Last weekend of freedom

This is my last weekend before I start my real job. Orientation for my distrct's new teachers starts Monday. Did I mention that already? Oh dear, when things start to fade together, you know you've been a holding pattern too long. So what did I do with my "free weekend?"

I went to my friends' party Friday night. They have a beautiful house--truly beautiful, with a decent backyard and a banana tree. They were celebrating the birthday of one of the residents and invited all of our corps. I think I actually showed some people that I can relax once in a while. Really, you must be thinkging, it takes so much for you to relax? Indeed, it took a lot of friendly and familiar people, a real home, welcome laughter, no plans, and a lot of the Cupid Shuffle. That reminds me: I need to get my dancing fix soon. I'm starting to go through withdrawals, dancing to anything that comes on--even the easy listening jazz on the radio. This makes driving occasionally awkward...

What did I do with my Saturday? I got up far earlier than any Saturday of late. I actually invested myself in this community I call my new home. I helped gutt a house in the 9th ward, along with a few volunteer coordinators and about 10 GNO people. We started at 8:00 in the morning at the house. By 3:30, we had the place nearly empty of walls, etc. I cannot quite put into words what this experience meant to me. It had some very difficult moments, often when I would try to place myself in the owners' shoes when they would return to this building which used to be their home. I could never get close to the actual feeling, but even the imagined was powerful.

I also saw the heart of the people with whom I'm working in a different capacity. I've seen them invest countless, sleepless hours in lesson preparation for their students. I even got to see some of them put those plans into action in the classroom. Today I got to see their consistent, compassionate, selfless gritt working through 95 degree weather, carrying load after load of full wheelbarrows, draining bottles of water in a single sitting, replacing the masks back over overheating faces and plunging back into the mold and dust. They never quit; they never got downcast; they never complained. Weary or not, they worked hard to do what they could. I could hardly be more proud of my new friends.

In other news, I also got a bed. A dear friend and fellow corps member grew up here. Her family still lives here and had a few spare twin beds. She and her father brought them over this afternoon. No more nights in my sleeping bag on my floor. Ahh, a lovely thought.

Plans for the evening: another party with friends for a little while, perhaps a concert, a shower, a good night's sleep, and the promise of frisbee and church tomorrow.

Exhausted, yet content to have done something so valuable with this day, I'll leave you again for the night. God be with you and watch over you.

All in two weeks

What has happened to the last two weeks?

I'll tell you what:
-moving to New Orleans,
-finding roommates,
-apartment shopping for days on end,
-exploring the city,
-driving a lot, and
-signing a lease!
Then the family left.
-then more driving,
-trying to set up a home with just a bunch of boxes,
-more exploring, and
-trying not to get lonely.
Then Orientation:
-several 2.5-hour sessions on delving into the state standards for high school math,
-eating lunches from the student center on TfA's dollar (which was very generous of them),
-dressing up every day again (watching out for blisters),
-dinner with sponsors in really nice houses,
-stories of those who stayed during the Storm,
-dinner with alumni (wonderful, previous corps members)--I think I got the best one,
-and a closing word from a student at one of TfA's placement schools. He is currently dually enrolled in high school and college. Gives me hope for my own students...

More later. Low battery.

Much of my love and thoughts are yours.

Mixed Emotions

Closing ceremonies were last night. We had some corps members share stories from their journals of Institute. Of course, we all have a story or two. "This is why we teach for America."

I have such conflicted feelings that I am in a bit of a funk. I’m really glad this schedule will change for a while and that my family will be here soon. I definitely think I could benefit from some more tips and techniques for teaching before I get a class for a whole year. I’m more nervous than I want to think about (it will only get worse if I do) because I do not feel prepared enough to take on this next challenge with such little time before it starts. I also have so much to take care of providing for basic needs—a house, roommates, furniture, food, dishes, etc. It will also be difficult to leave the people I’ve met here from other corps. We have had to bear these trials together, and I’ve naturally grown attached to them in a very short time. These people have been my friends and family-away-from-home. I know their stories, their interests, their habits, their personalities, their pet-peeves, their food preferences, even some inside jokes now. We have shared triumphs and disheartening failings, weak moments and football games. I’d like to think I will see them again, and soon. In true TfA spirit, though, we are all across the country: South Dakota to the Rio Grande Valley to New Orleans with me. I will miss them.

Closing ceremonies were last night, but today is really, finally the end of the beginning. Tomorrow, I leave for New Orleans. Then we'll see just what God has in store in this new, real world.

Student Investment

She was the only student present for my review, but she seemed to enjoy it. More importantly, she seemed to get it! She improved greatly on this second quiz. I’m so proud of her. She is also the only one consistent in doing her homework and showing up on time (or close). She will be absent this Friday, she told me, but she would like the linear equation work early. What kind of summer student requests her work early?! This is when all the hours I stayed up finishing lesson plans and writing Math Millionaire cards pay off.

Where has this last week gone? Monday, I taught more linear equations—two different forms. It was tricky sorting out which form went with which name, but they did get the concepts very well. Unfortunately, I’m down to two students. Our chronically late student finally stopped coming at all. This leaves my two best students all alone with me. I can only hope that their scores will show the improvement I have seen. Wednesday was all review—with a little Jeopardy thrown in. A little competition goes a long way.

