Controlled Chaos

I posted this on the board at school today. Everyone has been feeling kind of overwhelmed (perhaps especially me), and I thought today’s comic really captured the right sentiment for a turnaround.

Chillin’ for a Million

Penguins getting their dance on…

We started teaching this Monday, and I’m taken with the occupation. So much has happened since then that I can’t even bother to summarize (especially if I want to nab 6 hours of sleep tonight…). I will, however, hit a few highlights:

First, our class goal is to make it to the “Island of Knowledge.” We spent the first part of Day 1 investing our students in the goal. Later in the day, when a member of my collaborative told the class that reading and math help our boats get to the Island faster, Christian M. said “So math and reading are like a motor for our boats.” I was awed.

Later that same day, when we were graphing their favorite subjects to a pictograph on the board, I was trying to impress upon them that each subject in school was important, and that they all played into one another. When I asked how reading and social studies were tied together, Christian Herrera said “We have to be able to read so we can know about the history of war.” My SMT (Summer Mentor Teacher) and I caught eyes for a moment in amazement, and I acknowledged his correct response.

Today in class, I was going through the steps of pre-writing. The topic was “People we like.” For number one, I wrote “My mom. She raised me.” For number two, I wrote “Ms. Bebon, she helps me teach.” Before I could get to number three, I heard Raul say, “Number three is his girlfriend.” I took a second to inform Raul that he was incorrect, because I was single. Without missing a beat, he half-said, half-sang “Ms. Bebon is single too-oo-oo!” I couldn’t help but laugh at him.

Then, to end my lesson today, I had an experience you won’t get trained on in institute. Christian Herrera walked up to me with his hand extended, a small white object in it. I asked Christian what he had. “My tooth,” he said. After we bagged up his tooth and gave him a paper towel (he said it didn’t hurt), we had him sit back down. Someone’s getting a visit from the tooth fairy tonight!

Viridiana, Davin, Jonathan, Anthony, Jason, Ezequiel, Raul, Christian M., Christian H., Chelsea, Michelle, Erica and Rocio. My Fourth grade class for the next four weeks. We’ll send you all a post card from the Island of Knowledge. =)

The first week is finally through. And my computer finally got here, and hooked up to the Internet. I’ll try to detail my life a bit more frequently moving forward. I finally administered reading assessments to my kids this week, and wrote my first lesson plans. I average 3 hours of sleep a night. There’s so much going on, and so much to write about. But for now, I thought I’d write about my meta-analysis of the movement I’ve enrolled in.

TFA is radically progressive. They collect data all the time, and act on it. They are willing to make substantive organizational shifts on an annual basis. Indeed, I’m confident that the summer institute has never been the same as it was the year before. This comes at a slight cost – like political progressivism, it can seem a bit unorganized at times. But in my first week, something has become obvious to me – they are willing to trust their recruitment process, and let us take weight on our shoulders as well.  That decision is paying off.
It’s not easy for any of us. We work hard, sleep little, and make mistakes. But 500 of us do this together, support each other, and work toward the same goal: ending educational inequality. And each year, the organization as a whole grows, transforms, matures. So does each person involved. I was looking for the growth opportunity in life – I couldn’t have made a better choice.