Tough week...it's been craaaazy. Still a little more left to go...
Only two more weeks to get my students to the 8th grade!! It's crunch time :-/
Friday, June 29, 2007
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Yessss :-)
WE GOT THE AFTERNOON OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :-D
We got to leave school at 1:45 PM instead of 4:00 PM and we had a carnival when we got back! Soooo fun! AND they cancelled our evening activities! Time for a meeting with the managing director of Hawai'i TFA, then dinner off-campus with the girls!
Everyone is sooooo happy :-)
We got to leave school at 1:45 PM instead of 4:00 PM and we had a carnival when we got back! Soooo fun! AND they cancelled our evening activities! Time for a meeting with the managing director of Hawai'i TFA, then dinner off-campus with the girls!
Everyone is sooooo happy :-)
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Funny
One elevator is working again! Hurray! But I thought it was hilarious that some corps members posted signs saying things like, "Keep relentlessly pursuing your dorm room!"
Week 3...
Week 3 Starts Now!
(Group meetings + homework + office hours = good times)
Also, the elevators are broken. We live on the 11th floor.
But I shouldn't complain. The last I heard, Floor 16 was without A/C. If I had to hike up 16 flights of stairs, and had to deal with a dry, humid room...well, I don't know what I'd do.
Let's hope the elevators get fixed soon...
(Group meetings + homework + office hours = good times)
Also, the elevators are broken. We live on the 11th floor.
But I shouldn't complain. The last I heard, Floor 16 was without A/C. If I had to hike up 16 flights of stairs, and had to deal with a dry, humid room...well, I don't know what I'd do.
Let's hope the elevators get fixed soon...
Saturday, June 23, 2007
Week 1 of Teaching/Week 2 of Institute down
Wow. I'm still really exhausted, but so glad to be done with Week 1 of teaching and Week 2 of Institute. Three more weeks!!
Yesterday, I had a headache at school and wanted to stay in, but my school was having a mixer at a bar in Rice Village. I wasn't going to go, but then my friend Diyn and I found out there was a Half-Price Books there. We immediately changed our minds and decided to go. It was my first time in a Half-Price Books, and it was amazing!! I couldn't control myself and came home with several pounds of books that will never fit in my luggage. It was the perfect end to a really tough week.
It's really weird that our groups are made up from people whose placements are all over the country, because I've met so many awesome people and we're going to be so far apart in a few weeks. But it's also cool because we'll all be doing the same thing, and we'll have people to stay with when we visit :-).
Today I'm going to hang out with my friend Caitlin and her friends tonight, but for now I'm going to work on my [neverending] TFA assignments. Our faculty advisor is awesome and is letting me use his LCD projector every day, so I can do PowerPoint for all of my lessons. Let's face it, we all know that I am not the crafty type who can bust out posters for visual information! I am very technologically-dependent!
Other things I need to accomplish next week: meet individually with students to discuss scores on diagnostic, adapt my behavior system, figure out how to fix the Bingo game I made for my students to play, and get individual organizers for all of my students.
Yesterday, I had a headache at school and wanted to stay in, but my school was having a mixer at a bar in Rice Village. I wasn't going to go, but then my friend Diyn and I found out there was a Half-Price Books there. We immediately changed our minds and decided to go. It was my first time in a Half-Price Books, and it was amazing!! I couldn't control myself and came home with several pounds of books that will never fit in my luggage. It was the perfect end to a really tough week.
It's really weird that our groups are made up from people whose placements are all over the country, because I've met so many awesome people and we're going to be so far apart in a few weeks. But it's also cool because we'll all be doing the same thing, and we'll have people to stay with when we visit :-).
Today I'm going to hang out with my friend Caitlin and her friends tonight, but for now I'm going to work on my [neverending] TFA assignments. Our faculty advisor is awesome and is letting me use his LCD projector every day, so I can do PowerPoint for all of my lessons. Let's face it, we all know that I am not the crafty type who can bust out posters for visual information! I am very technologically-dependent!
Other things I need to accomplish next week: meet individually with students to discuss scores on diagnostic, adapt my behavior system, figure out how to fix the Bingo game I made for my students to play, and get individual organizers for all of my students.
Wednesday, June 20, 2007
Day 3 of Teaching
Third lesson taught! My group is super lucky because we have an awesome faculty advisor. He helps us with our lessons, finding resources, managing the classroom, and gives us great feedback on our lessons. I was really nervous because he sat in on my whole lesson today, but it went really well. My students are really well-behaved!
