Big month

Lots to report on!!!! BIG news of the past few weeks: (not listed in order of importance)

1. I have a job. 

2. I have an apartment.

3. I went home to see the adorable Brady Barnes!

4. Tim came to Texas this past weekend!

What a couple of weeks it has been!!!! Expanded version of the above events: 

1. I will be teaching Spanish Language Arts to K-5 graders at IDEA Academy in Donna, TX. IDEA Public Schools is a charter school system serving primarily low-income Hispanic/Latino students. Their mission is to put every student into college, and for the past four years 100% of high school graduates have enrolled in a 4 year college or University. The High School was ranked the 19th best high school in the nation according to US News and World Report. Fancy, fancy!! TFA places corps members there because over 80% of students qualify for free/reduced price lunch (are low-income). 

2. I feel way over my head and intimidated by my new job. School started this week, but I will start teaching on Monday. I have been observing this week, which has been great. However.... being around primarily native Spanish-speaking co-workers makes it a wee-bit intimidating to come in as the new, non-Hispanic Spanish teacher. Lord have mercy.

3. I have an apartment!!! I am living in McAllen, TX which is about a 17 minute commute. 2 bed, 2 bath, gated apartment complex. I like it a lot! I'm living with Lydie, who is from Philadelphia and is teaching 5th grade math at an elementary school in Donna. 

4. I flew home to see Brady!!!!! The trip was totally worth it to see Little B and his parents! (not to mention getting to see the rest of the fam as well). What a precious baby he is. Can't wait to see him again!!! I got the sweetest birthday card from Brady..... he's developing quite the signature :) 

5. Tim graciously drove down to Texas to bring me furniture. What a guy!!!!!!!!! He left on Thursday, got here Friday night (my bday) and left Monday morning. A whirlwind trip, and it was super fun to have him in the Valley!!! We had a great weekend--- besides unpacking and setting up my apartment, we went to South Padre Island, a TFA event at a restaurant alongside the Rio Grande Valley, and ate at Taco Palenque! Thanks for coming down Tim!!!!!!

6. I'm 23. Old. Yet I feel too young to be in charge of 35 youngsters at a time. Did I mention I have a cubicle?? (I'm a floating teacher, so no classroom for me) We'll see what the next week brings.....

Sanity in South Texas

I am alive in South Texas. Homeless and unemployed, but alive. For those of you unfamiliar with my plight, Teach For America hasn't found me a job yet. The school year starts 2 weeks from today. You do the math. The infamous Ida (woman finding us all jobs) is supposed to call me today, and may ask me to become re-certified to teach another subject. I imagine y'all haven't forgotten the drama with my last test and whether or not I thought I would pass it. Here we go again!!! (Side note. I like to use y'all in my written language but I have to admit I haven't worked it into my daily vocab...) The latest is that I may become a middle school teacher, or specialize in ESL. Your guess is as good as mine as to what I will be doing when the first day of school rolls around!

So, you might ask- being an unemployed person in South Texas, what do you do? Well, my friends, there are 2 things that have filled my days recently. 

1. South Padre Island. I went there yesterday- and I have to say "living" this close to the ocean is a perk. If I don't get a teaching job, I think I'll just waitress on the Island....

2. Taco Palenque. If you come to visit, I will take you here! They supposedly have the best fajitas in the valley. They are delicious indeed. PLUS they have a salsa bar and unlimited freshly made chips. The tortillas are homemade (at least I think so) and splendid. Added bonus: they play very loud Spanish music that can't help but make you joyful. 

So.... life isn't so bad :) I'm enjoying my fellow TFA-ers (especially my fellow unemployed friends) and getting used to the heat. I'm also anxiously awaiting the arrival of Little B! Adios for now!

Competitive Spirits?

No one in our family is competitive, right? OH WAIT, what?! I had no idea what I was walking into this weekend. Or did I? All in good fun. There was a previous running tally of Clue between Adam, Andrea and Tim (I'd like to note that I am officially on the board with a win). I believe Adam had been trailing far behind Tim and Andrea, but possibly made up lost ground this weekend with 2/4 wins... then you have the typical 500 division between the "Mavericks" (Tim and Andrea) and the... "winners" (Adam and Chelsea). I was also introduced to the game Bohnanza, which I love!!! It is so much fun!! 

