When I was at Western, I was obsessive about my GPA. It felt like a chance to redeem myself from what felt like a huge failure at art school, it felt like a chance to finally prove that I was smart. In two and a half years, I only had one B and one BA, …
I’ve been focusing a lot of my energy, lately, on getting my afternoon math block right. The morning has gotten better because I’ve been more consistent about explaining centers and I’ve started our morning meeting earlier, but it still feels, often, like my afternoon is a hot mess, my kids won’t stop talking, and there’s …
I heard of Dispatches from Pluto sometime when I first found out I was placed in Mississippi, it was recommended by someone from TFA, as a depiction of life in the Delta. I had been meaning to read it for a while, but hadn’t gotten around to it. I finally got around to reading it, …
In my first year of teaching, I’ve received a wealth of information on teaching reading, and a decent amount about teaching math, and next to nothing about teaching science. I’m not complaining! I understand why – so much of elementary school (especially lower elementary) is about building a foundation so that students can learn later …
I made it to Christmas! As of Thursday at noon, I finished my first semester of teaching. I’m halfway through my first year, and a quarter of the way through my corps commitment. It’s weird, knowing that the hardest season of teaching is over. My last week of teaching this term was less stressful than …
I made it to Thanksgiving, which felt like it took so long to arrive. I guess that’s some sort of achievement. I’m 39% of the way through the school year, nearly 20% of the way through my whole commitment. That’s such a strange feeling, that I’ve made it through a significant portion of TFA. I’m …
I feel so guilty, sometimes, about not being good at teaching yet. It feels like I’m working on it, and getting better, but I’m really not good at it right now. I moved to first grade this week, and it’s been better than second grade was. Part of it, of course, is the size of …
The Photobooth pictures above show me, freshman year of college, working on a project for design school, and a drawing I did for class. Tonight, as I snapped another Photobooth picture of myself, my mind went straight to those. In my freshman year of college, I had no idea I would end up here, in …
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 …
My first week of teaching went really badly. Monday, I felt like I was just running around getting everything ready. School didn’t start until Tuesday, but I had to get my classroom set up in some way that looked presentable, and I had a mountain of curriculum in my room, which I was trying to …