It has been way too long since my last post and a lot has happened. I'm noticing a trend here. I will attempt to give the abridged version of what has happend over the last 7 weeks.
Induction: Week 1
It was fun. I met a ton of people. I went out a couple times. I met my future roomie. That about sums it up.
My roomie is the one with her arm around me. We went salsa dancing at Mango's on South Beach one night. I had an absolute blast!
Institute in a nutshell: Weeks 2-6
I flew to Tulsa, OK not fully knowing what I was getting myself into. I moved into my dorm room, that was going to be home for 5 weeks, and tried to prepare myself for the following day that started at 5am.
I met my collab the following day. Who knew that they were going to be some of the most awesome people I would ever meet? Together, the three of us, were a force to be reckoned with, but I'm getting ahead of myself. Here's a picture of my CMA group during teacher olympics. We kind of dominated the competition, nbd.
I put myself on a very tight schedule that ran from 4:45am to about 11pm Monday-Thursday. Friday nights I went out and explored the Tulsa night life. The one block that was Tulsa's nightlife wasn't that bad actually, then again TFA dominated the city so that helped it out. I have some really great memories from those Friday nights that we all used to de-stress.
Here's a group of us before opening ceremonies whenWendy Kopp addressed our inaugural institute. Dassit!
Saturdays were mine to do anything that I pleased that had nothing to do with teaching. Most Saturdays I would go to the movies. I love summer movies. Sunday I would hole myself in my room and work all day.
Room 102 was the absolute best! I loved my second graders. I also had the best collab group ever and I love them to pieces. We just worked so well together, they are awesome people. Here's our room!
Me and Mr. Gladstone. I have so many nicknames for this guy but he truly is the greatest. He always made me laugh! He doesn't realize it yet but he's made a lifelong TFA friend in me and I'm pretty hard to get rid of. Poor guy never had a chance.
I don't know why Haley decided to choose the Charlotte corps because clearly we were meant to be in each other's lives. She got all of my snarky humor without skipping a beat, plus she's just like me- logic over emotion- I love this girl! (She's the one in the middle.)
Teamwork makes the dream work. We were a force to be reckoned with and it was kind of a big deal!
Here's a picture of us on our last day. If my entire teaching career was based on my last day of teaching then I would be one BAMF of a teacher. We had a day full of fun learning activities, dancing, singing, a magic show, pizza, cupcakes, capris suns, and hot cheetos. Maybe bamf teachers don't necessarily give their students healthy eating options all the time.
Closing ceremonies was definitely the highlight of institute. Of all the schools TFA was placed at and of all the students they could of chosen from, our very own Jose was asked to speak at closing ceremonies. That kid is a natural in front of the crowd, he charmed 600 plus people, inspired the masses, danced and sang for us. He was even available for photo ops afterwards, insistent upon them is a more accurate description. I was nervous for him as he took the stage but he addressed the audience masterfully. I truly felt like a proud parent.
All in all, I had a really good institute experience. Would I do it again? Probably not. It was the people and my students that made my experience in Tulsa memorable. I wish I could post the pictures of my kiddos but sadly I signed a paper that said I wouldn't. I'm going to cherish this summer, the people I met, the things I learned, and the memories I made! Room 102- we're what matters!
Until next time,
RTIII