Day 3

So today was my third day at Institute and I'm having some really mixed emotions. This morning I was extremely frustrated to start lesson planning because I did not feel that the objective I was given to teach matched the final assessment I have to give them, and therefore I wasn't sure how to go about crafting a lesson to match. Apparently my advisors weren't either because they disagreed and had me changing it back and forth and it was just... a lot harder than it should be. 

More importantly, I really don't think that the final assessment I'll give at the end of Institute constitutes the "high expectations" I've been inspired to have. I feel like my students could ace the test and I might still not feel like I'd been a successful teacher.

Not to complain, but just to share: my school has no functioning clocks, pencil sharpeners, etc... but more importantly, no potable drinking water- there are red danger signs painted over the sinks and all the water fountains are shut off. Additionally there are no textbooks for summer school (although I was a lucky one and got a booklet with tons of grammar errors and questions like: "what is the title of the poem above?" when the title is at the top in bold and I am supposed to be teaching African American history). They haven't been using metal detectors but the students start class tomorrow so I guess they'll be using those.

On the bright side, there is air conditioning (!) and EVERY wall is covered in murals depicting mostly famous African American figures, ending with an AMAZING mural of Obama.  I really don't remember anyone at my high school being that talented, and I can't believe their students did all of that beautiful work! I'm really excited to meet them tomorrow. Maybe that will make this seem more worthwhile.  Breakfast starts at 5:30 and I basically have things to do until 9pm or so... after which I plan lessons/learn African American history myself, and then finally sleep for a couple of hours on my twin bed (complete with pee sheet). It's all pretty interesting but as the sleep dwindles I'm sure it'll start to get to me.

Also, for some crazy reason, I've decided I need MORE to tackle, and I may or may not be training for the Bmore half marathon in October. This would be plenty of time except, as mentioned, I really don't have free time during the day and I'm staying in a bad area so I'm not sure when I'll manage these runs. Anyway, today I managed 4 miles. So far, so good.

Well, off to finish working on next week's lesson plans! I'm covering the Middle Passage, plantation life, and African influences on American culture. I hope to get ahead enough that I can enjoy the holiday weekend. Who knows. Hope you're all enjoying your freedom!!

Heading Into Institute

Welcome to my blooog! I'm not sure how many people actually care and this is probably more for me than the general public, so I apologize in advance if I ramble/talk about things that seem inconsequential. If anyone actually DOES care, let me know if you want updates in email form, cuz I'll probably send them that way to family.

Institute starts in Philadelphia this weekend, and I am looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time. It promises to be HARD work. Some institutes have already started and people uniformly say it's the hardest thing they've ever done. Even the fact that breakfast is from 5-6 am daily terrifies me, not to mention I am actually responsible for teaching summer school every day.

At the same time, I really care a lot about what I'm going to do. My friend Celeste says it's much easier to motivate herself for something she's invested in than it ever was for a couple of grades. It's been a long time since I really worked hard. I suppose it's my own fault for not making more of the experience, but college was easy for me and never meant much. I actually miss being challenged. It's not that I'm not proud of the person I've been- I really needed to chill out, and college definitely improved me as a person. At the same time, I know I won't be happy in my life unless I feel like I'm working hard and doing something worthwhile.

So from what I gather, the drill will be wake up (in the middle of the night), teach with your partners in summer school for half the day, and attend classes/sessions for the other half. Eat dinner, plan lessons all night, repeat. We're staying in the dorms at Temple-- my life has really regressed! Everyone else is moving forward but I'm going from living alone and doing my own thing to living in a dorm and having someone else pack me bagged lunches for school! Haha.

Anyway, I'm sure it will be intense, and I can endure anything for 5 weeks. I do wish we could be training in Baltimore instead. I'm absolutely in love with the city! 

Top 10 reasons I love Baltimore after two weeks of living there (not necessarily in order):

1. It's SO cheap! Rent is easily half what it was in DC and an open bar is $10

2. It's beautiful! I live 2 blocks from the water and the streets are cobblestone and the old row homes are absolutely gorgeous

3. The Orioles-- I've really, really missed baseball and tickets are $6 for students-- America's priorities are seriously messed up when we pay more to go to the movies than to see a baseball game. Oh, and 5 of them are under 25.... 

4. Drinking games are legal in bars (aka, pong is actually legal and sanctioned... although pretty gross?)

5. It's so close to everything. It's within a couple hours from home, Charlottesville, Philly, DC, Atlantic City, etc.

6. It's not overwhelmingly large or scary

7. The people seem really cool!

8. Fantastic shopping, haha

9. It's south of the Mason-Dixon line-- that one's for my grandmother :)

10. IT'S NEW and I know literally no one. A fresh start never hurts.

Anyway, I'm sure that's more than enough for now. I hope everyone's having a great summer!!