Small Successes

Our first night in the dorm room was, well, miserable. We arrived around midnight, after a long day of travel from Denver. When we got to our room, there were actually two twin beds in separate bed rooms. After 10 minutes of failure at trying to sneak one out of the door, I turned to dismantling it. Fortunately, one of the beds was an extra-long, and one was just regular length. After assembling the double-tiered makeshift double-single bed, we realized that we didn't bring a comforter. Or pillows. And that our air-conditioner, though broken, was actually broken in the sense that it never turned off.

By 2 am, I had my head snuggled gently upon a stack of towels, wrapped in a hoodie with towels around my shivering legs. By 5:00 AM, I was swiftly arising to join 600 other wide-eyed corps members for my first day of boot camp.

The theme of this story is that the air-conditioner worked so well. In fact, since that first night, we have not closed any of the windows in the apartment. 100 degrees outside, windows open, apartment freezing.

My small success is that I finally figured out how to turn it off. Really wasn't that complicated now that I think about it. Maybe this small success only illustrates how pitiful my 2.5 weeks of failure were.

***This story may be read literally or figuratively. The events are real. The author's intent is up for interpretation.***

Good Story

Today, our lunch was interrupted by a super serious "emergency meeting".

It started in a hushed auditorium with 150 fledgling teachers, and our school director said that she had seen a lot of things in the classroom and the halls that really upset her. We were asked to explain what Teach for America meant to us. We had to write our thoughts in journals. We were told that some changes were going to have to be made, and some teachers would be asked to leave. One by one the leaders stood up to say what TFA was really about. It was very serious and very uncomfortable. The last leader stood up and said "TFA means totally freakin awesome". At this comment the school director was visibly upset, and actually asked that leader to leave the room because we were trying to have a serious meeting. An uncomfortable pause elapsed as everyone watched her leave the room. Then my leader (CMA, actually, corps member advisor. this acronym will be IIAFP (implemented in all further posts)) stood up and stumbled over a few words, apparently in protest of the school directors decision. Then she said in a confrontational tone.... "TFA stands for..." at which point the school director and all the CMAs screamed "Totally Free Afternoon!" as everyone began to run around the room.

So we have the afternoon off, and were able to leave school early because we are halfway through Institute. I tell that story 1. because it was hilarious. and 2. because it is very exciting to be a part of an organization that takes its job so seriously that we actually bought the buildup, yet has such a great sense of humor that they could pull that off. The past few weeks have been unbelievably intense, but it is exciting to know that 6,000 people in classrooms all across America are all working towards the same goal within the same structure. Almost like being a part of the International Mission Board without the tracts.

haiku

summer has its day
sitting here warm and sweaty;
winter in rockies.


not really sure if that is a haiku. but the late night of lesson planning is winding down. up at 5:30. woohoo.

Quickie

I owe a quick post.

Essentially, I've been getting my butt kicked daily. In a good way of course. The sheer volume of acronyms thrown at me daily has crippled by ability to carry on a conversation with a normal person. When I'm asking for direction I ask for the BWTGT (best way to get there). I refer to staying up late and working hard as RPR (relentless pursuit of results). It is quite literally, OOC (out of control).

Had my first week with students. I have been a teacher for 5 days. I love it. I'm sorry, but I will have to sprinkle in tidbits from that first week in future posts. I haven't really taken it all in yet.

Saturday night, Guster played a free show in Candler Park here in ATL. I attended, I sang along, I danced, I sweated, I got bitten by the Georgia state bird (the mosquito, for the uninitiated).

Essentially, I don't have much to write because I have too much to say. Feel free to give me a call if you get a chance one evening.

--lm

Blogzilla

I feel like it has been about 3 months since I have updated "where's the beach?". Here's an overview of today's overwhelming post:

1. I have a big boy job. And it involves convincing 12 year olds that they are scientists.
2. We have a big boy house. Or we're renting one. Or a floor of one. Built in the 1800's.
3. I'm learning how to be a teacher, (oh, and we're in Atlanta now) and apparently that involves a lot of acronyms.

And here's a video from my favorite 90's Nickelodeon show.

1. JOB
After a few interviews that ended with "it's not me, it's you", Rachel B. Noel, part of the Denver Public School system, welcomed me with open arms to guide their 7th grade life science scholars and their 8th grade physical science tweens. I got this call on Friday, and it conveniently excused me from a TFA session on "acronyms in everyday life".

