Week 1

So, this past week has been an absolute roller coaster. It felt like I was going non-stop constantly at over 100 mph. Saying TFA Institute is basically bootcamp for teachers might be an understatement. But, believe it or not, I have loved pretty much every second of it!

I board a school bus (honestly think it's been 10 years since I've done that...) bright and early at 6:00am every day for a 50 minute ride to Bearden Elementary in West Tallahatchie County. It isn't as bad as it sounds I promise, it's actually a very relaxing and quite a pretty ride through the backroads of Mississippi while the sun is peaking over miles and miles of cotton fields. I will be teaching part of the rising 5th grade Math class this summer. Which at first was a little disappointing considering we all know how much I LOVE math. But dare I say I've enjoyed writing lesson plans and putting together activities/assessments for the subject!? Speaking of lesson plans, I never knew how much work went into a single one, I have a new found appreciation for every teacher who has put in hours and hours of tedious work to make every single lesson meaningful to the bigger picture! After a day full of workshops and collaborating with our teaching teams we usually had back to campus around 4:30, grab dinner and start planning for the next day. I consider myself lucky when I'm in bed by 12 :)

Tomorrow is actually my first say of teaching which is incredibly nerve wrecking and exciting all at the same time. We met our students last Friday when we gave them each a Diagnostic Reading Assessment. Getting to see their bright and shining faces put a whole new perspective on this experience for me. The sad reality is that the majority of our rising 5th graders were reading on a 3rd grade level. However, with some very hard work and high expectations we WILL reverse that this summer. I am more than excited to be learning and growing with these students over the next 4 weeks- the theme of our classroom is "Congratulations Class of 2023" - The year that they will graduate college.

Don't worry, since we work so hard we like to play pretty hard to- we got to experience some amazing southern hospitality on Friday night at a big catfish fry that the community put on. Amazing food, great band, and free beer... need I say more? Woke up bright and early Saturday to take my FINAL (at least I hope) Praxis Test..praying Bio round 2 went a little better this time, should find out in 3 weeks or so! We went out this local restaurant called the Pickled Okra..and yes, I did try my first pickled okra- it was an interesting experience. They had a blues band playing and the first few titles of the songs were "Child Support", "Catfish", "Tip the Band" and ready for this..."If it comes out, put it back in." This is not a lie. I love Cleveland, Mississippi. Exciting classroom stories to come soon!

Maleka

Welcome to Cleveland Mississippi

So, as most of you may know I have been given the privilege and great honor to work with Teach For America in Nashville, Tn for the next couple years (new address is 3104 Blakemore Ave-hence the creative title.) So, after two weeks of laying on the beach and soaking up enough sun to last me the rest of the summer I attempted to pack up most of my life from Chesapeake and began my journey down south. After a week of Induction (AKA an introduction to this powerful movement, a new city, and 100 fellow Corps members) we packed up, yet again, and headed even further south to Cleveland, Mississippi. Try moving 6 garment bags, 3 duffle bags, 2 backpacks, 1 large suitcase and a laundry basket full of necessities in 95 degree weather up and down 2 flights of steps 3 times in the last week for fun!

To be honest, I was not exactly looking forward to spending the next 5 weeks of my summer in the Mississippi Delta for a number of reasons- 100 degree weather with an ungodly amount of humidity, enough mosquito bites to play connect the dots on my legs, and hour long bus rides at 6am everyday. However, as I rolled up to Delta State University, home of the Fighting Okra late this afternoon my perceptions were completely changed. We were greeted by numerous volunteers from the community with open arms and welcoming smiles. Even the clerk at Walmart asked if we were TFA corps members and said thank you for teaching in the Delta this summer. I learned that we get discounts at pretty much everywhere, from all you can bowl and drink for $10 to 20% off at the coffee shop down the street to free sweet tea at Crawdads!

I am so excited not only for all that our students are going to learn in our long days of summer school, but also for all that I am going to learn from this unique community and culture. As my alarm goes off tomorrow morning at 4:30 I will look forward to learning what classroom I am in for the summer and more about my teaching team. I know my days will be pretty busy, but I plan to blog as often as possible to keep everyone up to date! Thank you for joining me on this great adventure...I look forward to all the peaks and valleys along the way.