Alright, I think we can all agree that my timeliness on this blog is terrible, and the question of this post can be viewed two ways. One, it may be a question that all of you are asking since I obviously do not keep up this blog. Two, it may be a question that I have asked throughout this process. As most or maybe all know, I attended training (called Institute) in Houston, TX. Through Institute we attended numerous sessions on a number of topics (classroom management, planning, literacy sessions, etc.) and taught summer school to second graders. I worked with three other Teach For America corps members (from other regions) to teach students and boost their scores in order to move onto the next grade level. In the end, we saw some major growth among students, but we also saw students make zero growth. The reality of what we are entering is starting to sink in, but I still feel like I don't know EXACTLY what is going on.
That was a VERY short version of Institute, but I feel as if I should move on since that happened a good amount of time ago. I am now in Orangeburg, SC. My mom and I drove down together. We stopped in Kentucky (after a good 12 hours of driving) and spent the night in a hotel and then drove down to Greenville, SC. In Greenville, I said goodbye to my mom and she took a flight home (although her flight was cancelled and she hung out there for awhile) and I continued on to Orangeburg, SC. In Orangeburg, we are having our Orientation. These past few days I have been working with my corps and getting more information about specific aspects of South Carolina and my classroom. I have begun developing my vision for my class, my goal for my class, and classroom management and culture plan. It has been inspiring listening to my corps members speak of their goals and visions for their class and collaborating with such a great group of people. I have also found out that I will be teaching 4th Grade, I will be teaching one class of ELA (English Language Arts) and three classes of Science. I will be teaching at St. John's Elementary in Darlington, SC. I am extremely excited for what is coming and even more excited about the process we have started. The answer to the question of what EXACTLY is going on is beginning to surface and the pieces are starting to come together.
I have embraced the fact that there is a lot of work ahead of me, and could not be more excited to start and have my own class in a matter of a few weeks.
Tomorrow I am headed "home" to Florence, SC where I can start moving into my apartment. If I am on my game, I will post pictures of my apartment.
Thanks everyone!
Love and Miss You <3
Leah
