Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
First Night on the Rez!
Last night was my FIRST of many nights staying on the rez in the Navajo Nation. I had a teacher-slumber-party in Crownpoint, NM. It is seriously gorgeous there! Hidden behind giant red rocks, a windy highway takes you through a textured, shadowed landscape to the tiny town. (If you have good eyes, you can find Crownpoint on the map of the Navajo Nation.) I stayed at my friend Liz’ “teacherage”- a special housing unit just for non-Indian teachers living there. This morning, Kayla and I went for a run, and a rez puppy followed us all around! It was the cutest dog I have ever seen! Running at 7000 feet is extremely difficult, but after training here, I’m going to be unstoppable!
Right now I’m back in Gallup with my awesome corps. Tomorrow is a community service day. Most people are painting random things around town, but Liz, Maya and I volunteered to do some desert landscaping for the town. I’m excited!
Right now I’m back in Gallup with my awesome corps. Tomorrow is a community service day. Most people are painting random things around town, but Liz, Maya and I volunteered to do some desert landscaping for the town. I’m excited!
Friday, July 17, 2009
FIN, and yet el PRINCIPIO
Oh my God, it’s finally over. Institute is MFing over.
First of all, thank you to everyone who supported me during this ridiculous time. I probably wouldn’t have made it without you - You know who you are.
I’m kind of in shock that this experience is over. I don’t know what to do with myself! (Well, actually some corps members gave me an idea for tonight that will probably end up at little establishment called the Vine...) But I can’t believe I’ll never see my kids again… They have come to mean SO much to me. There are a few things I’ll carry with me though:
Oscar’s comment, “I’m reading books for SIXTH graders?! Awesome! My cousin- he’s 12- I’m going to show him I can read the best!”
Iris’ letter, “Thank you Ms. Fleming, for making learning fun. I wish you were my teacher in 5th grade and forever.”
Yanei’s smile when she got a division flashcard right for the first time in Around the World.
And last, but not least, the crazily skillful drawings of Transformers that Jose Carlos made for me.
As I prepare to leave Institute, one thing I can say is that I am incredibly inspired by all of my amazing friends, colleagues, and fellow corps members who I’ve met here. There are thousands of passionate, relentless, innovative, and ridiculously talented people committed to closing the achievement gap- and some of the best of them will be people I’ve worked with who are going to Louisiana to get to work in just a couple weeks. Whenever I feel like letting up, I’ll KNOW that a friend and colleague of mine somewhere outside New Orleans or Baton Rouge will be working just as hard, if not harder to impact their students’ achievement. And when I consider the fact that I’m part of movement like that, it will drive to me to push myself even harder for my students.
So yeah, even if I wasn’t ready to part with my friends and students, I’m READY to get out of Phoenix. Besides the fact that it’s 115 degrees here every day, I just can’t wait to get to New Mexico. Even though I still don’t have a job, officially. :/ I just know that New Mexico is where I’m supposed to be right now, and I have this incredible sense of urgency to get there and start my work. Of course, my little sidetrack to Asia (in one week!) is going to be totally legit. Tomorrow morning I leave to explore Sedona and a petrified forest, then stay at my friend's place on the reservation in Crownpoint, New Mexico. Yay!
In other news, KCSB summer schedule posted! Check it: http://www.kcsb.org/schedule
First of all, thank you to everyone who supported me during this ridiculous time. I probably wouldn’t have made it without you - You know who you are.
I’m kind of in shock that this experience is over. I don’t know what to do with myself! (Well, actually some corps members gave me an idea for tonight that will probably end up at little establishment called the Vine...) But I can’t believe I’ll never see my kids again… They have come to mean SO much to me. There are a few things I’ll carry with me though:
Oscar’s comment, “I’m reading books for SIXTH graders?! Awesome! My cousin- he’s 12- I’m going to show him I can read the best!”
Iris’ letter, “Thank you Ms. Fleming, for making learning fun. I wish you were my teacher in 5th grade and forever.”
Yanei’s smile when she got a division flashcard right for the first time in Around the World.
And last, but not least, the crazily skillful drawings of Transformers that Jose Carlos made for me.
