summer school (which starts July 7). So before the heavy work begins, I took some time yesterday to hang out in the city with Anjali and her cousin, who were in town from D.C. We spent our day on one of those bright red hop-on-hop-off downtown tour buses, which we rode from Times Square to Battery Park. We got off to take the Staten Island Ferry around the Statue of Liberty, but we never got back on because of the torrential DOWNPOUR we encountered. One packed, sweaty, wet and smelly subway ride and one sketchy gyro dinner later, we wound up at a comedy club that Jerry Seinfeld sponsors (or something like that). Here are some photographic highlights:
Times Square on the big red touristy bus. Our tour guide was quite the comedian. He asked the tourists who was from the South, and asked us if we knew what southern hospitality was. When everyone shouted "yeah!" he told us: "Well, you're not getting any of that here. In New York, hospitality is not getting hit in the face by a stranger." He also told us after we put on the white provided rain ponchos that we looked like members of the KKK. Strange sense of humor, that one.
Along our walk toward the Staten Island Ferry we found the Department of Homeland Security!
The view of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry. I wish it would have been sunnier out, but I still think it's beautiful.
The Statue of Liberty from the ferry.
Institute begins tomorrow, and I find out today where I'll be teaching summer school (which starts July 7). So before the heavy work begins, I took some time yesterday to hang out in the city with Anjali and her cousin, who were in town from D.C. We spent our day on one of those bright red hop-on-hop-off downtown tour buses, which we rode from Times Square to Battery Park. We got off to take the Staten Island Ferry around the Statue of Liberty, but we never got back on because of the torrential DOWNPOUR we encountered. One packed, sweaty, wet and smelly subway ride and one sketchy gyro dinner later, we wound up at a comedy club that Jerry Seinfeld sponsors (or something like that). Here are some photographic highlights:
Times Square on the big red touristy bus. Our tour guide was quite the comedian. He asked the tourists who was from the South, and asked us if we knew what southern hospitality was. When everyone shouted "yeah!" he told us: "Well, you're not getting any of that here. In New York, hospitality is not getting hit in the face by a stranger." He also told us after we put on the white provided rain ponchos that we looked like members of the KKK. Strange sense of humor, that one.
Along our walk toward the Staten Island Ferry we found the Department of Homeland Security!
The view of Manhattan from the Staten Island Ferry. I wish it would have been sunnier out, but I still think it's beautiful.
The Statue of Liberty from the ferry.
What's next: Like I said before, Institute starts tomorrow, which means that the cakewalk is over. Luckily, since Friday is the fourth of July, we get off around 1 p.m., so that will be a fun little break. Other than that, I'll be in classes all week learning classroom management techniques, how to write lesson plans, and everything else that comes with the classroom.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Battles
It's the end of my second official day in New York, and I can say now that I'm facing a lot of battles in my future. The real work hasn't even started yet (the last two days have just been full of workshops, registration and what we like to call "Drink For America" activities), but I've already begun the fight against my own insecurities about leading a classroom, my concerns about finding a place to live and, especially, the ridiculous humidity that has made me look less like myself and more like a creature from the "Critters" movies.
But the humidity is just the beginning.
I had dinner tonight in the East Village with a Teach For America alumna (of the 2005 Bronx corps) who reiterated how many times in her two years she wanted to quit. Her school was a nightmare; her principal was even worse. Everyone has told us in the past two days that it's not even a question: we ARE going to fail. Every single one of us. I just hope I can learn from my mistakes like we are supposed to be able to do. I'll find out soon enough. Institute starts on Monday, and I start teaching summer school July 7.
On the brighter side of things, I am loving New York (despite the damp, damp heat). We are staying in residence halls at St. John's University in Queens, and it takes about an hour and a half to get into Manhattan by an intricate system of buses and trains. I went into the city for a happy hour last night (as part of Drink For America week, of course) and then again tonight, like I said, for dinner with a former corps member. It's incredible, and I don't think I could be happier with my decision to move to NYC. I've met a handful of incredibly smart, talented and nice people in the past two days, and I'm really looking forward to working with them for the next two years.
