It's about time for a real update. Plus, I had a snow day Thursday and Friday, so I have no excuse not to sit down and write. I had the privilege of going on a recruiting trip to Western PA with Rob, our executive director, and Kristin, one of our awesome program directors. This meant I missed 4 days of school, immediately after the blizzards, so I couldn't really prepare the subs the way I had planned to. I just left the most detailed plans I could and hoped for the best. My class keeps telling me about stuff that happened while I was gone, and it sounds like it was a crazy week. One of the kids keeps saying about one guy who covered my class, "He was confused. He was really confused." Kindergarten is tricky, because the kids can't do too much for themselves. I have a lot of routines that are second nature to me but are very hard to explain to someone who has never seen them. But now I am back and finally getting the kids adjusted to the way I do things again, and we go and have two snow days. Back to square one? Possibly.
The recruiting trip was pretty successful I think/hope. We talked to students at Clarion, Westminster, and (best of all, of course...sort of kidding) Grove City who might want to be summer interns or even teachers next year. I was hoping to find some potential teachers, considering Linda and Kaitlin are both leaving me. :( It was fun to speak in Dr. Mackey's classes at Grove City, especially since he is the first person who got me inspired to teach in the inner-city. So it was an honor to be back and share a little with this year's freshmen education majors. I considered it a responsibility, too. Basically, my dream for them, even though I know exactly zero of them, is that they wouldn't rule out the possibility of teaching in the inner-city. I remember a lot of my classmates "knowing" their first year of college where they wanted to teach: maybe the school district where they went, or one of the top-rated districts in the state, or knowing they wanted to stay around Pittsburgh close to their families and people they knew. I think freshmen year, you should be open to possibilities. Lots of them. All of kinds. Grove City students aren't always good at that. They tend to have a "plan" and want to stick with it.
One of the best parts of the trip was seeing some people who are very special to me--professors, RDs, friends, and former residents. It was great to catch up with them and just special to be back on Grove City's campus. This is the second year I've been able to go on this recruiting trip, and both times it has been a valuable chance for me to reflect on just how special Urban Promise is. It's a great place to work, and I am learning so much there. And my students are learning too. What I'm doing is important and valuable and worthwhile. It's hard to remember those things in the day to day, hectic, stressful routine of teaching. Some days, I really feel like a failure. But getting to step away for a week and tell people about this ministry and what I'm doing helps me put into perspective that it is a very special place to be.
Can't believe Monday is the beginning of March! It will FINALLY be our 100th day of school celebration. Then it's Read Across America day/week. I'm hoping to get some guest readers in to my class and do lots of fun Dr. Seuss stuff. I'm wrapping up another newsletter to send out soon too. It'll be a busy month. No days off...ahhhh. But I shouldn't complain considering the ridiculous number of days of I had in February!
The recruiting trip was pretty successful I think/hope. We talked to students at Clarion, Westminster, and (best of all, of course...sort of kidding) Grove City who might want to be summer interns or even teachers next year. I was hoping to find some potential teachers, considering Linda and Kaitlin are both leaving me. :( It was fun to speak in Dr. Mackey's classes at Grove City, especially since he is the first person who got me inspired to teach in the inner-city. So it was an honor to be back and share a little with this year's freshmen education majors. I considered it a responsibility, too. Basically, my dream for them, even though I know exactly zero of them, is that they wouldn't rule out the possibility of teaching in the inner-city. I remember a lot of my classmates "knowing" their first year of college where they wanted to teach: maybe the school district where they went, or one of the top-rated districts in the state, or knowing they wanted to stay around Pittsburgh close to their families and people they knew. I think freshmen year, you should be open to possibilities. Lots of them. All of kinds. Grove City students aren't always good at that. They tend to have a "plan" and want to stick with it.
One of the best parts of the trip was seeing some people who are very special to me--professors, RDs, friends, and former residents. It was great to catch up with them and just special to be back on Grove City's campus. This is the second year I've been able to go on this recruiting trip, and both times it has been a valuable chance for me to reflect on just how special Urban Promise is. It's a great place to work, and I am learning so much there. And my students are learning too. What I'm doing is important and valuable and worthwhile. It's hard to remember those things in the day to day, hectic, stressful routine of teaching. Some days, I really feel like a failure. But getting to step away for a week and tell people about this ministry and what I'm doing helps me put into perspective that it is a very special place to be.
Can't believe Monday is the beginning of March! It will FINALLY be our 100th day of school celebration. Then it's Read Across America day/week. I'm hoping to get some guest readers in to my class and do lots of fun Dr. Seuss stuff. I'm wrapping up another newsletter to send out soon too. It'll be a busy month. No days off...ahhhh. But I shouldn't complain considering the ridiculous number of days of I had in February!
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