Noel is relatively new school, opened in August 2002, and serves the Montbello community. Serving a student population where 90% of the students qualify for free or reduced lunch, Noel Middle is a perfect example of the achievement gap. In 8th grade science, in 2008, 7% of Noel students were "proficient" by state standards, compared to 47% state-wide. I have a big task ahead of me, to prove to the students and their families that they can do much better that this. Unfortunatly, the zip code that these students are born in is too big of a determinate of how they will succeed in school.

2. HOME, Home on the range!
They just don't make em' like they used to. So we went Victorian with a 4 story brick house circa 189x. It is in an area of Denver called "Capital Hill", near Cheesman Park. Here's a link to see our house: HOUSE@!@!@

We are renting the 2nd floor of this house. A lot of our space feels very 1895, and a lot of it is very 2009. One bedroom, one bath, plus an "office". By "office", I mean the room we lock sophie (the cat) in when she poops the floor. Even though Katie promises that won't happen. Furniture won't make it through the front door, so around July 15th look for pictures posted of us lifting a sleeper sofa in through the 2nd story window. This may be the one thing that I am looking forward to the most all summer.

3. Boot Camp
Institute Day Zero: After arriving in Atlanta at around 11:45 PM, loading up the room with things of questionable neccessity, finding a parking space, dismantling single beds, assembling said single beds into a double, picking out an outfit, and showering, I got in bed around 1:45 AM or so. Which really isn't so bad, except that teachers apparantly wake up at 5:30 AM. I think its so they can get a quick start on making up new acronyms.

Institute Day One: Lots of acronyms. Tirednes. Red eyes. Too many new names. Can't remember them today but its at that point where its too awkward to ask again.

Institute Day Two: Overnight, our school got broken into, and the classroom with the fancy iMacs where we were planning on doing most of our sessions got burglarized. Be checking ebay for good deals on neon box iMacs. Today we learned a lot more practical stuff, like how to plan a lesson, and how to use acronyms in describing how you will plan your lesson. I was also able to sit in on the class I will begin teaching next Monday. Seeing the students for the first time really made the reality of the situation sink in. I can't wait to get started.

I would leave you with an inspirational quote, but teachers wake up before the chickens, and this TFACM (teach for america corps member) has LPs (lesson plans) to make for my CMA (corps member advisor) group following the TAL (teaching as leadership) plan to close the GAP (goals, assessment, planning) in the USA (United States of America). Goodnight.


Layne and Katie (dot blogspot dot com)

Where the Deer and the Antelope Play

First things first. John Wayne may be a caricature, Aspen may not actually be where the beer flows like wine, and the women flock like the salmon of Capistrano. That John Denver may actually be full of "it", man (to the uninitiated, please add "Dumb and Dumber" to your NetFlix list). But one thing is for real.


Tumbleweed!

This is the innocent looking dead grass that ambushed our car as we entered Colorado. In fact, there was really no way to tell the difference between the high planes of Kansas, and the higher, yet still boring, planes of Colorado. Tumbleweed was the "welcome to Colorado" sign that we forgot to take a picture in front of.

Rewind a few days. On Saturday we drove from Columbia to Ashville to Knoxville to London (look it up) to Bowling Green to Owensboro, KY. After a day with family (see Figure 2), we hit the road again. Leaving at 3 AM Mountain Time, Day 2 brought us through Evansville, St. Louis, Kansas City, Kansas, Kansas, Kansas, and on to Denver. Many thanks to Emily and Elliott Vera for inflating an air mattress for us and letting us crash for the night in Denver. Here's a link to our trip courtesy of google maps: X-USA






FIGURE 2: Layne, Grandma Madden, Katie









Had an interview this morning for a position with Valley View K-8 as a 7-8th grade science teacher. It is a fairly small school, and as a 7th and 8th grade teacher I would see all of the 7th and 8th grade students in the school. I think that sounds pretty fun. Tomorrow I'm interviewing with a new school that gives 18-20 year olds a second chance to earn a high school diploma. I think that would be fun too. Should be a lock for both positions, given the killer color coordination of my tie and suit.

Unfortunately, Denver has not yet endeared itself to Katie. It has been raining since we arrived last night (pouring, may be a more accurate description), and everything looks dark and depressing. Though the regulars around here claim that it hardly ever rains, I see no evidence to substantiate that claim.


Tonight is the opening ceremonies for TFA. Not really sure what that means, but I'll keep you posted.

Nap time. Until later,

lm, km, and eventually sophie (the cat)