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I had to double check to see if I wasn’t just dreaming. Was I actually here? Was this actually happening? I looked out the window and down at the Pacific thousands of feet below. I was homeward bound, from North Shore to North Bend, capping off the most challenging, strenuous, and rapid seven months of my life.
I still can’t really believe I’ve reached Christmas break. It’s something way off in the distance that I’ve been looking forward to since I left home back in May. Now that it’s finally here, there are way too many things going through my mind.
I guess it’s safe to say that this whole experience has been nothing like what I expected. Of course, I had no idea what to expect in the first place, so that’s no surprise. I knew it would be challenging, but had no idea just how challenging it would be. Before going into it, I had some doubts about whether or not I’d be able to hold my own, but I shot those down pretty quickly at Institute. Since then, it’s been an uphill battle with a very steep learning curve. All in all, after half a year of teaching, I can confidently say that a. it’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, b. it’s one of the most important jobs in the world, and c. I’m enjoying it more than I ever expected. Along with all the joys, I’ve also finally been able to witness firsthand a lot of the problems with our education system. Much like my teaching abilities, our education system as a whole has a long way to go.
I think the best way to recap this experience so far is to let out some of my thoughts I’ve gained so far. My apologies if I offend anyone in any way.
• Institute sucked. Potential corps members- Don’t let anyone fool you and tell you it’s a “good experience.” You work 22 hours a day and live in arguably some of the worst conditions in Houston. That’s right, Houston. The last week of it, I woke up and went to seven different floors in Moody Towers in search of running water. I ended up brushing my teeth and washing my face from a sink that only dripped water. During Induction, some of the ’07 corps members told me they enjoyed Institute, and I’m still pissed off about that.
• The preparation at Institute, however, was priceless. Priceless if you teach general education. Which brings me to my next point…
• Teach For America’s game plan and formula for success are indeed effective, but I don’t think they’re designed yet for Special Education. I still feel like I was incredibly unprepared for the many additional responsibilities that a special educator has. For a good few months, I was up against the ropes without any boxing skills, and not a whole lot of the skills I did learn from TFA actually worked with my students. Oh yeah, that brings me to another point…
• If you’re applying for TFA, do it for sure because it will be a great experience, but only check the SPED box if you’re absolutely sure you want to do it. I recently came up with an analogy to compare SPED to Gen Ed. Gen Ed is like being a coach of a team, while SPED is like being the coach as well as the GM. You still have all the teaching responsibilities that a Gen Ed teacher has, but then you also have the additional job of managing IEPs and everything that goes along with that. And to be honest, that could be a whole job in itself. That’s not to say that I regret checking the box…I just wish I would’ve found out ahead of time what I would be in for (not July 31, 2008, aka my first day as a teacher at Wheeler Middle School).
• Hawaii is incredible. No matter how rough my weeks are, I always have the weekend, and my weekends involve places and activities that most people wait their entire lives to experience.
• The North Shore is the place to be on the island. I’ve seen almost every part now, and I can safely say that there’s no place like home. It’s got it all- Pipeline, Waimea, the Seven Mile Miracle, Haolewood, Haleiwa, and the list goes on. But…
• Life’s not always a beach in Paradise. It can actually be something else that sounds sort of similar. Don’t let the gentle waves of Waikiki mislead you- flashfloods, roosters and peacocks that go off at 5 every morning, cockroaches and other annoying insects, sharks, and killer waves…you gotta be on your toes at all times.
• My placement school gives me the best situation that any TFA corps member could possibly have. The staff there is incredibly supportive and I truly feel part of a great community. There are many challenges that go along with working on a military base, but the school has a ton of great things going for it as well.
• I still have a long way to go in my development as a teacher (it’s a never ending process), and this break is going to be a much needed opportunity to recharge and go back to the drawing board.
