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.

Off to the Races

I haven't had much time to write, but here's what's happened during that time:

• I got hired! At Wheeler Middle School teaching Special Ed English for sixth graders. The interview process went down last Tuesday. Basically they set us up with interviews with principals of various schools based on the positions they needed and our qualifications. You would interview with as many schools possible until you got hired. My first interview was with Wheeler, a middle school located on the military base in central Oahu. I knew a few '07 Corps members who worked up there, and I heard it wasn't bad. The principal and another teacher asked me a few questions about my resume and then if I preferred to teach English or Math. I told them English, and just like that, I signed a sheet and was hired! I can't tell you how good it feels to know exactly what position I have next year. It's very exciting.
• I visited my school. On Thursday, myself and the other six '08 Corps members who were hired by Wheeler went up to the school to visit it and see our classrooms. We were picked up at our hotel by Sha and Sam, two teachers from the school. Sha will be a major mentor to us, an auntie the Hawaiians call it. As soon as we arrived at the school, they gave us leis and all the teachers came to introduce themselves. We got our pictures taken and ID cards printed out. Then we went to Sha's room, where she insisted we eat a large amount of Chinese food that had been ordered just for us. After that, we toured the school. It was in great shape. It had a nice new blue paint job and several courtyards with tropical plants. I also got to see my own classroom for the first time. I even found out that I'll be teaching a World Languages class as well. I can choose whatever language I want to teach, so I'll definitely be teaching Italian next year. It will be a riot. After the tour we ate more food and left. Needless to say, I like it here so far and can't wait for the year to begin.
• Institute began. We moved into the dorms of University of Houston on Sunday. Houston is very muggy. There's no other way to describe it. But the rooms have AC and it's fun to be living like a freshman again. I was also reunited with Sir, who's here with his region, the Rio Grande Valley. Sleep is definitely not a priority in this program. My bus leaves for school every morning at 6:15 sharp. We don't get back until later in the afternoon. I got a membership at the fitness center, which is absolutely sweet. I just have to decide which is more important: sleep or working out. There's not a whole lot of downtime for us. But so far it's going alright. I do need at least a little sleep, so I'm off to bed.

The First Step...

I think I just completed the first day of my professional life. The Hawaiian vacation was great, but it’s over now and I definitely realized it as I was putting on my shirt and tie this morning for an entire day of Teach For America meetings. Though we spent the entire day inside, the information presented was great and most importantly, I found out that I will be interviewing with Wheeler Middle School tomorrow for a possible teaching position. It would be great if I could get hired soon so that I could start figuring out where to live. We’ll see how it goes.

Here’s where I’m at right now: induction started yesterday and will be continue until Saturday. Basically it’s a ton of information sessions and an opportunity to interview with schools to possibly get placed and hired. Also, it’s a chance for us new 2008 corps members to meet each other. From what I’ve seen it’s a great group of people and I can’t wait to get to know everyone better. After induction, it’s off to Houston for Institute, a five week teaching boot camp. From what I’ve heard, it is extremely challenging but at the same time won’t kill you. Hopefully I’ll make it through and be much more prepared to teach.