First Days of Institute

Day 9 in Atlanta. 

Being back in Atlanta, GA for Teach for America's rigorous institute has been quite the experience. The words exhausting, ridiculous, all-work, no-play, go-go-go, effective, fulfilling, and all-good, no-bad come to mind. Although some of those aren't exactly words, they almost accurately relate to the experience hundreds of new teachers are having at Georgia Tech. From the moment we stepped onto campus the registration process was as intense and effective as they promised and as the legends conveyed. 

In reality, its okay. Its more than okay. I'd say a solid good. Its very difficult. We begin the day around 5 AM and make it to our buses after breakfast around 6:40. We are carted off to our schools, lunch boxes, laptops, binders, posters, coffee mugs in tow and for the first week, learned more than I thought possible about why we were here, why teachers are needed, and the mentality that has led Teach for America to success in the classroom. And its not like any complaining or argument on our part could diminish the gains TFA corps members around the U.S. have made in their classrooms. Who can argue that we shouldn't understand how teacher actions contribute to student achievement or that every single student is capable of learning? Who can justify falling asleep during an hour and a half session on lesson planning and classroom management when its for the benefit of your students and their learning time? Only four hours of sleep? Well put your big girl pants on and go teach your students who might not come to school with the proper supplies or a meal since the previous day at school. 

Even being here at institute and learning so much in such a concentrated amount of time I still feel ill-equipped and green. Despite my time recruiting for TFA last year, this is a whole new ball game. No longer the resident expert of TFA's role in closing the achievement gap, I've had to learn (and I think the majority of the corps members have had to learn) that while our leadership experience provides us with some tools and relevant prior knowledge, the most seasoned leader here is getting a run for their money. And its good. Because why shouldn't we learn as much as we can and work as hard as we can for these students? We signed up for this and just because its difficult does not mean we can quite or stop. We can whine of course, and lose sleep, and fail, but we can also succeed, and support each other, and get to know our kids. (Which I would say is why we are all still here. And why people are still in the five other institutes going on across the U.S.) 

I couldn't wrap up this without touching on the reason why the 2008 corps stays sane through most of the day - the time when we are under supervision from our Corps Member Advisors, Curriculum Specialists, Literacy Specialists, School Directors, Operations Managers, Faculty Advisors, and welcome squad here at GA Tech. Its like summer camp with a very specific end in mind. They want us to be the best we can be and we want our kids (and ourselves) to achieve as much as possible during this 5 week period. These people have been amazing and honestly deserve to have their titles capitalized because of all of their hard work and the experiences they have gone through. They've done it. And its amazing how envious I feel of their experiences and stories and kids and knowledge. Patience is a virtue and I'm working on not putting the cart before the horse. I have to actually become an effective teacher before I can tell stories about it and convince others to come teach for America. 

This is why I will wait until my first day of teaching has actually sunken in, processed, and the pressure from those 2 hours has worn off or at least rubbed in a little more. Mind you it was a great day - full of decimals, behavioral issues, close calls, and fist fights in my 5th grade math classroom. It really was a great day.