First Day of School
Today was my first day in the schools, but not really. The past two weeks we've been focusing on training and evaluation and last week we were finally assigned to our specific schools and teams. I've been assigned to L'Ouverture Middle School. I also think we have one of the better teams. It doesn't hurt that I've gotten to know all three of my teammates fairly well over the last couple of weeks, so the transition for us as a team has been very simple, which isn't necessarily the case for all of the teams.
This week we'll be getting to know our school and observing classes. Then we have a conference at the end of the week in Columbia, MO before 1 more week of training. So in reality, my first real day in the schools will be October 18. Today I got a chance to sit in a few classes to observe the teachers and students to get a feel for the kinds of students I'll be dealing with and seeing how the teachers manage the class. The classroom behavior is far from perfect, but I didn't find it intimidating or stressful. I have to say it was nice to finally get a glimpse into the classrooms and see some of the kids I could potentially be working with. I know for sure I'll be working with either all 6th graders or all 7th graders and I think I can draw from some of my experience working at St. Matt's with kids the same age; however, I'll be dealing with kids that are facing some difficult circumstances in their lives. I'm really looking forward to getting started.
After 2 weeks with the same large group of people, I think it will be nice to have this little break from the big group. When you work with the same people that you hang out with socially, and get to know a lot of very different people in such a short period of time, things can get a little too comfortable. Granted, it's been great getting to know so many wonderful people, but it's exhausting work at times and I think everyone was ready to start working in smaller groups. I'm sure as the year goes on, it will be a welcome sight to see the larger group.
My life hasn't been entirely consumed by AmeriCorps that I haven't had a chance to hang out some. This past week I got to a Cardinals' game again (they lost to the Brew Crew) and had some people over to my place for the first time on Friday night. It wasn't a party, but I kind of enjoyed having my apartment as a place to hang out. Saturday night, a large group of us went to a bar with salsa dancing. I wasn't really feeling the salsa music and was a designated driver, but it was fun nonetheless and the group as a whole seemed to be having a good time together. My guess is, that will be the last time for a while that a large group of us go out like that for a couple of reasons: it's tough to organize for that large of a group and we don't have a ton of money to go out like that on a regular basis.
So overall, things here having been going very well. I still have some time before I start really doing what I came here to do, but the training is very necessary and critical to our success. I'll be home in a couple of weeks for a wedding so if I see anyone, I'll give a little more detailed update of what's going on.
This week we'll be getting to know our school and observing classes. Then we have a conference at the end of the week in Columbia, MO before 1 more week of training. So in reality, my first real day in the schools will be October 18. Today I got a chance to sit in a few classes to observe the teachers and students to get a feel for the kinds of students I'll be dealing with and seeing how the teachers manage the class. The classroom behavior is far from perfect, but I didn't find it intimidating or stressful. I have to say it was nice to finally get a glimpse into the classrooms and see some of the kids I could potentially be working with. I know for sure I'll be working with either all 6th graders or all 7th graders and I think I can draw from some of my experience working at St. Matt's with kids the same age; however, I'll be dealing with kids that are facing some difficult circumstances in their lives. I'm really looking forward to getting started.
After 2 weeks with the same large group of people, I think it will be nice to have this little break from the big group. When you work with the same people that you hang out with socially, and get to know a lot of very different people in such a short period of time, things can get a little too comfortable. Granted, it's been great getting to know so many wonderful people, but it's exhausting work at times and I think everyone was ready to start working in smaller groups. I'm sure as the year goes on, it will be a welcome sight to see the larger group.
My life hasn't been entirely consumed by AmeriCorps that I haven't had a chance to hang out some. This past week I got to a Cardinals' game again (they lost to the Brew Crew) and had some people over to my place for the first time on Friday night. It wasn't a party, but I kind of enjoyed having my apartment as a place to hang out. Saturday night, a large group of us went to a bar with salsa dancing. I wasn't really feeling the salsa music and was a designated driver, but it was fun nonetheless and the group as a whole seemed to be having a good time together. My guess is, that will be the last time for a while that a large group of us go out like that for a couple of reasons: it's tough to organize for that large of a group and we don't have a ton of money to go out like that on a regular basis.
So overall, things here having been going very well. I still have some time before I start really doing what I came here to do, but the training is very necessary and critical to our success. I'll be home in a couple of weeks for a wedding so if I see anyone, I'll give a little more detailed update of what's going on.
posted by Tim Weiss at 6:40 PM
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