At the end of the day (the second day, anyway), my overall impression, so far, of Teach For America, the people and the city, is that I know I have so much work ahead of me. But when I think about the success stories I've heard, and I realize the difference I can make, I don't think there is anything worth fighting for more than this.
But the humidity is just the beginning.
I had dinner tonight in the East Village with a Teach For America alumna (of the 2005 Bronx corps) who reiterated how many times in her two years she wanted to quit. Her school was a nightmare; her principal was even worse. Everyone has told us in the past two days that it's not even a question: we ARE going to fail. Every single one of us. I just hope I can learn from my mistakes like we are supposed to be able to do. I'll find out soon enough. Institute starts on Monday, and I start teaching summer school July 7.
On the brighter side of things, I am loving New York (despite the damp, damp heat). We are staying in residence halls at St. John's University in Queens, and it takes about an hour and a half to get into Manhattan by an intricate system of buses and trains. I went into the city for a happy hour last night (as part of Drink For America week, of course) and then again tonight, like I said, for dinner with a former corps member. It's incredible, and I don't think I could be happier with my decision to move to NYC. I've met a handful of incredibly smart, talented and nice people in the past two days, and I'm really looking forward to working with them for the next two years.
At the end of the day (the second day, anyway), my overall impression, so far, of Teach For America, the people and the city, is that I know I have so much work ahead of me. But when I think about the success stories I've heard, and I realize the difference I can make, I don't think there is anything worth fighting for more than this.
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Back in town
So I'm back in Phoenix (for several weeks now), and while I'm missing Roma, I'm pretty excited for everything that's coming up.
Even though I won't be traveling to exotic locations and sampling strange foods in the years to come, I feel like I'm still traveling through life. (Every day is a journey, right?) So, if you're interested, you can keep up with this blog, hopefully, for the next couple of years to see what I'm up to as I move to New York City and start teaching elementary school. I'll post all the best stories of the crazy things my students do. (But hopefully they won't be transfixed on their hands and use their sock elastic as dental floss.)
So here it goes:
Since I've been back I've traveled to Oklahoma and New York, seen a lot of movies (in English!) and eaten a lot of hummus dip.
Here are some photographic highlights of the last few weeks:
A lovely State Press mini-reunion.
New York City from the reservoir at Central Park. I went to the city for a job interview, which I failed, and some teacher certification tests, which I owned. I also marched in a pride parade. So at least it wasn't a worthless trip.
The gigantic praying hands at ORU in Tulsa, OK. I went to Tulsa to hang out with Kristi on her graduation party weekend. It was quite the experience.
The Taco Bueno was the best part!!
Except for the giant golden oil driller. If you squint, you can see me down by his left foot.
Even though I won't be traveling to exotic locations and sampling strange foods in the years to come, I feel like I'm still traveling through life. (Every day is a journey, right?) So, if you're interested, you can keep up with this blog, hopefully, for the next couple of years to see what I'm up to as I move to New York City and start teaching elementary school. I'll post all the best stories of the crazy things my students do. (But hopefully they won't be transfixed on their hands and use their sock elastic as dental floss.)
So here it goes:
Since I've been back I've traveled to Oklahoma and New York, seen a lot of movies (in English!) and eaten a lot of hummus dip.
Here are some photographic highlights of the last few weeks:
A lovely State Press mini-reunion.
New York City from the reservoir at Central Park. I went to the city for a job interview, which I failed, and some teacher certification tests, which I owned. I also marched in a pride parade. So at least it wasn't a worthless trip.
The gigantic praying hands at ORU in Tulsa, OK. I went to Tulsa to hang out with Kristi on her graduation party weekend. It was quite the experience.
The Taco Bueno was the best part!!
Except for the giant golden oil driller. If you squint, you can see me down by his left foot. What's next for me? I'll be spending the next two and a half weeks saying goodbye to Phoenix in the best way I know how: Four Peaks peach ale and hummus dip.
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