Career Change: TFA Summer Institute (Week 2)

This was the craziest week ever!  I had extreme highs and extreme lows, but, all in all, after spending a week with my students, I can't imagine a better way to spend my days.  Yes, it's been long days and grueling nights of trying to wrap my head around some of the tasks of teaching, but in the end, seeing their faces respond and light up when they learn something new is a treasure.

This past week, I finally got to meet my new students - 17 very bright, VERY rambunctious soon-to-be 9th graders. These are smart, savvy, streetwise, funny boys who like to challenge me on who is boss in my classroom. Sad to say, they ruled the class on Tuesday, but I got back the power on Thursday with giving out consequences for bad behavior; something I neglected on Tuesday. There are mixed reviews on Animal Farm, some think it's weird, but like it; some just don't like it. That's not surprising at all - it's actually not my favorite book, but enjoyable enough. Next week I plan on bringing in some short stories that I think they'll love, like "The Tell-Tale Heart."  Pretty much all teenage boys love gore and Poe is the master! 

Much as I love being in the classroom and teaching these bright young minds, the TFA session are becoming increasingly infuriating. Mostly we're having sessions which are a complete waste of my time and not purposeful at all.  The types of sessions we really need for them to focus on are on teaching content.  As am an English literature major, the objectives that I'm set to teach this summer (and in the fall, BTW) are objectives that I've been doing for eons. I know how setting in a novel affects mood or who the protagonists and antagonists are in novels, but what I don't know is how to disseminate that knowledge to my students! This past Wednesday, while trying to figure out my lesson plan, I had a major breakdown and thought that I made a huge mistake in going the TFA route.  I have since made up my mind that I will muddle through this summer program, doing my best for my students, and hoping against hope that I don't mess them up completely. In the fall at my placement school, I will (hopefully) be surrounded by seasoned teaching professionals and should be able to get ideas from them (plus all my brilliant teacher friends) on how to handle teaching my classes. The next two years will be on-the-job training and, as I'm very smart and dedicated, I will be able to make quick adjustments.

There's a lot of criticism around about Teach for America's training and effectiveness and I sort of concur that TFA is lacking in a lot of areas. Here's a really interesting article about TFA from Campus Progress, which is pretty much spot on about the "break neck training" and the "lack of retention by corps members beyond their 2 year commitment." Frustrations ran amok this week at my school when seriously dedicated teachers wanted to spend more time helping their students with after school tutoring but were told by the TFA staff that it was more important to spend time in the TFA afternoon sessions (most of which are useless). This mindset goes against TFA's own mission statement about students coming first. But I have not made my commitment to TFA. I have made a commitment to my students whether the ones I have this summer or the ones I will have this fall, straight through to the ones I have 20 years from now.  My career change is not about TFA, and I need to remember that! It's all about keeping perspective!