Good times on Whispering Way. 

Sibs weekend!

Tim and I went to Madison this weekend to visit the A-team. We had a fabulous time waterskiing, playing games, laughing, and eating delicious food (thanks guys!). Can't wait to meet Little B in the coming days (hopefully) or weeks! 

My awesome students

I am alive. Tomorrow is my LAST day of this crazy life we call Institute. The kids in the picture are mine- they are why I teach. From the left, Joel, Gregg, Andrew, Sara, Pedro, Gabriela and Jose. They make me laugh daily and it has been a huge joy to be their teacher! Today they took their finals... 3 students got a 93%!! They all did great. I had them take a survey about me... This is what Joel wrote: (Preface: Joel is on the far left... he pushed back on me the first day of class and I thought he would be my challenging student. He is very smart, but doesn't often participate in class and I have questioned his motivation (falsely) on more than one occasion. I wasn't sure I had connected with him at all.... He wrote:

"For being a beginner teach you are really good and my opinion is that some people are not meant to teach but you are. You will be a good teacher wherever you teach next year. :)"

THAT is why I teach :) 

Here is an email from my Corps Member Advisor.... I'm not trying to be boastful but it made me really happy to read: How great is that!!! 

Chelsea-

 

I love walking into your classroom. I feel like students are learning all of the time. Your sense of urgency is overwhelming and your students are constantly being pushed with their rigor.

.....

chelsea you have done amazing things with your students. they are very invested in you and want to make sure that they are doing well. great job!

As happy as I am to be moving out of this dorm room on Saturday morning, I really have enjoyed teaching my students. Tonight we have our closing ceremonies, which will put an official end to Institute. Tomorrow is my last day with my students, I submit grades, and we take down our classrooms.

Thank you to all of you wonderful people who continue to support me :) I love you all!!

Officially Ms. Barnes

I have officially finished my first week as Ms. Barnes!!! I'm happy to say that I have really enjoyed teaching thus far. The rest of this TFA business gets to be a little much (ie an incredibly tightly managed schedule, endless things to turn in..)- but teaching is fun. I have 8 students when they all show up... several usually come 20-30 minutes late (I teach 1st period). It's tough getting used to being called "Miss". We were learning how to make timelines on Friday and we all wrote our birthdays on the class timeline. I started to write Chelsea by mine, and then caught it and wrote Ms. Barnes. 

Last night was the first time I've slept more than 5 hours since I've been down here. It was great!! Today a group of us went floating down a river today in San Marcos, TX. It was WONDERFUL to get away from Moody Towers (the dorm) and Houston. It gets tiring when you are constantly around 800 stressed out people. A little much. We were in the sun all day on the river and went to a BBQ place (similar to Mike's Smokehouse) in Austin for dinner. I'm back in Houston now.... bummer. I'm 40% done with Institute, which is the silver lining. 

Week 1- check!!!

I have successfully gotten through week 1 of TFA Institute!!! This has to be quick-- I'm getting ready for my first official day in the classroom tomorrow... I teach US History 1st period for 11th grade students. 

Here is a quick day in the life of Ms. Barnes-

5:30- Alarm goes off.

5:31- Go downstairs to pack lunch and eat breakfast.

7:03- Load bus and go to Davis HS

7:30- Arrive at Davis HS

8:00- begin sessions

4:00- after a long day of Curriculum & Literacy sessions, and a working lunch, we load the busses

4:30- arrive back at University of Houston

5:00- dinner

6:00- get back to work!

sometime between 11-2... max out, go to bed. 

Busy busy busy!!!! It's been crazy, sometimes stressful, and oftentimes overwhelming. I have great people around me who make me laugh and keep things fun- which helps A TON. 1 week down, 4 to go. 

Tomorrow I officially become Ms. Barnes! I apologize for being somewhat MIA recently... we all are literally living and breathing TFA. They even have their own language (90% acronyms) and time zone (Teach for America Standard Time, aka TFAST). I'm not even joking.