Teach for America: Sunday Night

On Thursday, I went to get fingerprinted and had my background check, and on Friday I got my contract! This weekend, I also got internet connected in my home and I got a couch! It’s made my home feel much more comfortable, and my life outside of school a bit less stressful. This past week, I haven’t been teaching. I mean, I taught a lesson on place value on Tuesday, but I haven’t been teaching, otherwise. I’ve been supervising the students at lunch every day, which is interesting – working out how to get students not to play with their food, that kind of thing. Getting everyone lined up to go from lunch to extension classes. I’m not sure how much teaching I’ll be doing this week.

I feel guilty about this. I should be in front of the classroom every day, I should be in the arena, so to speak. Instead, I’m watching from the sidelines, stretching, training. I’ve been observing a veteran teacher at my school every day. I’ve been helping her in her classroom, and looking a lot at how she runs her class. I’m trying to work out how I’ll blend her way of doing things with mine, how I can build a classroom where there’s collaboration and relationships between students, without it getting out of control.

It’s hard.