So I arrived in the ATL this week to begin five weeks of intense teacher training Teach for America calls Institute. Complete with 5am wake-ups, collaborative teaching groups, and four years of education instruction condensed into just over a month I hear that I am in for a long Summer.
Today was my first day of instruction at BEST Academy Middle School in Atlanta, Georgia and next Monday I will be in front of an 8th grade math class all my own. Math should be interesting for me because it definitely wasn't my favorite subject and I think I will be able to relate too and anticipate some of the pitfalls some of my Summer School students may be facing.
The biggest takeaway thus far from my first day though had to be the DRA session I attended this evening. DRA is a reading diagnostic tool that allows a teacher to determine what level a student is reading on. I will be helping to administer these very test this week so we can establish a baseline for the middle school students taking remedial reading course. It was incredible to see how this tool worked and to put it firmly in my figurative "academic toolkit." I was am really excited to get down to the business of teaching and develop the skills that will enable me to have a major impact on the life trajectories of my students. For the first time I felt really "teachery" and it surprised me how pumped I got about it.
During Institute I will be doing a quote of the day here on my sites as well as on twitter.
Quote of the Day (1): In the absence of clearly defined goals, we become strangely loyal to performing daily acts of trivia- Unknown.
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