[Caveat emptor: I am personally passionate about corps member development. In no way do I intend the post below to mean that CMs aren't a priority at institute. I'm simply encouraging a little kindness.] Probably the most uncommon knowledge about institute staff is that the operations coordinators are college students. During the agonizing summer of…
read more »Mid-June, I finished my TFA commitment. Two years, three schools, two major illnesses, six roommates, 45 minutes in the car every morning, countless cups of coffee and hours of NPR all in pursuit of one commitment. Two staggering years of heartbreaking work. And I got a certificate. Immediately, I moved to St. John’s for the New…
read more »So I had a really wise coworker this summer at institute, and he had exactly the right word at the right time – truly a word fitly-spoken. I’ll update the blogworld on institute when I’ve had some time to process it but for now a couple of thoughts courtesy of Jonas: – Uncertainty is the…
read more »So in the true spirit of Teach For America, we have an acronym for people upon whom you may develop a crush at institute, IC, short for institute crush. This is the guy whose eyes I catch across the library during a CS session. Or perhaps that guy that I see on the way to…
read more »So in the past three days, I’ve had an incredible time. I’m working the weirdest hours but jittery from near-constant caffeine consumption that I’m practically vibrating; I’m probably picking up the Drexel student station on my teeth. Number one amazing thing: Registration happened. All the CMs arrived. And I was beside myself! All that work; all those…
read more »Yes, I worked 86 hours since arriving at the Philadelphia institute. I am tired but I am happy.
read more »Things that I heard regarding institute from some CMs: I’d rather die than do institute again. Why do you want to go back? It was literally the worst thing that ever happened to me. It was like teacher boot camp. What I thought: For the love of three oranges, let’s stop talking about classroom management and…
read more »I’m kind of an odd TFA corps member. I’ve already taught for 3 years in Houston at a school that had a lot of TFA corps members. That was really my first exposure to TFA. The big difference between them and me – alternative certification Barbie – was that they seemed to have a long-term…
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