Week 3...
Wow. That's all I can say about Institute. That's all that comes to mind, and really, that's just about all I have time for. It's no joke. It's intense.
Week one was packed with info sessions and workshops that quickly taught us how to design lesson plans and be able to run a class on day one of teaching. Since there wasn't that much homework, it was okay. Still, our bus would leave for our school (YES Prep) at 6:10 a.m. and wouldn't get back until 5 p.m. That's a long day.
This past week was the first of teaching actually classes. I'm teaching 7th grade language arts and I'd say it's going pretty well so far. I've learned that as a teacher you have really good days where you feel like you're on top of the world, and then really bad ones where you feel like you're in the bottom of the barrel. A lot of highs and lows.
My typical day goes like this: I wake up around 5:20, hop in one of our cold showers on the 14th floor of Moody Towers, grab some breakfast, and then get on the bus that leaves at 6:35 sharp (actually 6:33, but TFA has their own time, which is two minutes faster than standard). We get to school by 7, I turn in my lesson plan drafts, and then go to my classroom to make sure everything's ready to go. I then have info sessions until my 10:55 lesson. It's only a 50 minute class and I'm finding it pretty tough to teach a lesson and get things done within that time frame. But practice will make perfect. There are more info sessions until we leave the school around 4:15- though we're on a tight rope when we leave the school in the morning, "TFA Time" seems to be thrown out the window when it's time to go home. I get back around 4:45, wait in line for the elevator for a good 15-20 more minutes, get up to my room around 5, and then head to the gym for an hour. This is my time to unwind, and I'm pretty sure it's saving my life right now. After that I grab dinner, attend a mandatory info session if necessary, and then spend the rest of the evening working on lesson plans. On a good night, I get to bed by 1:30. It starts all over the next day.
Yeah, it's rough. People are already dropping like flies. I've witnessed kids getting reamed by their advisors after their lesson observations, and there was one girl at our placement school who sat there and cried for literally two hours on Friday. But I just try to look at it as this huge challenge. At the end of the day, I've pushed myself farther than ever before, and I've survived and even thrived at times. It's only five weeks, and two are already down the drain. I just have to stay focused, buckle down, and get it done. So far, I'm succeeding.
The most important thing I've learned so far? That the best part of my 21 hour day is that 50 minutes when I'm in my class with my kids. And that's what this is all about.
Week one was packed with info sessions and workshops that quickly taught us how to design lesson plans and be able to run a class on day one of teaching. Since there wasn't that much homework, it was okay. Still, our bus would leave for our school (YES Prep) at 6:10 a.m. and wouldn't get back until 5 p.m. That's a long day.
This past week was the first of teaching actually classes. I'm teaching 7th grade language arts and I'd say it's going pretty well so far. I've learned that as a teacher you have really good days where you feel like you're on top of the world, and then really bad ones where you feel like you're in the bottom of the barrel. A lot of highs and lows.
My typical day goes like this: I wake up around 5:20, hop in one of our cold showers on the 14th floor of Moody Towers, grab some breakfast, and then get on the bus that leaves at 6:35 sharp (actually 6:33, but TFA has their own time, which is two minutes faster than standard). We get to school by 7, I turn in my lesson plan drafts, and then go to my classroom to make sure everything's ready to go. I then have info sessions until my 10:55 lesson. It's only a 50 minute class and I'm finding it pretty tough to teach a lesson and get things done within that time frame. But practice will make perfect. There are more info sessions until we leave the school around 4:15- though we're on a tight rope when we leave the school in the morning, "TFA Time" seems to be thrown out the window when it's time to go home. I get back around 4:45, wait in line for the elevator for a good 15-20 more minutes, get up to my room around 5, and then head to the gym for an hour. This is my time to unwind, and I'm pretty sure it's saving my life right now. After that I grab dinner, attend a mandatory info session if necessary, and then spend the rest of the evening working on lesson plans. On a good night, I get to bed by 1:30. It starts all over the next day.
Yeah, it's rough. People are already dropping like flies. I've witnessed kids getting reamed by their advisors after their lesson observations, and there was one girl at our placement school who sat there and cried for literally two hours on Friday. But I just try to look at it as this huge challenge. At the end of the day, I've pushed myself farther than ever before, and I've survived and even thrived at times. It's only five weeks, and two are already down the drain. I just have to stay focused, buckle down, and get it done. So far, I'm succeeding.
The most important thing I've learned so far? That the best part of my 21 hour day is that 50 minutes when I'm in my class with my kids. And that's what this is all about.
posted by Daniel T at 1:35 AM
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