Refreshed and back in the swing...

So, after much sleep and vegging out, I'm finally refreshed and up for a whole new week of Summer Institute. It hasn't been bad at all, just very, very (verrrry) intense and at times, just plain exhausting. I've lost count now of the number of nights I've arrived home from Institute and just passed out - no reading, no family time, no TV, no nothing... just a shower and my pillow. I guess I underestimated just how much this could take out of you. When I get home most days, I'm so tired that I'm literally scared to take a shower until after I get all my reading and assignments done. If I don't wait, I'm liable to pass out on the couch and be down for the night (yeah, it's like that).

Anywho... We're in week 2 now and things are going very well. The summer school classroom I've been assigned to is for High School History, and it's awesome. The teacher is wonderful - a real answered prayer. And the school is nice, too. I was really surprised at just how many students showed up for summer school, but I guess that just reiterates why we're there. We do lunch duty during lunch, so we're all getting pretty adept at eating while standing and walking around the cafeteria to talk to and socialize with the kids. Call me crazy, but when I was in high school, the LAST thing I wanted after being in a classroom with the same teacher for hours was to have that teacher sit down and talk to me during my lunchtime... Hmmmm. But, since we're being asked to talk and socialize with them during their very (very) short lunch time, talk and socialize we will. ;)

We start practice teaching next week. I'll do my best to update on how that goes... Now, off to my Unit Planning and Big Goal work products. Adios!

Blah...

Omgosh... I'm so tired I can hardly see straight. I've been meaning to update this blog and tell you what Institute has been like day by day, but.... I'M SO FREAKIN' TIRED I CAN'T HOLD MY HEAD UP. It'll be all I can do right now to drag myself to the shower and hit the bed... I'm wiped.

Tomorrow's another day.

Institute, Day One

Whew. Had our first day of Institute today, and it was really great. During the opening session, we covered the achievement gap that exists in our country, and why it's so important that programs like ours exist to help close that huge disparity in the quality of education received by minorities in the United States. The stats are just staggering. Staggering, saddening, maddening, infuriating... it's a ridiculous situation that's unfair on so many levels it's not even funny... but, that's why we're here, right? Learning, reading, studying, practicing, becoming... to help make this a more equal race to the future for as many kids as we can...

After our all-cohort meeting, we broke down into our respective groups and met our PT Advisors. Ours is awesome. Cheery, energetic and knows her stuff... can't wait to learn more and more from this lady. I'm so thankful that I got a good group!!! Yay. We went right to work, with session after session (after session), beginning to cover the modules in our summer curriculum. No time wasted here!! lol  It was good stuff, I learned alot and made some good friends along the way, too. When the day was finally over close to 5:30, I felt a little tired, but had no idea just how exhausted I realllllly was. When I got home and took a shower, I was OUT. Completely OUT. I was so tired and worn out that I couldn't keep my eyes open. My body was crying... what the heck did you do to me today??? Well, body... that would be INSTITUTE, day one. Guess I'd better get used to it!!

*** More Institute info in July entries ***

....

So it's like 2:29 am, and I can't sleep. Took not one, but TWO Melatonins and still... no sleep. One usually knocks me out cold on nights like this. I think my brain is just seriously overworked from completing my pre-Institute work. Yeah, maybe that's it, lol. Whoever said they don't check your pre-Institute work for completion wasn't part of TNTP... 'cause that's certainly not the case with us.

Our ISP (all twenty-something pages of it) was due last night at 11:59 pm, and I worked on it for several days straight only to still have to finally submit the finished product at ... yup... 11:59 pm. Just made it, literally. That thing was so long is was just scary. Our first lesson plan was due the next day (today), and that took forever, too! Don't get me wrong... I knew writing lesson plans took time - but I didn't expect that it would take me the whole entire day to write ONE complete lesson plan that was up to TNTP standards. Wow, that took alot out of me. Got that one submitted just in time, too. Institute's starting in a couple of DAYS, and I'm sure we've got soooooooooooo much more to do in the next six and a half weeks that it's not even funny.... Melatonin, gonna need ya, buddy!

Induction

Just had Induction this past weekend, and it was so informative. I've been reading blogs from various TFA corps members for the past year or so to get an idea of what Induction would be like, and from the readings that I found, I expected lots of inspirational (TFA-like) speakers, lots of cheering and getting hyped up for the task that lies before us, etc, etc.... Guess I thought it would be a kind of pep rally of sorts to get us geared up and ready to start Institute on a really high note...

Yeah... no, lol. It wasn't bad at all... it was just ... Work. We didn't have any speakers slated to greet us and stir up our enthusiasm for the challenge we're about to take on. We didn't have any cheers or things that you read about so much on other people's blogs who have been through similiar training... but what we did have was, well, excellent.

Our Induction was work from start to finish. We went over (in painstaking detail) all the ways we would be evaluated this summer in Institute, what those evaluation instruments looked like and how they were used, how we could use them to guide our learning and practice teaching, etc. We also covered the specific schedule for Institute (finally, yay), and what those six plus weeks will look like for us. I have to say... the time was used very well and I learned a whole lot.

Although I was kinda looking forward to a speaker or two to give us more info on how this educational inequality is looking nationally and exactly how our work here will help to put a dent in the status quo, I can honestly say that I don't feel my time was wasted at all. On the contrary, I actually feel alot more prepared to enter Institute in a week or so, having a greater understanding of what's required of me and how I will be evaluated. So, all in all, Induction was a good thing!

I so appreciate that the people I've met in our cohort are friendly and outgoing and willing to help each other. I think that with a culture like that, we can accomplish just about anything. And the coolest part is that we're the charter corps in our area this year. How awesome is that??? Man... if you purpose to do your absolute best and learn all you can, dedicate yourself to the commitment and really push, you can come out of this first year having accomplished some great things with your kids. That's soo exciting to me!!!

I have to admit there are times when my mind just fast-forwards to next year this time, when I can look back on the whole experience of Institute and my first year of teaching (and passing my certification program), and realize that 1) I will no longer be a first-year newbie teacher and 2)I'll be a real teacher with a real teaching license behind my name. How cool is that??? 

So looking forward to starting Institute and getting the jitters out with this student teaching thing. I reeeeeeally hope I get a great Cooperating Teacher this summer. Someone who actually likes kids would be phenomenal. I'm determined to soak up every single little itty bit of learning that I can from whoever this person will be... their years of experience in this thing have brought them much wisdom in the everyday how-to, and I'm looking forward to learning as much of that wisdom as I can. Hey, every little bit helps, and I've got a t-o-n of stuff to master in a short time.

I'll do my best to be more regular about my blogging once Institute starts. I can remember scouring Google to find any and everything I could about TFA and similar program blogs that talked in detail about what Institute was like. In keeping with those that did so and ended up helping me in the process, I'm going to do my best to be consistent with it to potentially help next year's cohort when they start their Google searches. We're all helpers one of another, that's the way I look at it!  ;)