Last night I got 5.5 hours of sleep, and it was amaaaazing!! Back to school...I am on the Internet to look up TX history and technically should not be checking my e-mail...they are kind of strict about everything here, so I'm just going to close this window.
Last night I got 5.5 hours of sleep, and it was amaaaazing!! Back to school...I am on the Internet to look up TX history and technically should not be checking my e-mail...they are kind of strict about everything here, so I'm just going to close this window.
Tuesday, June 19, 2007
so excited...
I AM GOING TO GET FIVE HOURS OF SLEEP TONIGHT!!!!
Thanks to my amazing teaching group member Camila, who is super productive and helped me focus soooo much. I am going to bed before midnight for the first time in as long as I can remember!
Day 2 teaching was not bad...not good, but not bad...I think my kids are awesome!
Thanks to my amazing teaching group member Camila, who is super productive and helped me focus soooo much. I am going to bed before midnight for the first time in as long as I can remember!
Day 2 teaching was not bad...not good, but not bad...I think my kids are awesome!
Monday, June 18, 2007
Day 1 with Students!
Today was my first day with students at West Briar Middle School. It's really difficult to establish authority when you can't stop giggling...we know this is an issue of mine I need to work on. But my observer's reviews weren't bad. I have a ton of stuff to work on tonight that is due tomorrow, so I'm going to focus on that. My goal is to get some sleep tonight!
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Week 1 Complete
One week down, four to go. I didn't expect the first week to be so hard. This won't be a very long post because I have a ton of stuff to do. But here's a few notes, sorry if I've posted them before:
-I'm teaching 7th Grade Social Studies (Texas History) starting TOMORROW! Ahhh.
-I work in a collaborative with three other corps members. Each of us has our own class, so we'll all be doing different things, but all of us have our own unique ideas and systems as well
-This past week has been all about establishing authority and acting assertively in the classroom
-We have also been learning the content of our subject area, because none of us are from Texas or particularly knowledgeable about the history of Texas
-Yesterday I got to hang out with Caitlin and her fellow NASA friends, which was really fun. Her friends are all really sweet and welcoming, and we had a blast hanging out around Houston and going to the Astros game. I was exhausted, but it was amazing to get off campus and get away from TFA for a while. We have been eating, sleeping, learning, etc. together for the past week, and it was good to get away.
-For the next four weeks, we will continue our schedule at the school from 7 AM - 4 PM (bus departs at 6:30 AM, hurray! Last week it was 6:15 AM), but we will also be teaching and doing professional development. So we won't be in sessions from 7 - 4, like this week. We will still have sessions, but only for part of the day.
-There are also optional and required events at night. Soon we will be starting learning groups, and special education has a learning group, so I will be attending those as much as possible. Because of time constraints, we haven't learned about special education at our schools, so the special ed. teachers are all getting really nervous--we want to learn what to do when we get to our schools!
-I'm teaching 7th Grade Social Studies (Texas History) starting TOMORROW! Ahhh.
-I work in a collaborative with three other corps members. Each of us has our own class, so we'll all be doing different things, but all of us have our own unique ideas and systems as well
-This past week has been all about establishing authority and acting assertively in the classroom
-We have also been learning the content of our subject area, because none of us are from Texas or particularly knowledgeable about the history of Texas
-Yesterday I got to hang out with Caitlin and her fellow NASA friends, which was really fun. Her friends are all really sweet and welcoming, and we had a blast hanging out around Houston and going to the Astros game. I was exhausted, but it was amazing to get off campus and get away from TFA for a while. We have been eating, sleeping, learning, etc. together for the past week, and it was good to get away.
-For the next four weeks, we will continue our schedule at the school from 7 AM - 4 PM (bus departs at 6:30 AM, hurray! Last week it was 6:15 AM), but we will also be teaching and doing professional development. So we won't be in sessions from 7 - 4, like this week. We will still have sessions, but only for part of the day.
-There are also optional and required events at night. Soon we will be starting learning groups, and special education has a learning group, so I will be attending those as much as possible. Because of time constraints, we haven't learned about special education at our schools, so the special ed. teachers are all getting really nervous--we want to learn what to do when we get to our schools!
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tired but Excited!
