It's been a tough, but rewarding week. Just thinking about it, even after 12 hours of sleep between yesterday and today, is exhausting.
Since my last post, I was almost switched out of my school again, and almost had to change my lesson plans I spent two nights (until 1 or 2 a.m.) working on. Luckily, through the sheer brilliance of many minds coming together, and great advocacy on the parts of many of us, the switching didn't happen. I still stayed up until 1 or 2 on Wednesday and Thursday nights slamming out lesson plans for the upcoming week. I then took naps before waking up at 5 a.m. to go to work.
What got me through all of this?
Somewhat, it was the fact that I have students come Monday and I want to give my best to them.
Additionally, I would look at the other teachers in my school group and my fellow Tulsans, while we were at work or all trying to slam out our lesson plans in the wee hours of the morning. I would look at them and think: well, they are going through the same thing. We are all on this ship in the middle of a hurricane, the swarming of sharks, and a sketchy compass. We are all tired and we all have to power through.
I think, without my smal family group at my school, I would have had a lot harder time this week. One of our fellow corps members dropped out, and it incurred a huge conversation about our bond and our commitment, our trials and triumphs. Since then, we have grown closer and I can't imagine being a part of any other group. We were all dragging at different points during the week, especially on Friday, but we are helping each other make it.
Being a Tulsa Corps Member has also meant a great deal. It has become a part of my identity in just two short weeks and especially here in New York, is so very salient. I was able to speak briefly with our regional leader back in Tulsa on Wednesday because I needed to complete some paperwork for him. When the work was done, we talked about how the corps here misses Tulsa and how Tulsa actually misses us ("how are they doing?" he gets asked, "are they liking New York? How is the teaching? When will they be back?"). The reactions to Tulsa here in NY are these, in order:
1) "Why are you all the way out here?" (the other teachers here will be TFA in NY, Newark, and CT)
2) "Wow. You all are so close." (that also carries the connotation, sometimes, of disappointment, jealousy, and confusion. We also get a lot of the unfriendly mentality that is stereotypical of east coasters, sadly).
Well, we are crazily close as a corps. It's hard to know everyone on a very personal level, but we do know everyone's faces and make our group known when we are in bigger situations. We have chants that we try and use whenever: "Tul! Sa! OK!" We sit together at meals and take over a small section of the dining room. We also did this in the computer lab as we all were trying to complete lesson plans at midnight one evening. It was a nice mental health break.
(PS, the whole lab experience is very much like the Avenue Q song..."sitting in the computer lab, 4 a.m. before the final paper is due, cursing the world 'cause I didn't start sooner, and seeing the rest of the class there too." Except that song is about college. And I thought we were all graduates?)
We Tulsans also dominate living on the 5th floor of our building (although there is a Tulsa suite on the 6th) and are commiserating, as constantly as possible, in the lounge or suite common areas. Last night, I was too tired to go out (although I did do a semi-happy hour off campus that, combined with my exhaustion and an empty stomach, was quite the experience). Instead, my future Tulsa roomie and I made a sign for our lounge on the floor...people had been talking about such an idea throughout the week, but we decided that was a good, relaxing activity for a Friday evening. I feel like many of my evenings as a teacher will be full of poster-making.
It is quite an obnoxious sight, especially for the two or so people on our floor NOT from Tulsa, but we love our "welcome home." It has some iconic Tulsa imagery (oil...it's all we could think of) and everyone will sign the sign to fill in the blank space. We also have lots of color! The picture at the top of this blog is that very sign...taken with my cell phone, so I apologize for the quality;-)
A few of us talked last night, as Erin and I were hanging it up, how this will be one of those things, at the end of the day, that will just make us all smile. No matter how hard a day is, at least we will still have Tulsa. Thank goodness for that.
I love the East Coast, and I am so happy to be here for the next month, but oddly enough, I miss Tulsa. It's weird how that city has so quickly become comfortable enough to be "home."
As always, I miss Colorado ... espcially the family and the mountains. Dear Rockies, how I miss thee.
But, I'm trucking through. Along with everyone else. After week 1, I think this will be the toughest experience of my life (besides actually teaching). The hours are endless (except when it comes to sleep. Before last night, I had gotten about 15 hours total sleep in the previous 6 days). The schedule is trying. The expectations are high. The stakes are higher.
By the way, I will be teaching 8th Grade writing now in the same building of the school in Manhattan, but it is actually a different middle school than the one I was assigned to at the beginning of the week. Regardless, I will have hour writing lessons in front of students every day, and hang out in the same room while my Tulsa teaching partner has her hour reading lessons. We will have a class of about a dozen students, all of whom I will love:-)
One week down, four to go.
Happy 4th of July!
I'm headed into the city shortly, with some fellow Tulsans, just to see how Manhattan celebrates independence. We did joke that this holiday has new meaning after week one...we have won our independence from Institute work for the day. But, like the real 1776...we may have declared our independence, but we still have a revolution to go back to on Monday. There are battles to be had, wars to try and win.
We'll consider this the calm before the next storm of a week.
~MJ
PS I "Tweet" through the week. That may be the extent of my blogging during the weekdays (yes, that means 140 word updates), so if you want to, follow my Twitter!
PPS This blog post is already absurdly long, but I do have stories, 1) about the bed bugs in a suite above mine and our subsequent evacuation for fumigation on Thursday evening and 2) having a two-hour commute home from school on said Thursday afternoon and 3) still having two lesson plans to complete in the midst of this madness. I'm surprised I'm still awake.
No comments:
Post a Comment