This is by far the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. I admit it. But I’ve also had some of the most joyous experiences I could imagine this week. On Monday, I started teaching. KIDS. I have KIDS. I team-teach with 3 other TFA corps members, and we have the best, smartest group of 4th graders on the planet. It’s funny that they have no idea that my entire existence revolves around them right now, but they have seriously made the ridiculous lack of sleep and all the tears so far worth it.
Time to paint a picture… I have not slept more than 5 hours any night this week. Average I’d say is 4. I’m doing better than a lot of my friends who are averaging 3. The new schedule: Wake up at 5am, plan, teach until 1:30, stay at Pastor Elementary in intensive sessions until 5pm, come home, work, go to meetings/workshops/sessions/etc, plan more, work more, force myself to go to sleep at 1am. Yesterday, I started crying during my Advisory session AND my Institute Learning Team session. My friends Gwen and Sarah cried too. So did my Corps Member Advisor, Erin O. Oh, and so did my little 4th grader Yanei. She didn’t know 24 divided by 4, and heard Bernardo say, “That’s easy!!” and so she just started sobbing, right there at her desk. Of course, I gave Bernardo a consequence, and took Yanei outside to talk for a minute. She couldn’t stop crying! I seriously wanted to hug her and just start crying with her. Obviously, I didn’t do that though. I told her, “It’s okay, boys say careless things, but I believe in you, and I know you can be great at math.”
Having a classroom is awesome. I give the kids have a “DO NOW” on the board every day when they enter the class- Usually a short reflection about themselves or learning, and they have the length of one song to complete their answer before we share out. The very first day of school, I played “Burning Down the House” for them. Oddly enough, Rambo (yes, that’s the legit name of one of my co-teachers) played a Michael Jackson jam for them yesterday morning.
Today, my kids took an assessment for the math I’ve taught them this week. (That’s right, I’m teaching MATH right now- FACE.) Most of them did really well (yay!) and 85% of them mastered the material. I was so proud of them! There were 2 students who I was especially proud of for mastering it though. Yanei is one of them. Erick is the other. Erick doesn’t speak any English. So basically, I told him in Spanish that when I’m explaining math problems he needs to copy down the numbers and steps, and try his hardest to follow along. Then, if he has any questions, Jose Carlos translates for him. Well, Erick got one of the top scores on the assessment. He has made me so proud. :)
Other than that, I’ve had some amazing connections with other corps members here at Institute. There are some incredible, passionate, brilliant people here who I can’t believe I’m working with. My CMA group shared our life maps with one another, and their perseverance and positivity have inspired me so much!
I'm exhausted. I've had one major meltdown, and I know more will come before the end of Institute. I can't control most things that are affecting my life right now, from the 100+ degree weather to the amount of sleep I get. And that makes me want to smash my laptop, rip off my professional dress, use it as a pillow, and go to sleep in the hallway at times. But it will be okay, and seeing my students learning is totally driving me. What I can’t wait for: Patrick is coming from SB to visit me here TOMORROW. I haven’t seen him in like 3 weeks! Sooo excited! I’m going to make him hang out with me while I sleep and sleep and plan and plan. Sounds like a fun weekend, right?
Pictures soon, I promise!
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
INSTITUTE- Or, The Beast.
I just started my first week of Institute, described as “teacher boot camp,” which is an extremely intensive training program to make a good teacher out of me in 5 weeks. To give you an idea, I’m sitting here in my dorm room at ASU in Phoenix, my roommate (another New Mexico corps member) is asleep as I type. I should be asleep. Seriously, why am I not asleep? Oh yeah, ‘cause I’m listening to Patrick’s last show on KCSB right now! So good!!
Anyway, this is pretty much every day:
5am- Wake up and get ready.
6am- Get on a bus to my K-8 school site.
7am-4:30pm: Attend training sessions and actually TEACH math and literacy to 4th/5th graders at Summer Success Academy at Pastor.
5-6:30pm: Work out, then eat dinner.
6:30-8pm: Work on next day’s assignments and lesson plans.
