So when I found out I was teaching Kindergarten this summer, I was absolutely terrified! Now, I wonder why...I am absolutely loving it. Now, I don't think it is something I could do for a full year...maybe if I learned a LOT more patience and was more creative BUT I am enjoying it for four weeks. Last week was crazy at various times but today and yesterday could not have gone any better. It has been such a relief to be able to plan with someone else. Angie (who will be one of my roommates!) teaches the same objectives I am except with a different class, so we only write lessons for every other day and then share with each other. She was also an education major at the University of Texas at Brownsville and will be teaching Kindergarten in Hazlehurst in August. She is very creative with her lessons and between the two of us, we make up an awesome team. Our CMA only has positive things to say about our lesson plans and then our implementation seems to go better than expected as well!
This week, we are working on counting. The problem is that based on our kids' diagnostic math assessments we did the first day of summer school, 90% of my kids knew how to count and how to count objects. I remember thinking about how bored they were going to be after doing 3 lessons on counting! But, Angie came up with a super cute lesson we did yesterday where the kids helped me make soup and then they got to make trail mix to take home---while counting the different ingredients in each! They were so excited! And then today, I wrote a lesson plan involving a stuffed animal who loved stickers. But, we had to count out the number of stickers he wanted. And of course, this stuffed animal (Mr. Wells) did not like loud noises so we whispered for almost an hour! They even all waited patiently, quietly, and in their chairs to give Mr. Wells a hug right before dismissal. One thing I've learned about kindergarten: you can take things that seem silly or not much fun and they will love it! I'm crossing my fingers that my third graders will be the same way!
Speaking of third graders...I got to meet one of the administrators at Hazlehurst (well she is with the reading program that runs Hazlehurst so she is an outside admin) last night at our district meeting! Although we did not get to sign a contract, she did have the floor plan of the school for us to see. As of right now, I will be in room 508...right next to the library! It's crazy to see it all become a reality! Either this weekend or next, a group of us will hopefully be going down to Hazlehurst to look at potential housing. I do have two roommates (Angie and then another girl named Jenna) and they are both awesome! We are just waiting for the right house to become available. Please pray that we would be patient and that everything would work out in good timing (aka God's timing!).
Tomorrow marks the official midway point of Institute. Which also means that next week, I will begin teaching literacy...nervous and excited at the same time! Hopefully I will post some pictures soon of my kids/classroom. I need to remember to take pictures with my phone or just borrow my partner's camera and upload her pictures. Thank you all for your prayers and I hope you are enjoying your week!
Tuesday, June 26, 2012
Wednesday, June 20, 2012
Boot Camp
It has been a week and a half since my last post and there
is a reason. Institute is the equivalent
of boot camp. My schedule each day looks
like this:
- Wake up at 5 am
- Grab breakfast to go, COFFEE, and lunch from the dining hall.
- Bus leaves at 6 am on the dot.
- Hour long bus ride to Belzoni, MS which is when I do any last minute lesson prep. or do my devotional or start working on a new lesson plan (actually, I am currently typing this post on the bus).
- Get to school at 7am and prepare for the babies (that’s just what we call our Kindergartners in our group) to arrive.
- The babies come in between 7:30 and 8.
- There are four teachers for the same group of 17 kids but the other math person, Amber, and I go to a session from 8-9:30 while the two reading folks teach.
- I help manage classroom and take the kids to lunch after the session. Then I lead teach my 45 minute math lesson (right now we’re working on colors and sorting).
- Dismissal is at 12:45. Talk about mass chaos….I have bus duty and it is definitely not like Elm Street bus duty! J
- At 1:15 we start our first afternoon session either with all the Corps Members (CMs) at our school or just with my CMA group. My CMA group consists of 16 Entering K teachers with our CMA (Corps Member Advisor) Leader, Brittany, who is a second year and help us out. She’s kinda like a camp counselor and we love her to death. She has a beautiful heart for the babies.
- During this time, we finally get to eat lunch.
- Sessions and occasional work time throughout the afternoon. Sessions cover stuff like classroom management, delivering effective lessons, how to plan meaningful and engaging lessons. So basically, junior block in a condensed amount of time.
- We get on the bus at 4:30 for an hour bus ride back that usually includes more work or just think time.
- Arrive back at Delta State around 5:30, scarf down dinner and then head to the IRC (Instructional Resource Center in the library) to write lessons or prepare materials.
- Some nights, I’ll meet with my Collaborative group (the three other teachers that I teach with) to plan for Academic Intervention Hour (AIH…basically small groups working on whatever the babies might be struggling with)
- My last stop is usually the Print Lab or Copy Cave to finish getting everything ready for the next day.