As I prepare to leave Institute, one thing I can say is that I am incredibly inspired by all of my amazing friends, colleagues, and fellow corps members who I’ve met here. There are thousands of passionate, relentless, innovative, and ridiculously talented people committed to closing the achievement gap- and some of the best of them will be people I’ve worked with who are going to Louisiana to get to work in just a couple weeks. Whenever I feel like letting up, I’ll KNOW that a friend and colleague of mine somewhere outside New Orleans or Baton Rouge will be working just as hard, if not harder to impact their students’ achievement. And when I consider the fact that I’m part of movement like that, it will drive to me to push myself even harder for my students.
So yeah, even if I wasn’t ready to part with my friends and students, I’m READY to get out of Phoenix. Besides the fact that it’s 115 degrees here every day, I just can’t wait to get to New Mexico. Even though I still don’t have a job, officially. :/ I just know that New Mexico is where I’m supposed to be right now, and I have this incredible sense of urgency to get there and start my work. Of course, my little sidetrack to Asia (in one week!) is going to be totally legit. Tomorrow morning I leave to explore Sedona and a petrified forest, then stay at my friend's place on the reservation in Crownpoint, New Mexico. Yay!
In other news, KCSB summer schedule posted! Check it: http://www.kcsb.org/schedule
Sunday, July 12, 2009
MOON
After another insanely stressful week at teacher boot camp... The 'rents came to visit me this weekend. It was amazing to see them... Not just because they bought me drinks and frozen yogurt. They're totally fun to hang out with... for parents. :) Yesterday, we went to the IMAX theater and saw the movie Moon. It is incredibly great! And disturbing... But mostly great. Especially if you like Sci-Fi, but even if you don't usually. Bottom line: Parents rule. Go see Moon now.
Fun Fact: It was up to 115 degrees in Phoenix this weekend. Even at night, it's still 100. (Oh, the many connections Phoenix Institute and Hell...)
Fun Fact: It was up to 115 degrees in Phoenix this weekend. Even at night, it's still 100. (Oh, the many connections Phoenix Institute and Hell...)
Thursday, July 9, 2009
We Will Undo You
This morning my friend (another TFA corps member) came up to me and said, "Last night I went to bed at 9:30!" I looked at her- confused, jealous and suspicious, and she finished- "Granted, I woke up at 2am this morning and worked until it was time to get on the bus..."
So yeah, we actually got about the same amount of sleep last night. What kind of social experiment is this??
So yeah, we actually got about the same amount of sleep last night. What kind of social experiment is this??
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Heading into Week 4...
**I wrote the following on Sunday, but didn't have time to finish and post. Last night was 3.5 hours. Why am I here?! ...
Update on the sleep: Average last week was 5 hours/night instead of 4-5 hours, so that was an improvement. There was even one night (last Tuesday, I believe) where I got almost 6 hours! It was glorious. This coming week I’ll be transitioning from teaching math to teaching reading and word study. It’s the same (awesome) class, I’m just switching with my co-teachers on which subjects we’re doing. I’m really surprised how much I loved teaching math though. I’m kind of sad to leave it, which is ridiculous, considering I (thought I) hated math. One frustrating challenge in my class has been the inconsistent flow of kids. I get new students almost every day, while others just stop showing up. I had one new student in my small math group say, “Ms. Fleming, I’m only gonna be here for 6 days!” and another one piped up, “Oh yeah, I’m leaving on Monday to go to Mexico for the rest of the summer.” So that’s been hard, but hopefully everything will settle down a little more this week.
Fun fact: I still don’t have a job in New Mexico. In fact, I could be teaching anywhere from Gallup, down to Zuni Pueblo up to Shiprock, or over to Pueblo Pintado. Some of these locations are 3+ hours from one another. So basically I’m unemployed and homeless right now. Okay, not really. But I sort of feel that way. It’s just crazy because I’m going to be doing phone interviews while I’m at Institute, and right before I leave for Asia, then coming back and having to start work immediately. It’s gonna be intense.
