Remember Well This Day.

This is the day I officially became a teacher. This is the day when I stood in front of a classroom and delivered my lesson plan. This is the day I finally confirmed to myself that Teach for America was the right choice for me. Whoa...

Some thoughts: It was awesome. No matter what comes in the next few weeks of Institute, no matter what comes in the fall, or next spring, or next year, I need to remember the feeling of today, which--as aforementioned--is awesome.

It's really incredible how much this is preparing me for the fall, and yet how much it is *not * preparing me. For instance, in the fall I will have 15-20 kids, all at different levels of comprehension and fluency. Right now, I have one child (who is incredibly bright and an eager participant when he's given texts that challenge him). In the fall, I will have a self-contained classroom unit* where I will teach reading, math, writing, science, social studies, etc. Right now, I teach reading. In the fall, I will probably be working in Charlotte's "Inner City" (though it all looked pretty nice to me). Right now, I teach in a gorgeous school in the middle of what seems to be one of Atlanta's wealthiest areas. It's not the school most of the kids attend, just where they have summer school. Anyway, that's just what's going through my mind.

Confession: I feel, at times, mildly guilty for not being as stressed as other people. I think Harvard really prepared me for this experience--all the stress going around here makes me think (fondly, to be sure) of dear Harvard during those last days of Reading Period, when all the papers are due and finals are just around the corner. Except here, I can't lounge about all day and then work all night. No, it's quite the opposite. But cut out the lounging about. Yeah, that's it. I'm just trying to stay positive. It's going to be just as stressful come August, but if you get frustrated or spend all your time complaining about how much you have to do, it won't get done. I know, I know, I'm a bit of a hypocrite, since I've spent much of this blog griping about TFA. But... still.

Clarification: I don't actually feel guilty. But I do feel bad that they're so stressed. I'm giving them chocolate.

OK, that was a little too much maturity and relevance. Let's turn to our daily non sequitur (DNS): Atlanta is a shapeshifter. I'm not kidding. Any time I'm driving around (riding, rather, as I have no car), I look out the window and the city looks miles away. 15 seconds later, we're smack in the middle of downtown. Also, there seems to be a vast expanse of low-story buildings between two centers of hi-rises. When we were leaving the movies the other day, I remarked that it was like Atlanta proper and then Narnia over to the east. Of course, we had just seen Narnia, so maybe this wasn't the most creative comment, but it was striking nonetheless.

Happy thought: I think I have found a roommate, and we may have even found a place to live. More coming on this soon...

Sporting thoughts of the day: 1) Tiger Woods is unbelievable. 2) I am so bummed that all those guys withdrew from the draft to go back to UNC. Cam, you're going to have to cheer even louder next year, OK??

Now to do some laundry,
--Anna

*Self-Contained Classroom Unit: good name for a band?