At 4:30am on Monday June 28th, my first thought of the week was, "wow, I made it through my first week of teaching." On Friday, on my way to New Orleans, my last thought of the week was, "wow, I am doing exactly what I am supposed to be doing with my life."
This week was FULL of highlights. First of all I had my first "I really am a teacher" moment. At the beginning of class, after my "Do Now" (a ten minute creative review of the day before), I asked the class if they knew what implicit and explicit details were (this was my lesson for the day).... No one knew.... Then after guided notes, a worksheet, and a short story, I gave them an assessment. My entire class scored 100%. Eighteen students walked into my class room (#127) and didn't know something, but when they walked out.... they did. It was magical.
I now have 18 LOW income students in Indianola, MS. They are all African American, and for a few, I am the first white person they have ever talked to face to face. The other day, I was working with one of my struggling students "Martrell" and I wrote his name down on the paper we were working on. He said, "You are the first teacher to ever spell my name right." Ever since then, he has worked harder and talks to me more respectfully than ever. In general, I understand why I am here. One of my students, Erin, has a 7 month old child. I really try to work with her in class if she is struggling because I know she doesn't have time once she is home. Erin is in my class because she missed too much school last year (the 8th grade) because she was having her baby. When I asked the class to write down in their journals who they look up to, she wrote: "right now, Ms. Kahn because she teaches me everyday."
This week, I got an apartment in Charlotte! It is just beautiful and is centered in South Park which is a great part of the city. I have one house mate (2br/2ba) who is also teaching high school English.
On Wednesday, I saw BB King live here in Cleveland, MS! He was WONDERFUL!
But the highlight of this week.... New Orleans! Five of us Charlotte girls packed into a car and drove 5 hours to NOLA for the long weekend. We saw the best firework show ever, listened to the most amazing live music, and just maybe had a daiquiri or two ;). This weekend was one of the best of my life! Just the traveling to and from LA was great in that the South is so beautiful and open.... Now off to prepare my lessons for the week! (nonfiction, synthesizing, paragraph organization, and persuasive writing). Week three of teaching, HERE WE GO!!
This week was FULL of highlights. First of all I had my first "I really am a teacher" moment. At the beginning of class, after my "Do Now" (a ten minute creative review of the day before), I asked the class if they knew what implicit and explicit details were (this was my lesson for the day).... No one knew.... Then after guided notes, a worksheet, and a short story, I gave them an assessment. My entire class scored 100%. Eighteen students walked into my class room (#127) and didn't know something, but when they walked out.... they did. It was magical.
I now have 18 LOW income students in Indianola, MS. They are all African American, and for a few, I am the first white person they have ever talked to face to face. The other day, I was working with one of my struggling students "Martrell" and I wrote his name down on the paper we were working on. He said, "You are the first teacher to ever spell my name right." Ever since then, he has worked harder and talks to me more respectfully than ever. In general, I understand why I am here. One of my students, Erin, has a 7 month old child. I really try to work with her in class if she is struggling because I know she doesn't have time once she is home. Erin is in my class because she missed too much school last year (the 8th grade) because she was having her baby. When I asked the class to write down in their journals who they look up to, she wrote: "right now, Ms. Kahn because she teaches me everyday."
This week, I got an apartment in Charlotte! It is just beautiful and is centered in South Park which is a great part of the city. I have one house mate (2br/2ba) who is also teaching high school English.
On Wednesday, I saw BB King live here in Cleveland, MS! He was WONDERFUL!
But the highlight of this week.... New Orleans! Five of us Charlotte girls packed into a car and drove 5 hours to NOLA for the long weekend. We saw the best firework show ever, listened to the most amazing live music, and just maybe had a daiquiri or two ;). This weekend was one of the best of my life! Just the traveling to and from LA was great in that the South is so beautiful and open.... Now off to prepare my lessons for the week! (nonfiction, synthesizing, paragraph organization, and persuasive writing). Week three of teaching, HERE WE GO!!
Sara:
ReplyDeleteI'm enjoying reading. Thanks for doing this so we can keep up with you. Since you know where you're going to be in Charlotte I will ask the guy I know there if he knows anything that you had to do or eat there.
Love the NOLA story.
Can't wait until next week.
Uncle Markable
:)
ReplyDeleteYou are the most amazing one.
I always wanted to see BB King. That's awesome!
ReplyDeleteLooks like you're working really hard. That will definitely pay off in the long run. Real proud of ya!