A few quick updates:
1. Coming into this, I wasn't positive what to expect. On the one hand, previous corps members all got the same strange look in their eyes as they recalled their institute days...waking up at ungodly hours, freezing inside and sweltering outside, no time, tons of work, session after session. But I figured, I should be prepared. After all, my schedule has been SO crazy for so long. I mean, look at Senior Week! I figured I would be able to handle it, since I had handled similar intense times before. But this is completely different. The work I have to do may not seem hard initially, but it's incredibly difficult to try to understand concepts of teaching, then try to apply them in lesson plans while we are still taking in everything ourselves. So institute is really, really hard--and we haven't started teaching yet. That's when the real craziness begins! Right now, we are all completely exhausted. I have to go in 15 minutes to another session...
2. I love the Hawai'i corps!! The first week was fun, but at institute, we're all really bonding, and I love it. I think that's the experience of every region--shared experience unites (especially when it's rough, haha)--and it's fabulous. But I've also met amazing people from all over the place.
3. This weekend's going to be great! On Friday night TFA is busing us to Rice Village, which I hear is a really fun hangout, and then on Saturday I'm going to a brewery tour and Astros game with my friend Cait who works at NASA. She's amazing and I'm so excited to see her!
1. Coming into this, I wasn't positive what to expect. On the one hand, previous corps members all got the same strange look in their eyes as they recalled their institute days...waking up at ungodly hours, freezing inside and sweltering outside, no time, tons of work, session after session. But I figured, I should be prepared. After all, my schedule has been SO crazy for so long. I mean, look at Senior Week! I figured I would be able to handle it, since I had handled similar intense times before. But this is completely different. The work I have to do may not seem hard initially, but it's incredibly difficult to try to understand concepts of teaching, then try to apply them in lesson plans while we are still taking in everything ourselves. So institute is really, really hard--and we haven't started teaching yet. That's when the real craziness begins! Right now, we are all completely exhausted. I have to go in 15 minutes to another session...
2. I love the Hawai'i corps!! The first week was fun, but at institute, we're all really bonding, and I love it. I think that's the experience of every region--shared experience unites (especially when it's rough, haha)--and it's fabulous. But I've also met amazing people from all over the place.
3. This weekend's going to be great! On Friday night TFA is busing us to Rice Village, which I hear is a really fun hangout, and then on Saturday I'm going to a brewery tour and Astros game with my friend Cait who works at NASA. She's amazing and I'm so excited to see her!
Tuesday, June 12, 2007
Institute
Yesterday was the first day of Institute, and I am still incredibly jet-lagged (along with the rest of the 2007 Hawai'i corps)! Last night at opening ceremonies, Wendy Kopp, the founder of Teach For America, spoke. It was the second time I've gotten to see her speak. It's truly amazing that her idea as an undergraduate almost 20 years ago has turned into this major organization that improves the lives of students (and teachers) everywhere.
I was pretty exhausted yesterday and kept falling asleep in classes. More on the structure and content of the institute later...it's 5:40 AM and I have to be at my bus by 6:15 AM. But before that we have to ride the elevator downstairs (we are all staying in two towers at the University of Houston), pack a lunch, and find our color coded buses while 700 people are doing the same thing, so we have to leave early!
I was pretty exhausted yesterday and kept falling asleep in classes. More on the structure and content of the institute later...it's 5:40 AM and I have to be at my bus by 6:15 AM. But before that we have to ride the elevator downstairs (we are all staying in two towers at the University of Houston), pack a lunch, and find our color coded buses while 700 people are doing the same thing, so we have to leave early!
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Pictures
It's just about time for dinner at the Institute, but I wanted to post two quick pictures of the beach we went to in Waikiki. Once we get back, I'll post pictures of the non-tourist beaches--I can't wait to explore! I also plan on finding the places they shoot "Lost," one of my favorite television shows. But here are two beautiful beach pictures...
The second one is Diamond Head in the distance!
The second one is Diamond Head in the distance!
Updates
Hi, everyone!
I am now in Houston for Teach For America's five-week institute (basically, teacher boot camp). I will be student teaching at West Briar Middle School along with other Hawai'i special education teachers and corps members from all over the U.S. Houston is one of five TFA training sites across the country, and corps members from Houston, Hawai'i, Memphis, Greater New Orleans, Mississippi Delta, New Mexico, Rio Grande Valley, South Dakota, and South Louisiana attend.
Here is the actual link to my school:
http://www.wheelm.k12.hi.us/index.html
Another TFA corps member who will be at my school, Amy, and I visited on Friday before we left Hawai'i. Everyone at Wheeler is really wonderful, and I look forward to being a part of their staff. They told me that in addition to my 6th grade special education classes, I will also be teaching a World Language elective to many of the 6th grade students. I'll learn more when we get back to Hawai'i on July 14. I will be teaching in a portable classroom, so that will be an adventure as well!
