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?

These are the days of miracle and wonder

Well. Week One done. Never in my life had I been more excited for Friday than I was yesterday, and that's counting my TGIF-fueled youth (Oh Sabrina, how we miss you and your teenage witchy ways...) That's not to say that the week was bad, just exhausting. Very exhausting. And I'm getting *much* more sleep than a lot of people. I think I'm still averaging 6-7, whereas one of my roommates slept for FORTY-FIVE MINUTES on Thursday night. That, friends, is not even a nap. I think I might be getting used to the whole waking up early thing, but who knows. For a deeper look at Circadian rhythms and sleep cycles, please see Naila's thesis.

Anyway, it's the weekend now, and I have been successful in my quest to avoid work since Friday at 5. Spent today watching the Euro with a few of the Charlotte dudes (side note: I see you, Gina! Other side note: go Spain. Other, other side note: Sorry, Chris. Looks like the Motherland is out). Then I watched "Dirty Dancing" and I just got back from seeing Prince Caspian. Productive day, no?

Some thoughts on "Caspian":

• Centaurs: awesome. Lady centaurs: lame.
• Was that river god thingy supposed to be Jesus? Because it looked like Gandalf. I'm sure there's a joke to be made here about good friends JRR Tolkien and CS Lewis, I'm just not sure what it is...
• Old school warfare seems so inefficient. And I feel bad for the horses.
• Ben Barnes. Also, Marielle, you were totally right about the guy who plays Edmund.

I think I had much more constructive things to say, but I can't seem to remember them now. I'm incredibly nervous for Monday, which will be my first day as an actual teacher. You know, you can plan and plan and plan, but who knows what's going to happen. Also, there's a good chance that due to the fact that four of the kids in my class go to ESL for an hour a day, I will be teaching ONE kid. Yes, one. No child left behind, for real.

I'm sure I'll be back tomorrow when I take a much-needed break from finishing my lesson plans and classroom management plans and investment plans (that's investment as in getting the kids invested in the goal, not what I'm going to do to turn my paltry salary into big bucks). However, now I'm going to go have some fun with my fellow future teachers...