Teaching Update.

Yesterday at school was sort of a disaster. The math lesson was pretty boring. It turns out that I’m really boring. While I can keep most of my students in check – despite their utter boredom – I can’t help but see their utter boredom staring me in the face. My ESL (English as a Second Language) kids just tune out whenever they hear one word of English pass my lips, and the others are staring at me blankly. I have no idea if they are actually getting it.

In addition, Wendy Kopp – the founder of TFA – was observing at our school yesterday. Apparently our school had been the model school for New York Institute. The classes had been running smoothly and everyone had rave reviews about what they saw in the classrooms. Everything went to shit on Monday though: the school surprised us by requiring us to administer some more diagnostic exams, so all of our lesson plans for the day were scrapped (save, of course, my boring math lesson) in lieu of some test time. So, the kids were bored and this is what Wendy saw.

Suffice to say, our review was: “These kids are bored. Be more engaging.” We got yelled at a bunch. There was definitely one advisor who said: “You guys think you’re hot shit coming from Harvard or Yale…but you need to leave your egos at the door.” I was appalled. This truly is teacher’s boot camp and there is little respect for us scrubs when are in large groups. I should note that when we are in smaller groups with our particular advisor there is much respect and love.

Today was better. My kids are still pretty great, although I did have to make a phone call to a parent today. Scary. What is the most scary is the sneaking feeling that these kids are not learning anything right now. While we still struggle to gain our footing and adjust to life at the institute, these kids are struggling to pass to the fifth grade. While it may “suck” how inefficient the teaching rotation we are using right now is for us (teaching in a group of five and having to rotate subject matter each day – this isn’t the norm, I’m in one of the only 5-person collaboratives at my school), it SUCKS that these kids are the ones who have to pay for it. The only times I feel satisfied with myself as a teacher and that I feel like my kids are actually making academic gains is when we work in the smaller learning groups for an hour at the end of the day. Unfortunately, I am only working with three kids at a time…baby steps…I guess.

Rereading this I realize that I’m coming off as extremely negative on TFA. That is not intended. In reality, TFA has to juggle relations and communications with so many parties that it’s amazing that anything gets done at all. There is so much planning and coordination involved in a single day – from our bagged lunches, to the bus ride we take to the schools, and of course the fact that they can actually place 500+ non-experienced teachers in classrooms throughout the Bronx…kudos must be given.