As you might have figured out from the title, I am no longer in Germany; I left a little early so I could attend Induction and Institute for TFA.
I used to think that people over-exaggerated the difficulty of Institute. Boot camp for teachers? Ha. In college, I took 20 hours one semester, UAed for a class that I hadn't taken (which meant that I was essentially taking 23 hours), coached and judged gymnastics, and tried to get in shape for Nationals. The typical Institute schedule is much easier. For everyone on the standard schedule, life at Institute is very doable. A lot of people would want to smack me for writing that, but there's a reason that I'm saying this.
My summer school site put us in collabs that consist of two pairs. A pair consists of two people who are teaching the same grade, more or less the same subject, and the same group of kids. At my school site, most pairs share a classroom with another pair in their same subject area, but they share a group of kids with a pair in a different subject. (Basically, 4 pairs end up intertwined based on room assignments and students.) However, I only share students and a room with an English pair.
It seemed to be working out really well until my partner quit on the second day.
When I hear one more person whine about assignments that are due the following day, I try not to laugh or roll my eyes. Not only do CMs have more or less the same schedule, but a handful of lucky people like me are prepping and teaching double the number of lessons because their partner quit.
You think Institute has a bad rap? Multiply it by two. The others prep and teach five lessons each week, and they split AIT lessons with their subject partner; lucky people like me prep and teach nine to ten full lessons and write 10 AIT lessons/week.
TFA really needs to have some sort of a system worked out for this situation because it happens every year. (Plus, it's not exactly fair to make CMs do extra work just because they got a bad collab partner.) Even training CMAs would help! My CMA's partner also quit, so she knew how to handle my situation, but I've heard that other CMAs have been less than helpful. But... well, there isn't a system, and this happens every year. My CMA-- Corps Member Advisor-- is going to write half of my AIT lessons because I just can't write 10 more mini-lessons each week on top of my 9-10 regular lessons, and my faculty mentor is going to step in once a week for one lesson so I can observe other classes. All of this is great and greatly appreciated, but the workload is intense, even for a person with my time management skills. I put in 90-100 hours of work this week, and it's going to stay at that level for the rest of Institute. I may have to prep 10 lessons/week next year, but I doubt that I'll have to formally prep AITs. It will definitely help me next year, though-- by now, I think I LP faster than everyone else in my group.
On the plus side, I got my kit with teacher's supplies and a pad of chart paper, and I'm pretty sure my group has the nicest classroom in the school. LMU's campus is also amazingly beautiful. (It even smells good!)
I met my students on Wednesday, and I love them to death. They are sweet, adorable, and excited to learn. Once I have a little more time, I'll definitely brag about my wonderful kiddies (er, tweens). As it is, I need to sleep so I can crank out 4 lesson plans and 5 mini-lessons tomorrow.
Welcome to my life as a teacher.
(Also, I still have about 5 Fulbright-related posts in the works, but they'll have to wait until Institute is over!)
I used to think that people over-exaggerated the difficulty of Institute. Boot camp for teachers? Ha. In college, I took 20 hours one semester, UAed for a class that I hadn't taken (which meant that I was essentially taking 23 hours), coached and judged gymnastics, and tried to get in shape for Nationals. The typical Institute schedule is much easier. For everyone on the standard schedule, life at Institute is very doable. A lot of people would want to smack me for writing that, but there's a reason that I'm saying this.
My summer school site put us in collabs that consist of two pairs. A pair consists of two people who are teaching the same grade, more or less the same subject, and the same group of kids. At my school site, most pairs share a classroom with another pair in their same subject area, but they share a group of kids with a pair in a different subject. (Basically, 4 pairs end up intertwined based on room assignments and students.) However, I only share students and a room with an English pair.
It seemed to be working out really well until my partner quit on the second day.
When I hear one more person whine about assignments that are due the following day, I try not to laugh or roll my eyes. Not only do CMs have more or less the same schedule, but a handful of lucky people like me are prepping and teaching double the number of lessons because their partner quit.
You think Institute has a bad rap? Multiply it by two. The others prep and teach five lessons each week, and they split AIT lessons with their subject partner; lucky people like me prep and teach nine to ten full lessons and write 10 AIT lessons/week.
TFA really needs to have some sort of a system worked out for this situation because it happens every year. (Plus, it's not exactly fair to make CMs do extra work just because they got a bad collab partner.) Even training CMAs would help! My CMA's partner also quit, so she knew how to handle my situation, but I've heard that other CMAs have been less than helpful. But... well, there isn't a system, and this happens every year. My CMA-- Corps Member Advisor-- is going to write half of my AIT lessons because I just can't write 10 more mini-lessons each week on top of my 9-10 regular lessons, and my faculty mentor is going to step in once a week for one lesson so I can observe other classes. All of this is great and greatly appreciated, but the workload is intense, even for a person with my time management skills. I put in 90-100 hours of work this week, and it's going to stay at that level for the rest of Institute. I may have to prep 10 lessons/week next year, but I doubt that I'll have to formally prep AITs. It will definitely help me next year, though-- by now, I think I LP faster than everyone else in my group.
On the plus side, I got my kit with teacher's supplies and a pad of chart paper, and I'm pretty sure my group has the nicest classroom in the school. LMU's campus is also amazingly beautiful. (It even smells good!)
I met my students on Wednesday, and I love them to death. They are sweet, adorable, and excited to learn. Once I have a little more time, I'll definitely brag about my wonderful kiddies (er, tweens). As it is, I need to sleep so I can crank out 4 lesson plans and 5 mini-lessons tomorrow.
Welcome to my life as a teacher.
(Also, I still have about 5 Fulbright-related posts in the works, but they'll have to wait until Institute is over!)
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