Anyway, this weekend was pretty amazing. I actually had Friday off, so I just had a good time instead of planning the entire weekend! Well, Thursday night, I went to the Big Bang, a dueling piano bar in Tempe, and the New Mexicorps completely took over the bar. We started a dance party and did our cheer so that everyone was like, “Who the hell are these insane people from all over the country claiming to be teachers?!” It was legit. Then yesterday I went river tubing at Salt River! I got totally sunburned and dehydrated, but it was amazing! My friends and I particularly enjoyed the rapids, and the view was incredible. Even though you’re floating down a cold river, you’re surrounded by desert landscape, with enormous mountain-rocks, and classic Saguaro cacti along the edge. And seriously, the sky out in the desert is totally striking. Oh and last night, I watched like 7 sets of fireworks from a desert mountain outside of Phoenix. I can’t wait to get back out to New Mexico. Arizona is cool, and I’ve enjoyed exploring, but I’m not a huge fan of the city of Phoenix. So far the coolest thing I’ve found here is a drive-thru liquor store.
Anyway, back to planning until late tonight. I took a ton of awesome pictures lately, but they won’t upload onto my laptop. :( Once I figure that out though… It’s happening. For now, some pictures of Shiprock, NM, where I may end up.
A hilarious note: Teach For America is probably tracking this blog. I was in a “Diversity, Community and Achievement” session on Thursday, in which we all read and reflected on a corps member’s blog that had been straight up taken off the internet and reproduced in our materials book. It was totally embarrassing for the guy who wrote it, although his name wasn’t attached. Awesome.
Update on the sleep: Average last week was 5 hours/night instead of 4-5 hours, so that was an improvement. There was even one night (last Tuesday, I believe) where I got almost 6 hours! It was glorious. This coming week I’ll be transitioning from teaching math to teaching reading and word study. It’s the same (awesome) class, I’m just switching with my co-teachers on which subjects we’re doing. I’m really surprised how much I loved teaching math though. I’m kind of sad to leave it, which is ridiculous, considering I (thought I) hated math. One frustrating challenge in my class has been the inconsistent flow of kids. I get new students almost every day, while others just stop showing up. I had one new student in my small math group say, “Ms. Fleming, I’m only gonna be here for 6 days!” and another one piped up, “Oh yeah, I’m leaving on Monday to go to Mexico for the rest of the summer.” So that’s been hard, but hopefully everything will settle down a little more this week.
Fun fact: I still don’t have a job in New Mexico. In fact, I could be teaching anywhere from Gallup, down to Zuni Pueblo up to Shiprock, or over to Pueblo Pintado. Some of these locations are 3+ hours from one another. So basically I’m unemployed and homeless right now. Okay, not really. But I sort of feel that way. It’s just crazy because I’m going to be doing phone interviews while I’m at Institute, and right before I leave for Asia, then coming back and having to start work immediately. It’s gonna be intense.
Anyway, this weekend was pretty amazing. I actually had Friday off, so I just had a good time instead of planning the entire weekend! Well, Thursday night, I went to the Big Bang, a dueling piano bar in Tempe, and the New Mexicorps completely took over the bar. We started a dance party and did our cheer so that everyone was like, “Who the hell are these insane people from all over the country claiming to be teachers?!” It was legit. Then yesterday I went river tubing at Salt River! I got totally sunburned and dehydrated, but it was amazing! My friends and I particularly enjoyed the rapids, and the view was incredible. Even though you’re floating down a cold river, you’re surrounded by desert landscape, with enormous mountain-rocks, and classic Saguaro cacti along the edge. And seriously, the sky out in the desert is totally striking. Oh and last night, I watched like 7 sets of fireworks from a desert mountain outside of Phoenix. I can’t wait to get back out to New Mexico. Arizona is cool, and I’ve enjoyed exploring, but I’m not a huge fan of the city of Phoenix. So far the coolest thing I’ve found here is a drive-thru liquor store.
Anyway, back to planning until late tonight. I took a ton of awesome pictures lately, but they won’t upload onto my laptop. :( Once I figure that out though… It’s happening. For now, some pictures of Shiprock, NM, where I may end up.
A hilarious note: Teach For America is probably tracking this blog. I was in a “Diversity, Community and Achievement” session on Thursday, in which we all read and reflected on a corps member’s blog that had been straight up taken off the internet and reproduced in our materials book. It was totally embarrassing for the guy who wrote it, although his name wasn’t attached. Awesome.
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