As the fireworks in Atlanta have faded into rumbles of thunder, I'm in bed early in preparation for my last week of institute. This is going to be a weird week because I'm not really teaching anything anymore. Jon and I are running a review class tomorrow, and then my kids start taking their CRCTs on Wednesday (reading Wednesday, math Thursday). There are no more new objectives to teach, no more exit tickets to grade. 7 out of our 9 kids have taken their post-test, and the last two will be completed tomorrow. But more on that later. What I want to talk about right now is the glory that is the three-day weekend.
Institute is a hardcore experience that is incredibly positive in many ways. I've gotten close quickly with a lot of people here, and I'm so thankful that I've been able to build so many friendships in just four or five weeks. It's really hard to believe that just six weeks ago I was living in Adams House preparing for baccalaureate, class day, and graduation. It seems a world away. But what we often lose sight of during institute is that there is, in fact, life outside teaching. And now that my prep is winding down, this three-day weekend was even more enjoyable.
I spent this weekend catching up with friends from outside institute--whether it was through texts or video chats or actual face-to-face visits. I got to celebrate my friend Angela from high school's birthday and go to my friend Lauren from college's graduation party, both of which were wonderful. It was so nice to get to hang out with people who knew me before I started living and breathing 8th grade algebra and the behavior management cycle--not that Kuz and Alyssa don't fill that role for me, but it was refreshing to have conversations that didn't come back to students or lesson plans every 10 minutes. I also got the chance to check out Gainesville, Georgia, known to me as Lauren's hometown but known to the greater community as the Poultry Capital of the World. It was, in a word, epic. The rooster statue in the center of town made me wish that Westborough, Mass. could claim something a little bit more legit than being the birthplace of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin.
We also spent some time exploring the greater Atlanta area. Saturday, a group of seven of us shot the Hooch--spent the afternoon tubing down the Chattahoochee River, which was a lot of fun (and, thanks to Samara's SPF 50, did not result in a sunburn!). I went to some new neighborhoods, met new people, and capped the weekend by watching fireworks in the rain from the roof of a neighborhood bar with a bunch of my GNO friends. Although I love my students and love being up in front of the classroom every day, it was so nice to take a break and get some perspective, to watch Netflix and take two-hour naps and read trashy books (current choice: Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life. I have serious books on my Kindle but can't get through more than a few pages before reverting back to Chelsea's escapades). One of the most consistent pieces of advice I've gotten from older corps members is to make sure to take time for yourself. There's always infinitely more work that can be done, but you can't be there for your kids if you aren't there for yourself first. Weekends like this one remind me of how wise that advice is.
I'm terrified for my kids this week, because I know how stressed they're going to be and how far from where they need to be some of them are. But I'm also excited for them to get the opportunity to show how hard they've worked this summer. So many of them have grown in leaps and bounds, coming close to or even surpassing the incredibly ambitious growth goals we set out for them at the beginning of the summer. I'm looking forward to these last few days with my students, my CMA group, and my school before I leave for New Orleans for good on Saturday (!).
Institute is a hardcore experience that is incredibly positive in many ways. I've gotten close quickly with a lot of people here, and I'm so thankful that I've been able to build so many friendships in just four or five weeks. It's really hard to believe that just six weeks ago I was living in Adams House preparing for baccalaureate, class day, and graduation. It seems a world away. But what we often lose sight of during institute is that there is, in fact, life outside teaching. And now that my prep is winding down, this three-day weekend was even more enjoyable.
I spent this weekend catching up with friends from outside institute--whether it was through texts or video chats or actual face-to-face visits. I got to celebrate my friend Angela from high school's birthday and go to my friend Lauren from college's graduation party, both of which were wonderful. It was so nice to get to hang out with people who knew me before I started living and breathing 8th grade algebra and the behavior management cycle--not that Kuz and Alyssa don't fill that role for me, but it was refreshing to have conversations that didn't come back to students or lesson plans every 10 minutes. I also got the chance to check out Gainesville, Georgia, known to me as Lauren's hometown but known to the greater community as the Poultry Capital of the World. It was, in a word, epic. The rooster statue in the center of town made me wish that Westborough, Mass. could claim something a little bit more legit than being the birthplace of Eli Whitney, inventor of the cotton gin.
We also spent some time exploring the greater Atlanta area. Saturday, a group of seven of us shot the Hooch--spent the afternoon tubing down the Chattahoochee River, which was a lot of fun (and, thanks to Samara's SPF 50, did not result in a sunburn!). I went to some new neighborhoods, met new people, and capped the weekend by watching fireworks in the rain from the roof of a neighborhood bar with a bunch of my GNO friends. Although I love my students and love being up in front of the classroom every day, it was so nice to take a break and get some perspective, to watch Netflix and take two-hour naps and read trashy books (current choice: Chelsea Handler's My Horizontal Life. I have serious books on my Kindle but can't get through more than a few pages before reverting back to Chelsea's escapades). One of the most consistent pieces of advice I've gotten from older corps members is to make sure to take time for yourself. There's always infinitely more work that can be done, but you can't be there for your kids if you aren't there for yourself first. Weekends like this one remind me of how wise that advice is.
I'm terrified for my kids this week, because I know how stressed they're going to be and how far from where they need to be some of them are. But I'm also excited for them to get the opportunity to show how hard they've worked this summer. So many of them have grown in leaps and bounds, coming close to or even surpassing the incredibly ambitious growth goals we set out for them at the beginning of the summer. I'm looking forward to these last few days with my students, my CMA group, and my school before I leave for New Orleans for good on Saturday (!).
No comments:
Post a Comment