TFA Day:

So, this morning we woke up and went to school like we have grown accustomed to doing. I taught a raucous class of kids the importance of brainstorming and outlining to come up with good ideas. The kids were chatty, but invested. Tomorrow I have plans for trying to find ways to minimize their chatter. Keep informed, I will tell you if they ever work. I have been working on my "Teacher Look". However, unlike amazing people- like my cousin Sally, I have no teacher look to this point. I do have a proximity and posture trick that works out since i am much bigger than my students and after years of talking shit to my mirror, I have some experience in trying to look tough. Fortunately, to an 11 year old, a semi stearn looking 245 pound dude standing next to him/her with a serious tone generally operates in a similar way as a teacher look. It is just less cool and less efficient. Teacher looks are scary.

Anyways, the afternoon came around and we were scheduled to have another marathon Curriculum Specialist Session for 3 hours in a hot dark library. When we got in there the core was pretty frazled. A lot of the classes had been really chatty, we hadn't been making the academic gains we wanted, or sleeping enough. So there were some people on the verge of tears. I was actually in a pretty good mood since i had spent 8 minutes at lunch throwing a ball back and forth with my Corps Member Advisor- Katie. The monotany and simplicity of it was theraputic.

The session began with the preface that it is time for us to look at time management again and examine our values. We were supposed to write "What does TFA mean to you?" and "What is one not work related thing u are going to do tonight?"

I wrote: TFA means never being good enough- always having room to improve- closing the achievement gap. It means frustration, relentlessness, overcoming obstacles, and rejoicing in small successes. TFA means seeing Jeronimo smile and understand what an adjective is. It means not just having big goals, but living them. TFA is an organization. It is the No Fear folder of my life. TFA is the reason I know my next two years will not be wasted. It is a job, a dream, a paradigm. It means work hard, get smart. It is my opportunity to serve the country without a gun in my hand. It is a long shot and hard work, it is a step towards a better tomorrow. And it is the main reason I could really go for a nap right now.

They picked a few students and had them read theirs out loud one girl started crying as she reflected on being frustrated that her students have hardly been learning apparently, and she feels like it is her fault. She talked about being worried that she wouldn't improve their learning and was wasting every one's time. She talked about being exhausted.

Then the CMA's and CS's (our teachers and administrators) talked about what it meant to them. one group made an acrostic poem- the first groups talked really touchingly about what it has meant to them in their lives. How it touches them still now as they are alumni of the program just involved with helping train us. Then the second group of kindergartner CMA's spoke and said it stood for TOTALLY FREE AFTERNOON!!!!!!

They gave us the afternoon off and loaded us on the busses and had games and snacks and stuff waiting for us at the dorms. Everyone was in such a great mood. I got a group of 6 people and we went and played volleyball with a kickball. It has been raining constantly for about a week and so the sand was (no exaggeration) 10 inch deep mud. It was a mess and them 6 more people came and played and like10 came and watched. It was a great way to relieve stress and have fun without worrying about not making enough of a difference.

After the Volleyball game I met up with Flora, Ashleigh, and Kristen and we drove to Mario Garcia Elementary School. Those are my CM's that are going to teach there with me. Someday later i will write about what my school looked like. I just wanted to reflect that i had some down time and the TFA people are clever with morale.

I love all of you, and miss those of you reading this (whom I know).