I will be living with Jenn, who also went to CWRU, but we aren't exactly sure where we will be living. We didn't have time to look for housing during Institute, but we have a much better idea of where we want to live after talking with the 06 corps members, school administrators, and other locals. I also will probably be buying a used car when we get back.
Last night, we got some much-needed sleep after some long flights. We left our hotel at 6:30 PM on Friday for the airport, flew Honolulu to Las Vegas, had a four-hour layover in Vegas, flew to El Paso, stopped for a little, then flew to Houston. Carmen, an 06 Houston corps member AND the person who got me hooked on TFA (she worked as a Campus Campaign Manager at CWRU during her senior year, then convinced me to apply for the same job) is amazing, and she and her roommate picked us up from the airport around 10 PM on Saturday. As soon as we got back to their place, we CRASHED-I didn't sleep on the planes or in the airports, so I was exhausted.
The next five weeks are going to be really challenging. The bus for my school leaves at 6:15 AM every day, and the days and nights are long and packed full of student teaching, seminars, classes, meetings, and work. But I am ultimately excited because there are over 700 amazing new corps members here, and we are going to learn SO much and gain so much experience that will be vital once we start teaching!
My laptop is being fixed somewhere in the U.S., and it should ship back to Hawai'i in a few weeks. In the meantime, I rented one to use for the time I'm in Houston, so I have regular computer access and can update my blogs accordingly!
I am now in Houston for Teach For America's five-week institute (basically, teacher boot camp). I will be student teaching at West Briar Middle School along with other Hawai'i special education teachers and corps members from all over the U.S. Houston is one of five TFA training sites across the country, and corps members from Houston, Hawai'i, Memphis, Greater New Orleans, Mississippi Delta, New Mexico, Rio Grande Valley, South Dakota, and South Louisiana attend.
Here is the actual link to my school:
http://www.wheelm.k12.hi.us/index.html
Another TFA corps member who will be at my school, Amy, and I visited on Friday before we left Hawai'i. Everyone at Wheeler is really wonderful, and I look forward to being a part of their staff. They told me that in addition to my 6th grade special education classes, I will also be teaching a World Language elective to many of the 6th grade students. I'll learn more when we get back to Hawai'i on July 14. I will be teaching in a portable classroom, so that will be an adventure as well!
I will be living with Jenn, who also went to CWRU, but we aren't exactly sure where we will be living. We didn't have time to look for housing during Institute, but we have a much better idea of where we want to live after talking with the 06 corps members, school administrators, and other locals. I also will probably be buying a used car when we get back.
Last night, we got some much-needed sleep after some long flights. We left our hotel at 6:30 PM on Friday for the airport, flew Honolulu to Las Vegas, had a four-hour layover in Vegas, flew to El Paso, stopped for a little, then flew to Houston. Carmen, an 06 Houston corps member AND the person who got me hooked on TFA (she worked as a Campus Campaign Manager at CWRU during her senior year, then convinced me to apply for the same job) is amazing, and she and her roommate picked us up from the airport around 10 PM on Saturday. As soon as we got back to their place, we CRASHED-I didn't sleep on the planes or in the airports, so I was exhausted.
The next five weeks are going to be really challenging. The bus for my school leaves at 6:15 AM every day, and the days and nights are long and packed full of student teaching, seminars, classes, meetings, and work. But I am ultimately excited because there are over 700 amazing new corps members here, and we are going to learn SO much and gain so much experience that will be vital once we start teaching!
My laptop is being fixed somewhere in the U.S., and it should ship back to Hawai'i in a few weeks. In the meantime, I rented one to use for the time I'm in Houston, so I have regular computer access and can update my blogs accordingly!
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Assignment!
I officially have a job!
I will be teaching special education 6th Grade math at Wheeler Intermediate School. I'm very excited!
I will be teaching special education 6th Grade math at Wheeler Intermediate School. I'm very excited!
Tuesday, June 5, 2007
In Honolulu
Hi all! I made it safely to Hawai'i, but unfortunately, my laptop did not. So posting may be kind of hard for me for a while...but Hawai'i is fabulous! I have my first job interview today. So far, we have already had a meal that included Spam--don't worry, I didn't eat it. We are staying at the Ohana East in Honolulu until Friday. On Friday, we go to Houston for five weeks, then fly back to Hawai'i and start school on July 26. I'll post pictures as soon as I get a chance, and I'll talk to you soon!
Mahalo!
Mahalo!
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