8-9pm: Attend subject-specific workshops.
9-10[m: Finish assignments and lesson plans.
10pm- Go to sleep!
Of course, it won’t always work out like that. I’ve heard horror stories of corps members staying up all night to finish their assignments and lesson plans, then having to teach the next day. So far it’s been okay though. When I call it a beast, it's not so much a wild beast as a domesticated beast (for now). Yeah, not to get TOO geeky here, but Institute actually sort of feels like Hogwarts to me. It has a prestigious-sounding name, all corps members represent their region (like the Hogwarts “houses”!)- New Mexico, Phoenix, Greater New Orleans, or South Louisiana. Anyway, that’s just my interpretation. Which I’m going to refrain from discussing with people here. Others have compared it to diverse experiences of joining the military and going to summer camp.
I will keep you all updated if I burn out and decide to be a janitor at ASU instead- Statistically, at least 10% of us will drop out during Institute.
PS- I’m excited to administer a DRA test to my students tomorrow! I'm excited to know what a DRA test is! :)
Anyway, this is pretty much every day:
5am- Wake up and get ready.
6am- Get on a bus to my K-8 school site.
7am-4:30pm: Attend training sessions and actually TEACH math and literacy to 4th/5th graders at Summer Success Academy at Pastor.
5-6:30pm: Work out, then eat dinner.
6:30-8pm: Work on next day’s assignments and lesson plans.
8-9pm: Attend subject-specific workshops.
9-10[m: Finish assignments and lesson plans.
10pm- Go to sleep!
Of course, it won’t always work out like that. I’ve heard horror stories of corps members staying up all night to finish their assignments and lesson plans, then having to teach the next day. So far it’s been okay though. When I call it a beast, it's not so much a wild beast as a domesticated beast (for now). Yeah, not to get TOO geeky here, but Institute actually sort of feels like Hogwarts to me. It has a prestigious-sounding name, all corps members represent their region (like the Hogwarts “houses”!)- New Mexico, Phoenix, Greater New Orleans, or South Louisiana. Anyway, that’s just my interpretation. Which I’m going to refrain from discussing with people here. Others have compared it to diverse experiences of joining the military and going to summer camp.
I will keep you all updated if I burn out and decide to be a janitor at ASU instead- Statistically, at least 10% of us will drop out during Institute.
PS- I’m excited to administer a DRA test to my students tomorrow! I'm excited to know what a DRA test is! :)
Thursday, June 11, 2009
Gallup at first glance
I have officially been in Gallup for 3 days. As of right now, I still don’t know if I’ll be teaching here in town or on a Native American reservation. I’ll probably find out after I finish my 5 weeks at Institute in Phoenix. Gallup totally rules. Described as “the Indian capital of the world,” there is a wealth of Native American culture here- mostly Navajo, but also Zuni, Hopi, Laguna, Apache and more. There are even traditional tribal dances every evening in the center of town during the summer. Established as a railroad town in the 1880s, it definitely still has that old-timey flavor to it.
On the not so positive side, Gallup-McKinley county is the 3rd poorest county in the whole U.S., and their economy is almost entirely dependent on selling Native American art, jewelry, and other items. I’m beginning to get a sense of some of the challenges that my students face, and in what ways I’ll encounter them. Alcoholism, HIV (on the rez, specifically,) and domestic abuse are the most serious problems out here. Also, a lot of homes don’t have access to running water, and some don’t have electricity . I’m learning to think of creative ways to help my students overcome these hardships, but right now I’m just kind of out of it. I think being exposed to their reality for the first time is still hitting me.
