About this Blog
a Teach For America teacher’s blog
1 week until the Holiday break, and it can’t come soon enough. Meanwhile, I’m enjoying my first own Christmas tree.
I presumed that 2nd year would be a lot easier, and I was wrong. While planning, executing, and overall teaching has remarkably improved, it seems that 2nd year brings on the burden of additional leadership responsibilities. School leadership, TFA leadership, my own schooling (Master’s classes), and then attempting to have a semblance of a real life. Plus, there’s the challenge that– once farfetched– I could be a highly effective teacher. These tasks combined, and I sometimes wish for the naivete of 1st year.
I think I’m burnt out. The last few weeks have been exhausting. I took a trip home in Thanksgiving for break, thinking I’d be refreshed. But I’m not. There are days when I just don’t want to teach. No matter the type of lesson or the need to get…
4 weeks into school already, and I’ve been pummeling. My students, myself, my administration. I pummeled myself to pulp; I took today off to recover. But the pummeling has had its payoffs. My AP students are on a mission. This is what transformative leadership looks like. I love teaching the class; it holds me to…
read more »One of my goals this year is to write more, once a month at least. That’s my promise to myself, and to you, the e-reader, as I navigate my way through a transformative year: year 2 TFA. I’ll call these writings mere remarks; I can’t guarantee they’ll be profound, someday to be affixed below a…
read more »There are nine teaching weeks left in the school year. NINE. And as my school’s secretary eloquently put it, “It’s a freight train from now till the end.” I have 4 units of standards to still teach. Four. I ask myself what I’ve accomplished this year. Things I have accomplished: 1. I will be a…
read more »This was the theme for the 20th anniversary TFA summit. Over 11,000 corps members, alumni, and leaders in the education reform movement left DC with this question in mind. And as tweetdecks explode, fb posts overwhelm, and blogs like TeachforUs overflow, each attendee takes the time to reflect on this question. And, so, it’s my…
read more »First semester of teaching is done. Wow. Some days dragged on slowly, while months flew by. I received 3 Christmas cards from students, and a medley from the senior class (who I don’t teach). And I won’t even get started on all the candy canes. I like my students. Four months in, I’m in a…
read more »I teach science, meaning I have to model basic scientific skills, observation andreasoning. So, let me make some general observations about my new home. The Detroit metro is a loose web of cities and townships, although if someone asks, we collectively say “We’re from Detroit.” As I say this, I am already preparing my rebuttal…
read more »My new home. It’s intimidating to move 2500 miles away from what I’m comfortable with: friends, trails, lattes. Now, I venture to find new friends, trails and lattes. I’m already at my first Starbucks here in Royal Oak, MI. Royal Oak is the epitome of an American suburb: safe, cozy, a bit gentrified. Just a…
read more »I survived institute. What is described as one of the most intense experiences is now over. With 10 hours of workshops every day, lesson planning all night long, and the pockets of sleep in between, institute is not a joke to be taken light heartedly. But now I am back in the Pacific Northwest for…
read more »We are three weeks into our training, though time and space have lost all meaning. Days of the week have been replaced by lesson plans and assignment due dates. Last week was “Cells, Due Date, Lab, More Cells, Sleep”. I’m averaging about 3-4 hours of sleep every night, which never was a surprise. The constant…
read more »
Teach For Us thanks our national sponsor for its generous support