- Shower and check e-mail, enter data from the day (we have assessment data to enter for each day), and submit my 2 lesson plans for the next day (one for math and one for AIH).
- On a typical night, I can finally get in bed around 11:30 or 12.
Now you know why I haven’t posted in a week and
a half! As crazy as it is though, I love
it! I might be dog tired every day but
the people I am with are incredible, the kids are precious (for the most part J),
and I see the value in the majority of what we do. I wish we wouldn’t have to turn in so many
lesson plans after the first week but they ask us to continue turning in two
every day that are incredibly detailed and almost completely scripted. It is basically like junior block condensed
into four weeks with not as many artistic and fun projects. A lot of the stuff we do is very similar to
my education classes but I have learned a lot the last two weeks. Now, I just have to be able to apply it to my
third grade classroom in Hazlehurst!
As for the weekends, they are pretty laid back but should
definitely be used for getting ahead as much as possible. Our school manager told us not to do any work
on Saturday, so a couple of us took full advantage of that and decided to take
a last minute trip to Jackson! Sarah and I both were having computer problems
so we went to Best Buy and both ended up buying a MAC (thank you TFA for giving
us transitional funding to get us through the summer)!! My life has been so
much more productive this week and I absolutely love it.
This is my Collab. group. We have 17 energetic Kindergartners we get to see every day! We are all showing off our official name tags we received as part of a little "graduation" ceremony they had for all of us the Friday before we started teaching.
(L to R: Harold from Pennsylvania, Cheryl from California, Amber from Boston, and me!)
Sunday, June 10, 2012
Mosquitoes and other challenges
They are everywhere!! In fact, Mississippians joke that mosquitoes are the state bird of Mississippi. I know however, that the mockingbird is the state bird of Mississippi. They even have big trucks that drive around town spraying bug spray out the back to help minimize the attacks...hasn't seemed to really help though unfortunately.
Mosquitoes are only one of the challenges I know I will face this summer as I acclimate to this new environment and community. I found out today that I will be teaching PreK this summer during Institute. So, for the next four weeks, I will be teaching an age group that absolutely terrifies me. I worked with 4 year olds at the Child Development Center at Berry for a few weeks during Christmas break but I never had to actually teach them and prepare them for Kindergarten. Since I'll be teaching 3rd grade in the fall, it will be quite a change. I know that TFA will support me and help prepare me throughout the experience but it is still scary!
I shared in my last post about the awesome people I have had the opportunity to meet and the differences that we share. Most of these people come from completely different backgrounds than I do, including religious backgrounds. I have been very blessed so far to have met a group of girls that will all be teaching in Hazlehurst with me next year that seem to all love the Lord and I am so thankful for those relationships. I am looking forward to developing those relationships even more and working together to serve and minister to other TFA corps members as well as the Delta community.
One other challenge that I am anticipating this summer is the craziness and tight schedule. I have to be up every morning and loading the bus that takes me to Belzoni, MS at 5:55 AM!! Past corps members have told us that institute is one of the most stressful and challenging times of the two year commitment and I'm hoping that my education background and organizational ability will help me stay on top of everything. I just need to remember the importance of taking care of myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Please pray with me that the Lord will strengthen me throughout the next 5 weeks and that I will work relentlessly to learn all that I can during Institute. Also pray for the relationships that I will be building; that they will be edifying in the Word and that I will continue to grow more towards Christ-likeness. Pray that I will use this opportunity to be challenged, step out of my comfort zone, and really explore the kind of impact I can have through teaching for the Kingdom.
With all of that being said, words of encouragement and scripture are always greatly appreciated! My mailing address for the summer is:
Alyssa Nobles/Teach for America
Delta State University
Box B4
1003 West Sunflower Rd.
Cleveland, MS 38733
Mosquitoes are only one of the challenges I know I will face this summer as I acclimate to this new environment and community. I found out today that I will be teaching PreK this summer during Institute. So, for the next four weeks, I will be teaching an age group that absolutely terrifies me. I worked with 4 year olds at the Child Development Center at Berry for a few weeks during Christmas break but I never had to actually teach them and prepare them for Kindergarten. Since I'll be teaching 3rd grade in the fall, it will be quite a change. I know that TFA will support me and help prepare me throughout the experience but it is still scary!