Why do they never ask questions until it’s almost too late? Today was our final test. It was the same as the diagnostic that we gave them the first day of class. This is supposed to see how much we taught them and how much they caught. I am not a fan of this particular diagnostic test: the questions do not assess the state standards they are designed to; they are also as confusing as all get-out, with several steps and extra information and unit conversion all to assess a simple equation or some such. Naturally, I’d prefer not to teach so that they can answer only the test questions. I want to teach them the things they need for future understanding and success. Yes, we can teach those types of questions, but the test does not even stress the key items from each standard. Alas, this is the life of a teacher with a state curriculum. I’m hopeful that Louisiana’s curriculum has been evaluated more thoroughly.

Dancing Fix

Weekend 3, 6/29: Friday made up for the long week! The TfA teachers at our school had a social of our own at Jax Grill. The restaurant is like a more spacious roadhouse kind of feel. They also have a wonderful outdoor patio to the side of the building. We teachers sat and relaxed for a full 2 hours. As the energy returned to our exhausted frames, the grill started to get busier. Then the zydeco band showed up. Zydeco is a New Orleans original style of music and dance. I had never seen it before, but the sweet strains drift over all the bayou. Some of us more adventuresome teachers got out there with the locals, but only to enjoy the music. We had no idea what we were doing. After most of our group had left, though, some of the locals took an interest in our dancing and asked us to try it with them. Imagine a 60-something cowboy from Louisiana with hat, pearl-snap shirt and boots included, dancing with a 20-something, stiff, blonde thing, one of three or so in the crowd. By the time we left, I actually heard one girl say, “White girl got soul!” Totally made my night.

Saturday, I was planning to work hard, get ahead for the week, and finish a video I was making for my family. I did get the video done and sent, which was a bit of an ordeal. (There’s no way to send something that big. L) Just as I finished that, a friend sent out a quick e-mail inviting people to go to the Johnson Space Center, the place to which the quote “Houston, we have a problem” is referring. Simply put, it was incredible. Much of the entrance hall is devoted to children and families. It has games and interactive learning centers and a maze, complete with ball pit. The rest of the center is across the street. They offer tours of the astronaut training facility, operations center and the Saturn V—the rocket which landed on the moon. My camera almost overheated with all the activity.

For dinner, we decided to try a Mexican restaurant down the street. For TexMex, it was really good. Fortunately for my social nature, some of them mentioned making a visit to Wild West later that night, and they didn’t mind my tagging along! Ohh, I have missed country dancing. I did have to teach a bunch of these New Englanders how to two-step, though. I also got asked to dance by some cowboys, one of whom we could have sworn was Willie Nelson.

Sunday was a bit rough, I admit. At home, my father was celebrating 20 years as the pastor of the same church. They are throwing him a party. How I wish I could be there. In my place, I did get to send a video-message, with which they surprised my dad at the commemorative dinner. Neither he nor I can talk about it without Kleenex around

Another chance at teaching

Week 2: our first formative assessment. In other words, a mid-term. Results: not too pleasing, considering the work put into this, on their part as well as ours. None of them improved significantly. One even pretty much gave up. I know that she can do more than this, but she didn’t answer half the problems. I’m disappointed, dejected, disheartened. How can I make this more interesting? What am I not doing that might help? What can I do to get them to try?

Ahh, a strange relief. The girl who didn’t try on the quiz dropped the class today. She came in with a note saying that she’d already gotten credit for this class but that she had been put in this one anyway. That means she was not just slacking off in my class for no reason. Alas, she could have gained from this, I think.

Tuesday, TFA day: totally free afternoon. It was a joke, really. The afternoon was fun. True, they canceled our meetings and had some games and fun activities back in the dorm commons. This was a misleading title, though. They let us go only half an hour early, whereas other schools got literally everything after noon free. We also had lesson plans and guided notes and homework to make for the next day. I admit, though I did get some work done, I did go out to eat with my sweet roommate and some of her friends, and I did get a 5-min. massage downstairs.

On the up side, my collaborative partner (my co-teacher) and I decided to split the days instead of the class periods. This means that I get to teach for an hour and 45 min. every other day. It works pretty well, as long as my lessons can fit well into that time. Either they run long, or we end up sitting there, staring at each other all day--that's very boring. This lesson style does mean that we only have to write half the lesson plans.

A long week of teaching

6/22: I now understand the phrase "It's five 0'clock somewhere." What did we do as a school full of new teachers when class let out on Friday? We went to happy hour at the Armadillo grill-something-or-other. I really don't remember the name, but if you drive past it, you won't miss it. There is literally a 20ft+, metal-plated armadillo with horns and red light bulb eyes out in front of this place. It was actually really nice to hang out with these people without the pressure of student scrutiny or staff observations or any sort of schedule. I'm still getting to know some of these people, even the ones I see for most of the day. I got to spend time just talking (and taking pictures, of course). My camera already has a reputation. )