Back to the positive: A lot of people around town speak Navajo- I’ve heard it on the streets, in restaurants, and in the hotel where I’m currently typing from- El Rancho. The Navajo language is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. It’s like underwater music. If I was one of those fools in WWII who had to decipher the code talkers, I straight up would have been possessed by that shit. The local people I’ve met here have been extremely kind and generous. They’re very willing to talk to me about their culture, and they seem interested in my coming here to teach. I talked to one man today, who works at UNM-G, who was telling me about some Navajo traditions and hardships. He stressed the importance of song and dance, which express more than emotions, and he explained to me the idea of the 4 directions. Something that stuck with me was how he said non-Indians sometimes expect him to have long hair and sport “typical traditional Indian dress.” He pointed to his long-sleeved button-up shirt and tie, and said, “I’m an Indian. THIS is my typical dress. My traditions are in my day-to-day practices and the beliefs I hold, not in what I’m wearing.” It reminded me of a class I took last quarter, where my professor discussed how society presents indigenous peoples with a choice between “the traditional lifestyle” or “modernity,” which is conceived as less-authentic.
Did I mention it’s insanely gorgeous out here? Yesterday evening, I actually had an hour of free time, so another corps member and I went running at Church Rock- The trail is on a tiny ledge on the parameter of a gigantic canyon of red rock. I felt so small! I could have run forever if not for the fact that it’s 7000 feet up here and impossible to breathe. Apart from the awesome red rocks, the sky out here is absurd. It’s bright blue and the clouds are basically tangible.
How am I personally? Keyed up and freaked out. I haven’t slept nearly enough this week, and yesterday I straight up walked into a cactus. It took like an hour to pull out all the pins, but it’s cool now.
This is Church Rock:
On the not so positive side, Gallup-McKinley county is the 3rd poorest county in the whole U.S., and their economy is almost entirely dependent on selling Native American art, jewelry, and other items. I’m beginning to get a sense of some of the challenges that my students face, and in what ways I’ll encounter them. Alcoholism, HIV (on the rez, specifically,) and domestic abuse are the most serious problems out here. Also, a lot of homes don’t have access to running water, and some don’t have electricity . I’m learning to think of creative ways to help my students overcome these hardships, but right now I’m just kind of out of it. I think being exposed to their reality for the first time is still hitting me.
Back to the positive: A lot of people around town speak Navajo- I’ve heard it on the streets, in restaurants, and in the hotel where I’m currently typing from- El Rancho. The Navajo language is probably the most beautiful thing I have ever heard. It’s like underwater music. If I was one of those fools in WWII who had to decipher the code talkers, I straight up would have been possessed by that shit. The local people I’ve met here have been extremely kind and generous. They’re very willing to talk to me about their culture, and they seem interested in my coming here to teach. I talked to one man today, who works at UNM-G, who was telling me about some Navajo traditions and hardships. He stressed the importance of song and dance, which express more than emotions, and he explained to me the idea of the 4 directions. Something that stuck with me was how he said non-Indians sometimes expect him to have long hair and sport “typical traditional Indian dress.” He pointed to his long-sleeved button-up shirt and tie, and said, “I’m an Indian. THIS is my typical dress. My traditions are in my day-to-day practices and the beliefs I hold, not in what I’m wearing.” It reminded me of a class I took last quarter, where my professor discussed how society presents indigenous peoples with a choice between “the traditional lifestyle” or “modernity,” which is conceived as less-authentic.
Did I mention it’s insanely gorgeous out here? Yesterday evening, I actually had an hour of free time, so another corps member and I went running at Church Rock- The trail is on a tiny ledge on the parameter of a gigantic canyon of red rock. I felt so small! I could have run forever if not for the fact that it’s 7000 feet up here and impossible to breathe. Apart from the awesome red rocks, the sky out here is absurd. It’s bright blue and the clouds are basically tangible.
How am I personally? Keyed up and freaked out. I haven’t slept nearly enough this week, and yesterday I straight up walked into a cactus. It took like an hour to pull out all the pins, but it’s cool now.
This is Church Rock:
Bich'áayaa íí'áhí ??
It means girlfriend/boyfriend in Navajo slang. Since I’m hoping Patrick and I can both update this once he gets out here, I figured it was appropriate. Also, the literal translation is, ”the one that sticks up from his armpit,” describing couples who walk around with one arm over the shoulder of the other. I am the one that sticks up from Patrick's armpit.
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