I shared in my last post about the awesome people I have had the opportunity to meet and the differences that we share. Most of these people come from completely different backgrounds than I do, including religious backgrounds. I have been very blessed so far to have met a group of girls that will all be teaching in Hazlehurst with me next year that seem to all love the Lord and I am so thankful for those relationships. I am looking forward to developing those relationships even more and working together to serve and minister to other TFA corps members as well as the Delta community.
One other challenge that I am anticipating this summer is the craziness and tight schedule. I have to be up every morning and loading the bus that takes me to Belzoni, MS at 5:55 AM!! Past corps members have told us that institute is one of the most stressful and challenging times of the two year commitment and I'm hoping that my education background and organizational ability will help me stay on top of everything. I just need to remember the importance of taking care of myself physically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Please pray with me that the Lord will strengthen me throughout the next 5 weeks and that I will work relentlessly to learn all that I can during Institute. Also pray for the relationships that I will be building; that they will be edifying in the Word and that I will continue to grow more towards Christ-likeness. Pray that I will use this opportunity to be challenged, step out of my comfort zone, and really explore the kind of impact I can have through teaching for the Kingdom.
With all of that being said, words of encouragement and scripture are always greatly appreciated! My mailing address for the summer is:
Alyssa Nobles/Teach for America
Delta State University
Box B4
1003 West Sunflower Rd.
Cleveland, MS 38733
Friday, June 8, 2012
Boondocks
First things first, I wanted to explain the title of my blog as well as this post. Both come from a song by Little Big Town called "Boondocks" and one of the lines from the chorus goes "I keep my heart and soul in the boondocks". This song was sung at the Teach For America Mississippi Delta 2012 Corps Member Opening Ceremony by a group of five rising high school seniors from a school in rural Arkansas. The incredible thing is that all five of these seniors have plans to attend major colleges and universities around the nation. They were born and raised in the "boondocks" and are so proud where they come from but they are also going to do incredible things as they leave the Delta.
With that as an introduction, I wanted to let you all know how incredibly thrilled I am to be a part of this national movement to break the cycle of educational inequity. We have had quite a whirlwind these past few days as we get settled here at Delta State University and I have met some really inspiring people from all over the country! And although we have many many differences, we are all here with a common purpose: to ensure that all children, no matter their zip code, have access to an excellent education. I have spent the last three days exploring the stories of the Delta communities, learning about the impact that I can have here, and also identifying key strengths and parts of my story that can translate into so much more for my students. There have been lots of inspirational and motivating sessions that have made me even more excited about the next two years. Induction has been the start of transformational growth and change that will continue the rest of the summer as we begin teaching summer school in a week. We ended the week with a Delta style dinner in the home of community members complete with crawfish, fried chicken, black eyed peas, fried okra, and cornbread. It was so funny to hear some of my new Northern friends say things like "I have never eaten fried okra...or black eyed peas". I am looking forward to some sleep this weekend in order to prepare for the next five weeks.
I hope to post at least once or maybe twice a week about my experiences in the Delta. The video in this post just gives a little more background on Teach For America and our vision that "ONE DAY all students will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education". Our placement guru, Matty B (whom did an absolutely astounding job placing all 300 of the Delta corps members in school districts before Institute...the first corps in the nation to have done so), said it best: "I am Teach for America".
With that as an introduction, I wanted to let you all know how incredibly thrilled I am to be a part of this national movement to break the cycle of educational inequity. We have had quite a whirlwind these past few days as we get settled here at Delta State University and I have met some really inspiring people from all over the country! And although we have many many differences, we are all here with a common purpose: to ensure that all children, no matter their zip code, have access to an excellent education. I have spent the last three days exploring the stories of the Delta communities, learning about the impact that I can have here, and also identifying key strengths and parts of my story that can translate into so much more for my students. There have been lots of inspirational and motivating sessions that have made me even more excited about the next two years. Induction has been the start of transformational growth and change that will continue the rest of the summer as we begin teaching summer school in a week. We ended the week with a Delta style dinner in the home of community members complete with crawfish, fried chicken, black eyed peas, fried okra, and cornbread. It was so funny to hear some of my new Northern friends say things like "I have never eaten fried okra...or black eyed peas". I am looking forward to some sleep this weekend in order to prepare for the next five weeks.
I hope to post at least once or maybe twice a week about my experiences in the Delta. The video in this post just gives a little more background on Teach For America and our vision that "ONE DAY all students will have the opportunity to attain an excellent education". Our placement guru, Matty B (whom did an absolutely astounding job placing all 300 of the Delta corps members in school districts before Institute...the first corps in the nation to have done so), said it best: "I am Teach for America".
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