So now it’s back to North Bend, which was recently blanketed in snow. I know the change in temperature will be a little bit painful, but I can’t wait to see my family and friends who I haven’t seen in so long. The adventure continues…
I still can’t really believe I’ve reached Christmas break. It’s something way off in the distance that I’ve been looking forward to since I left home back in May. Now that it’s finally here, there are way too many things going through my mind.
I guess it’s safe to say that this whole experience has been nothing like what I expected. Of course, I had no idea what to expect in the first place, so that’s no surprise. I knew it would be challenging, but had no idea just how challenging it would be. Before going into it, I had some doubts about whether or not I’d be able to hold my own, but I shot those down pretty quickly at Institute. Since then, it’s been an uphill battle with a very steep learning curve. All in all, after half a year of teaching, I can confidently say that a. it’s one of the toughest jobs in the world, b. it’s one of the most important jobs in the world, and c. I’m enjoying it more than I ever expected. Along with all the joys, I’ve also finally been able to witness firsthand a lot of the problems with our education system. Much like my teaching abilities, our education system as a whole has a long way to go.
I think the best way to recap this experience so far is to let out some of my thoughts I’ve gained so far. My apologies if I offend anyone in any way.
• Institute sucked. Potential corps members- Don’t let anyone fool you and tell you it’s a “good experience.” You work 22 hours a day and live in arguably some of the worst conditions in Houston. That’s right, Houston. The last week of it, I woke up and went to seven different floors in Moody Towers in search of running water. I ended up brushing my teeth and washing my face from a sink that only dripped water. During Induction, some of the ’07 corps members told me they enjoyed Institute, and I’m still pissed off about that.
• The preparation at Institute, however, was priceless. Priceless if you teach general education. Which brings me to my next point…
• Teach For America’s game plan and formula for success are indeed effective, but I don’t think they’re designed yet for Special Education. I still feel like I was incredibly unprepared for the many additional responsibilities that a special educator has. For a good few months, I was up against the ropes without any boxing skills, and not a whole lot of the skills I did learn from TFA actually worked with my students. Oh yeah, that brings me to another point…
• If you’re applying for TFA, do it for sure because it will be a great experience, but only check the SPED box if you’re absolutely sure you want to do it. I recently came up with an analogy to compare SPED to Gen Ed. Gen Ed is like being a coach of a team, while SPED is like being the coach as well as the GM. You still have all the teaching responsibilities that a Gen Ed teacher has, but then you also have the additional job of managing IEPs and everything that goes along with that. And to be honest, that could be a whole job in itself. That’s not to say that I regret checking the box…I just wish I would’ve found out ahead of time what I would be in for (not July 31, 2008, aka my first day as a teacher at Wheeler Middle School).
• Hawaii is incredible. No matter how rough my weeks are, I always have the weekend, and my weekends involve places and activities that most people wait their entire lives to experience.
• The North Shore is the place to be on the island. I’ve seen almost every part now, and I can safely say that there’s no place like home. It’s got it all- Pipeline, Waimea, the Seven Mile Miracle, Haolewood, Haleiwa, and the list goes on. But…
• Life’s not always a beach in Paradise. It can actually be something else that sounds sort of similar. Don’t let the gentle waves of Waikiki mislead you- flashfloods, roosters and peacocks that go off at 5 every morning, cockroaches and other annoying insects, sharks, and killer waves…you gotta be on your toes at all times.
• My placement school gives me the best situation that any TFA corps member could possibly have. The staff there is incredibly supportive and I truly feel part of a great community. There are many challenges that go along with working on a military base, but the school has a ton of great things going for it as well.
• I still have a long way to go in my development as a teacher (it’s a never ending process), and this break is going to be a much needed opportunity to recharge and go back to the drawing board.
So now it’s back to North Bend, which was recently blanketed in snow. I know the change in temperature will be a little bit painful, but I can’t wait to see my family and friends who I haven’t seen in so long. The adventure continues…
posted by Daniel T at 9:12 PM
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