Me? A teacher? That's exactly what I was thinking for the first week and a half of institute. We had not yet met our students, but were only starting to talk about the building blocks of an excellent teacher. No, not just a good teacher, but a phenomenal one. And, let me just say, it takes A LOT of hard work. There are so many things that teachers do that I have taken for granted. Do you know how much planning goes into one excellent lesson?
Let's start from the beginning. On the day we arrived at our schools, we found out who we would be working with for the next five weeks. My collaborative group consisted of me, Kate, and Oriel. All we knew was that we would be teaching 5th grade summer school, and that we would have to do it together. Each of us would be teaching a different subject every week, and we would teach on our own. Sounds easy enough, but first we had to set up our classroom, from desk formation to coming up with a plan for student management - there was way too much to do. I have realized that it really doesn't matter how compatible people are, when you have more than one person trying to put together a classroom, you will hit disagreements. We definitely did not agree on everything, but in the end, the classroom was ours, and we proudly owned what we had come up with. I'm getting ahead of myself.
I had no idea how complicated it was/is to put together a classroom management plan that is actually funtional and effective. It is, however, the most crucial aspect of forward planning, aside from the actual lesson plans. If your students don't behave, you cannot teach. End of story. The crazy thing is, no matter how much you plan, when your students arrive in your classroom the first day, your classroom management never quite works out the way you think it's going to. In addition to this unfortunate fact, the plan will also not work if you, as the teacher, are not assertive enough to use it. On day one of institute, I was really not sure that I could see myself standing in front of the classroom and handing out consequences. Did I really have that in me?
8.01.2006
Whew!!
Well, that was crazy! I just finished training for five weeks (six if you count induction) in the heart of North Philly. 600 new teachers were living and breathing what it means to be a teacher from dawn til dusk for those five weeks. I had the privilege of teaching 5th grade summer school at Fairhill Elementary School. I had a blast! But, I'm not going to lie...it was tough. My collaborative members and I (shout out to Oriel and Kate!) had our hands full with 12 boys and only two girls, which quickly turned into only one girl, and then none by the end! We rotated teaching reading, writing, and math - we got the whole spectrum! Our kids made tremendous leaps and bounds in their academic progress this summer. They almost doubled the percentage that they received from their diagnostic tests to their final exams. I am so proud of all of them!!
Oops. I just realized...some of you may have no idea what the heck I am talking about! Back to the beginning. About 8 months ago I decided to apply for a program called Teach For America (TFA from now on). It is an organization whose mission is to see that all children have an equal opportunity for a quality education. If it isn't obvious, we're talking mostly about children in the inner-cities of almost all major cities in the US. I will share some statistics soon, but it is staggering how dramatically different education is between suburban and urban communities. Anyhow, long story short, I applied in January, made it through to the rigorous interview process, was accepted, and poof! Six months later I found myself in an actual classroom in Philly. It is amazing how quickly things can change in such a small amount of time.
I should also note, my husband (David) and I currently live in Princeton, New Jersey after we moved out here about a year ago. He is attending grad school at Princeton Theological Seminary. I dearly, dearly miss Portland, OR, my home, but I am coming to love Philly more and more.
I think I've bombarded this post with more than enough information. Look for some institute reflections to come soon! Philly '06 - Fired Up!
Oops. I just realized...some of you may have no idea what the heck I am talking about! Back to the beginning. About 8 months ago I decided to apply for a program called Teach For America (TFA from now on). It is an organization whose mission is to see that all children have an equal opportunity for a quality education. If it isn't obvious, we're talking mostly about children in the inner-cities of almost all major cities in the US. I will share some statistics soon, but it is staggering how dramatically different education is between suburban and urban communities. Anyhow, long story short, I applied in January, made it through to the rigorous interview process, was accepted, and poof! Six months later I found myself in an actual classroom in Philly. It is amazing how quickly things can change in such a small amount of time.
I should also note, my husband (David) and I currently live in Princeton, New Jersey after we moved out here about a year ago. He is attending grad school at Princeton Theological Seminary. I dearly, dearly miss Portland, OR, my home, but I am coming to love Philly more and more.
I think I've bombarded this post with more than enough information. Look for some institute reflections to come soon! Philly '06 - Fired Up!
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