Induction in DC and Institute in Philly

Due to the high demand of phone calls, I have decided to post again. Hopefully, if I will post consistently, it will lower the amount of time I have to spend with personal interactions on the phone...

Induction in DC was a lot of fun. I got there last Monday to look for places to live with my Mom. From there, I went to the Washington Plaza Hotel, where TFA put us up, from Wednesday until Sunday. We had some cool informational events and learned more about where we will be teaching. I got to tour one of my possible schools and it was pretty sweet. I hope I get placed there. Nothing too big happened while we were there. We left on Sunday for Philly.

I'm now in Philly until July 28th attending the TFA training Institute. Our first day of training was Monday and we have been going hard all week. Each morning, we board buses at 6:30am to head to my middle school, Feltonville Arts and Sciences. Everyday this week, I have been attending workshops, lessons, and presentations all day, from 7am to 4:30pm. Then we board the buses, come back to our dorm at Temple University, and eat dinner. From there, the evenings usually revolve around more workshops and organizing/planning for the next day.

I begin teaching on Monday. Me and three other TFA corps members will be teaching a 7th grade classroom. We will be teaching students that failed either math, reading or writing this past year. It is required that they attend summer school if they wish to move on to 8th grade in the fall. The day is divided into a one hour Math-Literacy block in the morning where the four of us break down the class into groups, depending on reading level and math level. This allows for us to give individual attention to each student's specific needs. The rest of the day consists of a block of reading, a block of writing, a 5 minute break, followed by two blocks of math. All next week I will be teaching the first block of math. The individual blocks are taught by one corps member in our collaborative. While one CM is teaching, the rest of us are attending more professional development sessions and observations. Our teaching day concludes at 12pm. After lunch, we continue our professional development until 4:30. Repeat for 4 more weeks.

The depressing thing is that we haven't even diagnosed our students yet, but we are prepared to be teaching them material that is on a 4th or 5th grade level; at least THREE grade levels behind where they are supposed to be. The first math lesson objective is being able to define what a fraction is and visually represent it. I really hope the students blow our minds and we are required to revamp our lesson plans to move them further ahead.

So, every night consists of team meetings with my collaborative and planning lessons for the next few days and into the next week. TFA is the epitome of efficiency and organization. Every planned event and every move has been highly scrutinized and questioned in hopes of improvement. Lesson planning is about as difficult as I thought it would be. It's really hard to budget your time wisely with such a full day, and accomplish your objectives, all the while managing a classroom environment that needs to be consistent with the norms and rules that were laid out on the first day. It's a lot to think about at the same time, so the first day should be interesting.

On a more personal note, there are a lot of really cool people here. I've met people from all over, ranging from Texas to Minnesota, and New York to California. My roommate went to Penn State and is a huge Ohio State fan, so that is really unfortunate. Luckily, I am hardly in my room... but my suitemates are legit, one graduating from Berkley and the other from Rochester.

I can tell that there really won't be a dull moment around here, especially after I begin teaching next week. As if the events of the day weren't enough to tire you out, it is almost imparative that you come home and work straight through after dinner to be prepared and organized for what is coming the next day. I'm trying to think of any funny stories that have happened so far but can't really think of any. Temple is in a very urban neighborhood north of downtown, and the schools that everyone teaches at are not too far. For some reason, driving through the neighborhoods gives me a different feeling than driving through Detroit, even though the same reality of hopelessness and abandonment plagues both urban centers. The dorm we are staying in though is beautiful; unfortunately we have about a 10 minute walk to get to the dining hall we eat at and where the buses pick us up.

I can't wait to meet my students on Monday, even if they are a bunch of adolescent maniacs. It's all about opening up to new experiences; after all that is why I decided to do this. I'm sure I'll have more interesting stories come Monday evening. But then again that's when I'll be even more busy than I am now. Sorry if I haven't talked to a lot of you in a while...it's nothing personal (the only reason I've talked to Rob is to figure out housing for DC). Hope everything is good back in GP, AA and wherever else you are reading this. Good luck on the move to those relocating in the near future (Curd, Chaz, Coatney... wait, your just moving down the hall). Ange, hope the DYC is busy and you are sweating a lot. Cutshall, stop being a lake bum and do something productive. Tool and Watson, I'm craving a deep dish so try and hook that up. Hi Pearl, Poke, and Cholo (how much did you make on can returns?). If I don't post or talk to you before Wednesday, Happy 4th.

Here Goes Nothin'

Well, after reading Derek's blog occasionally (by occasionally I mean twice) and looking ahead to the next couple of months and years, I decided to start a blog. I'm hoping that it will be yet another tool for friends and family of mine to keep in touch with me as I pack my bags and leave for Philadelphia (short-term) and Washington, D.C. (longer-term). I'll also be able to use it as a way to keep track of the different things I experience the next couple of years. If anything, it could be a great tool to vent through, or hopefully, a great tool to boast about all the great things that are happening in my life.

So, at this point, I officially have one week left of permanent residence in the great state of Michigan. I leave for "induction" for Teach For America in DC on June 18th. Induction lasts until June 24th, at which point I will board a bus with other corps members from across the country to head to Philadelphia for Institute (training). I will be in Philadelphia until July 29th. Then I will fly back home to Detroit, pack as much stuff as I possibly can into my car and my parents' cars, and proceed to drive from Detroit to DC and move into my new place (which has yet to be determined). I start new teacher orientation at Community Academy Public Charter School (CAPCS) on August 10th. The first day of school for students (and my first day of actual teaching) is August 27th.

On a side note, I watched Freedom Writers with Hilary Swank On Demand tonight. It's a pretty powerful movie. It also made me realize that there are so many movements within Education going on throughout our country, aside from TFA. It was definitely inspiring and made me that much more excited about the journey I'm about to begin. To learn more about this true story, visit the Freedom Writers Foundation website.

That's about it for now. This next week will be pretty busy, trying to get last minute things organized and ready for next Monday. I will try to be good about posting things on a regular basis. Hopefully everyone can leave their thoughts or comments and we can all keep in touch. Hope all is well with everyone wherever you might be.