I'm in ATL!

So busy, haven't had time to blog about ATL. ..

Got here Sunday, the facilities are very nice, Georgia Tech campus is cut off from the rest of the city, so it is beautiful and secluded. The dining hall is high-class, much more sophisticated than even the Sanford Hall dining hall at the U. I have my own room but I share a suite with another girl who went to Minnesota and two other girls from the Colorado corps. 

So the Parks Middle School bus, my bus, leaves campus at 6:35, so the mornings are rough. Although there are TFA staffers playing music and cheering us on as we drudge to breakfast, it is still dark out and none of us go to bed early. But Parks is a cool place- there are about 70 out of the 500 here that go to Parks every day. Our job is to help 7th and 8th graders pass their CRCT's so that they can pass to the next grade. I got assigned to an 8th grade class and I am co-teaching reading with another corps member from Atlanta named Zack. So basically every day we go to Parks from 7am until 5pm and we attend sessions that teach us how to be teachers in a very intense and condensed form. It is very interesting and the instructors are great, but it all comes at us very fast. I feel confident in the material, and lesson planning and talking about classroom management and investment in education all comes very natural to me, so that is good. It's the waking up early and eating well, working out, and getting every thing done on time that I am struggling a bit with. 5:30 comes way too soon and it seems like my body just doesn't want to go to bed until the late late hours. 

So overall, institute is hard but I think it is going to really help me become a great teacher. I am able to do some socializing at meal times but otherwise it is very focused on getting things done and turned in so it can be reviewed. We will officially start in the classroom on Monday, and I am very excited because I am going first in the rotation, and the students that I met with yesterday REALLY need our help. We assessed them for their reading levels and as will-be 9th graders, right now they are reading as low 6th graders. I can clearly see now why I am here and the work that has to be done. I am eager to begin pushing these students and help them pass the test!

Miss everyone from home- please e-mail me and tell me how you are and what you are up to this summer '09. 

Peace- 

C